Boox Tab X C Review

The Boox Tab X C brings colour to big-screen e-ink tablets. It’s 1 of the champion examples of the e-ink tablet shaper astatine its strongest pulling unneurotic the strengths of its anterior tablets – large screens, versatile Android bundle – to present an acquisition that elevates the colour e-reader to a spot wherever it could go a laptop replacement (if you bring your ain keyboard) that gives the iPad a tally for its money. It is simply 1 of the champion colour e-readers for ebooks, comics, and browsing the web, and its large, A4 paper-sized screen, besides makes it an arsenic bully acceptable for the schoolroom and bureau arsenic a feature-rich integer notebook. It occasionally stumbles with a handwriting acquisition that doesn’t rather lucifer its Wacom predecessors, but the acquisition is wide 1 of the champion e-ink has to connection today.

Boox Tab X C – Design and Features

The Boox Tab X C makes a compelling lawsuit for paper-sized integer notebooks. I was a regular idiosyncratic of the same-sized Boox Note Max, the Tab X C’s note-centric monochrome counterpart, and utilized to its A4 paper-like size but adjacent still, the Tab X C makes an impression. At 13.3 inches, it’s ample for immoderate tablet – adjacent the largest iPad Pro is inactive 13 inches – and for 1 with an e-ink display, which is usually associated with handheld e-readers, it seems particularly big. But for ample PDFs and handwriting abstraction that’s a bully lucifer for an existent expanse of paper, it’s great.

At the aforesaid time, Boox has done a bully occupation of making it casual to clasp and use, whether you’re penning with its stylus connected a table oregon holding it successful your manus to work a book. Three sides person a slim bezel of astir a 4th of an inch, but the near is overmuch wider and acts arsenic a earthy hand-hold. It’s thin, measuring lone 5.3mm and weighs 625g, oregon conscionable a mates of ounces much than the aforementioned iPad Pro.

The framework is made of aluminum and the surface is solid alternatively of the softer integrative recovered connected immoderate different integer notebooks. The backmost has a matte texture with a glossy stripe down the broadside and immoderate publication branding successful the corner. It’s elemental but refined. If you usage it without a case, it tin beryllium a small slippery. (I privation much brands would opt for a grippier decorativeness similar the caller ReMarkable Paper Pro Move.) With a solid screen, the Tab X C is people much fragile and susceptible to pressure, truthful picking up a lawsuit is decidedly advisable.

The show connected the Tab X C uses a colour e-ink Kaleido 3 panel, which is presently the astir caller and highest-performance from the E Ink Corporation. It has a solution of 3,200 x 2,400 successful achromatic and achromatic and 1,600 x 1,200 for color, giving it pixel densities of 300 PPI and 150 PPI, respectively. I’ll spell into much item shortly, but the show besides has less layers separating the existent sheet and the beforehand solid and some colour and clarity look amended than I’ve seen connected immoderate different Kaleido 3 sheet truthful far.

Unlike accepted LCD tablets, e-ink renders achromatic and achromatic and colour contented differently. Below the surface are masses of achromatic and achromatic particles that emergence to the aboveground erstwhile charged with electricity. There are nary colored particles to straight render the hues that look connected screen. Instead, a colour filter is utilized to divided red, green, and bluish hues from the achromatic particles only. Since lone the achromatic particles, oregon fractional of the full “pixels,” are capable to beryllium split, the solution for colour contented is besides fractional of the full display.

In practice, what matters astir is the 300 PPI, arsenic blacks screen astir substance and outlines of illustrations. Colors much often “fill in” truthful the little solution isn’t arsenic noticeable arsenic the crisp, paper-like substance and enactment work. Even successful colour graphic novels and apps, the surface looks precise crisp for e-ink and is decidedly astatine the apical of its class.

Part of its awesome show is besides owed to however good it handles ghosting, oregon afterimages of what past appeared connected the screen. The Tab X C comes with Boox Super Refresh (BSR) technology, powered by its Snapdragon 855 octa-core CPU. Without immoderate idiosyncratic intervention, the tablet automatically works to region immoderate ocular remnants for a cleanable speechmaking experience.

That processor is hardly new, archetypal released successful 2018, but inactive works precise good for thing you would typically bash connected an e-ink tablet. It’s responsive to the touch, reacts to the pen instantly and reliably, and runs astir apps without hardware-related slowdowns. Handwriting latency tin beryllium an issue, but typically lone if you’re utilizing apps that weren’t designed with e-ink devices successful mind.

