3 methods this Android E Ink pill outshines my Kobo

Boox is an attention-grabbing firm. The China-based E Ink machine maker sells so many products that it is tough to determine what one is best for you. There’s the tiny, phone-like

Palma 2
, the expensive, stylus-equipped Note Max, after which the extra e-reader-like Go collection, together with the Go Shade 7 (and shortly, the Go Shade 7 Gen II).

Given the Boox Go 7’s 7-inch coloration display screen measurement and general design, the $250 pill is designed to compete straight with e-readers like

Kindle’s Colorsoft
and

Kobo’s Libra Color
. Whereas I am nonetheless loyal to my Libra Shade as a result of I admire its single-use simplicity, over the previous few weeks I’ve jumped into Boox’s versatile, Android-powered E Ink world.

There are fairly just a few issues I do not like concerning the E Ink pill that I will cowl in an upcoming story, but it surely’s additionally shocked me in just a few methods, significantly with regard to how versatile it’s.

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Getting access to Android apps is extra helpful than I anticipated

There’s nonetheless simply sufficient friction to forestall me from doomscrolling

I at all times discover it tough to focus on studying longer-form content material on my smartphone, pill, or laptop computer. The siren tune of the unending doomscroll or a random

YouTube
video at all times calls out to me, and I discover myself ditching no matter I am studying much more rapidly than I would like. Because of this I have been huge on single-use e-readers just like the Kobo Libra Color. Regardless of their limitations, they hold me targeted and, in flip, truly studying.

However after spending just a few weeks with Boox’s Go Shade 7, I perceive the enchantment. All through the day, I will usually take down Notes in Google Hold, whether or not it is grocery lists, duties I would like to finish, and even Pocket-lint headline or story concepts. Because the Go Shade 7 is powered by Android, I can simply open up

Keep
and write down no matter I have to with out having to tug out my telephone. The expertise is not precisely clean, even once you flip up the app’s refresh fee (extra on this later), but it surely works and has me turning to my telephone rather less, which I admire.

This brings me to my subsequent level. A part of what makes the Boox Go Shade 7 work is that you could’t comfortably use it as an E Ink Android pill (The Verge’s David Pierce had related ideas concerning the Palma). Social media apps are a laggy mess and YouTube movies look terrible on the Go Shade 7 E Ink show, no matter how excessive you flip up the display screen’s refresh fee. However a podcast on Spotify or Pocket Casts, or launching Firefox to rapidly look one thing up? Boox’s Go Shade 7 can simply deal with these duties if you happen to flip the app refresh fee up.

Possibly you are uninterested in typing in your passwords manually and need to set up

1Password
on the E Ink pill, identical to you’ll on a smartphone? You are able to do that too. There’s simply sufficient friction right here to forestall me from diving into apps I do not need to be utilizing once I’m targeted on studying, however the Boox Go Shade 7 remains to be succesful sufficient for easy duties like brief note-taking or listening to a podcast. This implies I am comfy leaving the home with simply Boox’s Go Shade 7 if I need to do some phone-free studying at a close-by park.

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Accessing my library of Kobo books was simpler than I anticipated

Simply obtain the app and also you’re in

sw

One of many causes I’ve by no means thought-about switching to a Kindle is as a result of I have already got a fairly substantial library of Kobo books. Fortunately, making the soar to Boox’s gadgets is easy if you happen to’re

coming from Kobo land
. All I have to do is obtain the Kobo app from Google’s Play Retailer and signal into my account (in fact, with the assistance of 1Password), and my library is there. I am even capable of pick-up books the place I left off on my Palma 2, or Kobo Libra Shade, making the studying expertise that rather more seamless.

This additionally makes putting in apps like Libby, which is often utilized by libraries, very straightforward, alongside Pocket (which you

can also use with a Kobo
), Google’s eBookstore, Moon+ (which is de facto in style with Boox customers), and extra. The truth that the Boox Go Shade 7 runs Android opens up app compatibility that is a lot wider than e-readers from Kindle and Kobo.

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I’ve by no means used a E Ink pill that is this customizable

You may actually make Boox’s Go 7 your individual

Excluding Kobo’s app for some motive, you’ll be able to customise precisely what you need the Boox Go Shade 7 two facet buttons to do. That is one thing I’ve actually appreciated over the previous few weeks. On high of that, every app’s refresh fee might be personalized.

I’ve rapidly discovered that the Kobo app would not want a quick refresh fee, but when I am utilizing Pocket Casts or Firefox, I’ve to show up the refresh fee significantly for the app to be usable. To do that, choose the three-line settings possibility beside the refresh button on the backside of the Go 7’s navigation menu. You may then choose between Regular, Velocity, A2, and Regal. It’s also possible to change different settings like an app’s DPI and coloration by long-pressing on its icon and choosing Optimize.

Possibly you need to change the system-wide font? You are able to do that within the settings. Maybe the usual

Android System Bar
is an eye-sore for you. Don’t be concerned, simply make it solely seem once you swipe down on the show. It’s also possible to change the House Display screen to launch a number of completely different choices, together with your apps or settings. It is even attainable to vary what number of presses you’ll want to make on the display screen earlier than it does a full-system E Ink show refresh (the default is 10).

I will have extra on Boox’s Go Shade 7 quickly, together with a few of the key points I’ve skilled with the E Ink pill over the previous few weeks.

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