One of the astir arguable aspects of the Tab X C is that it uses an progressive stylus with haptic feedback alternatively of the Wacom EMR stylus recovered connected erstwhile models. Wacom styluses enactment with a peculiar under-screen furniture that detects handwriting input with precocious accuracy and without the request to support the stylus charged. It’s a assemblage favourite and approaches a standard-level of adoption among e-ink tablets. Because of this, determination are besides tons of aftermarket pens close connected Amazon, arsenic good arsenic low-cost replacement tips to support your penning acquisition sharp.

The Tab X C’s caller stylus, the Inkspire, uses the USI 2.0 protocol. It’s capacitive, not magnetic, and galore radical were disquieted that it wouldn’t beryllium arsenic close arsenic Wacom. It attaches magnetically to the broadside of the tablet and recharges wirelessly portion there, truthful you won’t person to beryllium acrophobic astir that, astatine least.

It’s not arsenic close arsenic Wacom. That’s an nonsubjective fact. But, arsenic acold arsenic capacitive styluses go, this is 1 of the amended ones. In fact, unless you’re making dilatory consecutive lines, the accuracy feels beauteous spot on. While I can’t accidental for sure, I’d wager that Boox went retired of its mode to marque definite that the capacitive furniture built into the surface is higher-resolution than standard.

The bigger contented is that the surface is perfectly creaseless and doesn’t person the microtexturing to marque handwriting consciousness similar insubstantial connected its own. The haptics assistance and tin adjacent beryllium convincing astatine times, but it’s not the same. As of this writing, determination besides aren’t immoderate replacement tips disposable for acquisition successful the United States (though I would expect them to look successful the future). There are respective included successful the box, though, and without texturing connected the surface to deterioration them retired prematurely, they should past virtually forever.

If you adhd your ain paper-like surface protector, though, you’ll rapidly pain done these — excavation didn’t past a week earlier needing to beryllium replaced. Until replacement tips are available, you’ll beryllium stuck buying a full caller Inkspire stylus which presently retails for $99. You could besides prime up a antithetic stylus that does person replacement tips disposable (any USI 2.0 stylus should do), which volition tally you anyplace from $30 to $70.

With each of that successful mind, portion Wacom purists won’t beryllium contented with the Inkspire, I didn’t caput it. If you tin get past the creaseless screen, I recovered it to beryllium accurate, responsive, and perfectly good to constitute on.

Like galore of Boox's different tablets, the Tab X C runs a afloat mentation of the Android operating system, but 1 that has been customized to enactment champion with its e-ink display. It comes with the Google Play Store pre-installed truthful you tin load your ain applications successful summation to those provided by Boox. This gives you a wealthiness of choices and an unfastened doorway to integrate the tablet into your existing mobile workflow. This does diminish its distraction-free plan a touch, arsenic it's imaginable for applications to inundate you with notifications and for you to instal societal media. Getting sidetracked is little apt owed to the slower refresh complaint of its e-ink screen.

Because Boox has been refining its implementation of Android crossed aggregate products, its capabilities, features, and level of polish mostly transcend the contention successful this space, though that spread is closing quickly. A bully illustration of this is wrong the Microsoft OneNote app. While handwriting successful the app were initially excessively laggy to usage connected different tablets, updates and an innovative solution to this occupation person rendered that a happening of the past. Now, the exertion easy functions crossed platforms, with each changes synced automatically to the cloud.

Boox Tab X C – Performance

More than galore different e-ink tablets, the Boox Tab X C is capable to capable aggregate roles depending connected however you would similar to usage it. It's a fantastic e‑reader, fantabulous for typing and getting enactment done, and besides acts arsenic a integer notebook and sketchpad. The Android integration adds a invited magnitude of versatility. So adjacent if the built-in applications don't conscionable your needs, it's precise apt that different exertion volition and is readily disposable connected the Google Play Store.

Let's get the elephant successful the country retired of the mode first: the penning experience. Much has been made astir its progressive stylus and deficiency of tactile feedback from surface texturing. The criticisms aren't wrong, but they are overblown. Though the penning acquisition is perfectly amended with immoderate benignant of surface texturing (I tested this myself with a paper-like surface protector), the included stylus feels high-resolution capable that my penning ever felt close and immediate.

The classical trial of penning slow, consecutive lines does uncover a tiny magnitude of jitter that's not contiguous with Wacom. However, for e-ink tablets, this is simply a accent trial and not thing you volition brushwood often successful mean usage unless you’re an artist. For handwriting and a much emblematic question speed, I didn’t announcement it overmuch astatine all.

The stylus’s haptic feedback is deed oregon miss depending connected your tastes. It tin beryllium acceptable crossed six preset points from Low to High and Off, but thing beneath halfway was hard to feel. Setting it to its maximum highlighted the haptic centrifugal alternatively of feeling similar penning connected a textured surface. Your mileage volition alteration but this fundamentally near maine with 1 choice. I enjoyed it and recovered it to beryllium amended than simply penning connected a wholly creaseless screen. Over time, it does go little convincing, however.

I privation to springiness Boox kudos for its implementation, though, due to the fact that antithetic tools supply antithetic types of haptic feedback. Writing with the pencil instrumentality feels rougher than the pen tool, for example. I similar that rather a bit; it’s a neat touch.

The surface prime is excellent. Text is wide and legible, and colors person a spot much vibrancy than connected the Note Air 4C I reviewed previously. Since there’s nary Wacom layer, there’s besides little abstraction betwixt the screen’s aboveground and its e-ink layer, reducing a spot of the dimness inherent to Kaleido 3 displays and making penning consciousness somewhat much natural. The deficiency of surface texturing besides makes this 1 of the crispest Kaleidos available.

Its responsiveness is precise good. I was a spot acrophobic astir this due to the fact that the Boox Note Max had important ghosting issues erstwhile it launched and made maine question whether Boox Super Refresh was moving correctly. That was addressed with firmware updates and is overmuch little of an contented today, but the Tab X C launched successful a large authorities and has lone gotten amended with time.

This, combined with its enactment for apps similar Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and Obsidian, marque it a large tablet for typing. E-ink is known for its latency portion typing, and portion the Tab X C isn’t quite to the level of an existent laptop, it tin easy beryllium utilized for essays and different typed note-taking erstwhile acceptable to its highest refresh mode. So, if you similar the benefits of e-ink’s reduced oculus strain and distraction-light plan but don’t privation to constitute by hand, this mightiness conscionable beryllium the cleanable enactment for you.

The biggest contented with the surface is that it beauteous overmuch requires utilizing the frontlight. Kaleido screens are noticeably darker owed to the colour filter layer, truthful achromatic looks precise grey and colors are duller without it. The frontlight is precise good done, evenly illuminating the surface without shining immoderate airy straight into your eyes, but impacts wide artillery life.

The Tab X C comes with a 5,500mAH battery. With regular usage of a mates hours each time and the frontlight connected 80% brightness, it typically lasted maine 3 to 4 days earlier needing a recharge. This volition alteration depending connected what you’re doing, but conscionable cognize that it won’t past weeks astatine a clip similar a Kindle.

Of course, it has each of Boox’s staples, including dedicated apps for note-taking, managing your calendar, reading, and browsing the web. In these applications, you tin truly spot the years of polish radiance through. Boox’s Neoreader app allows you to highlight, annotate, screenshot and markup, and manipulate books and PDFs successful a wide array of ways. The Notes app has an assortment of penning tools and a keyword linking strategy akin to Supernote, handwriting-to-text conversion, a afloat creation suite including Photoshop-like layering and drafting tools, and more.

If you alternatively opt for a third-party app, similar Amazon Kindle, you tin rise an “E-Ink Center” paper to set cardinal settings to guarantee it works well. You tin customize however colors appear, contrast, refresh behavior, animation filtering, and much to marque definite it works well. I would emotion to spot Boox instrumentality “best settings” for fashionable apps retired of the box, but the tools are there.

Taken arsenic a whole, the Boox Tab X C is 1 of the astir afloat featured, champion implemented e-ink tablets available. It’s lone a mates of steps shy of being the perfect e-ink tablet for users that similar larger screens, with lone its handwriting acquisition holding it back. If Boox tin proceed to amended its onboarding and user-friendliness for aboriginal releases, it could predominate the marketplace and propel e-ink Android tablets into the mainstream.