In e-books, the 6-inch diagonal is well established, it is this one that is considered optimal for reading. However, the display Onyx Boox Edison increased to 7.8 inches without noticeable loss in compactness. I propose to understand the advantages of the enlarged screen and other features of the novelty.
Specifications
- Screen: 7.8 inches, E Ink Carta Plus, 4:3 aspect ratio, 1872×1404, 300 PPI, 16 grayscale.
- Backlight: MOON Light 2 with variable color temperature.
- Operating system: Android 10.
- Out of the box format support: TXT, HTML, RTF, FB2, FB2.zip, FB3, DOC, DOCX, PRC, MOBI, CHM, PDB, EPUB, JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, PDF, DjVu, MP3, WAV, CBR .CBZ.
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 636, 14 nm.
- CPU: Cortex-A73 (4×1.8GHz) + Cortex-A53 (4×1.6GHz).
- GPU: Adreno 509.
- Memory: 3/32 GB without memory card.
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac.
- Battery: 2000 mAh, USB-C charging.
- Dimensions: 194 × 136.5 × 6.3 mm, 235 grams.
- Features: leather case included.
Appearance and ergonomics
The older models of Onyx Boox, including Edison, are equipped with brown leather cases with velvet on the inside. Beautiful color and embossing, pleasant to the touch texture of natural material – the device in such binding looks stylish and very expensive.
The case adds a pair of mechanical keys for turning pages. Pay attention to their location, they are located under the thumb of the left hand – it’s nice to see a left-handed gadget. It will be no less convenient for right-handed people to switch pages with touches or light swipes across the screen.
An unexpected miscalculation was found in the fastening of the cover. The book is magnetized to the cover with the left end, from the side where there are additional buttons. Also, in the closed position, the lid is magnetized to the screen. The back panel is not fixed in any way and easily lags behind the cover. As a result, the cover must be opened very carefully so that the back cover does not lag behind the case in any case. The miscalculation is corrected with a small piece of double tape.
Pay attention to the small thickness of the frame, other 6-inch models have wider frames. As a result, the novelty is quite compact and very thin – only 6.3 mm.
The weight together with the cover does not exceed 400 grams, separately the book weighs only 235 grams. The back cover and ends are aluminum with soft-touch coating. Surprisingly, it is not easy to leave fingerprints on it, apparently, this is the merit of a pleasant greenish tint. Only a small plastic insert with a USB-C connector and speakers stands out.
Display
Electronic ink needs no introduction, such screens look like printed text – they comfortably reflect light and do not flicker. Our reader is additionally protected from glare with ASAHI frosted glass, which is protected by a protruding edge. However, I would not put the book screen down. Under the glass is a 7.8-inch E Ink Carta Plus sensor with 16 grayscale and fast redrawing of SNOW Field without artifacts. The resolution has grown in proportion to the diagonal to 1872 × 1404 pixels in order to maintain a density of 300 PPI – this is the printing standard. Ease of reading can be considered a reference, the structure of individual letters can only be seen under a magnifying glass.
Electronic ink should be backlit only in the dark, when there is no external light. Onyx Boox solves this problem with MOON Light 2 technology with independent adjustment of warm and cold glow. During the day, you can choose a cold light, and before going to bed – a warm one. The backlight does not tire the eyesight.
Opportunities
The book is based on Android 10, but you can’t guess about it from the interface. It is fully sharpened for reading and takes into account the features of E-Ink. Books are grouped into a library. Reading mode fine-tunes fonts, indents, spacing, and more. The font size is adjusted by tweaks, like on a smartphone. The selected text can be marked with a visual marker, add a bookmark or quote. Individual words can be checked in a dictionary.
Android has the advantage of being omnivorous. Two dozen formats are already supported out of the box, including PDF and DjVu. It is in them that scanned textbooks and old rare books are often packed. The peculiarity of scans is the inability to conveniently zoom in on the text – the grown-up Onyx Boox Edison display helps here. Support for dual-band Wi-Fi, a full browser and news applications will come in handy in your free time. The advantage over a smartphone and tablet is visual comfort, but BW images should be taken into account.
The possibilities are not limited to reading. E-mail, voice recorder, player for music and audio books, calendar, calculator and a store with dozens of other applications. It is possible to install the APK yourself. The Onyx Boox e-book functionality is more like an Android tablet based on an 8-core Qualcomm chip with 3 GB of RAM. Own data is supposed to be stored on 32 GB, of which 22 GB are available somewhere. Memory cards are not supported. Only for books and textbooks, the volume is sufficient, and with the download of music, audiobooks and other multimedia, difficulties may arise.
There is not a single key on the body of the reader, and it would be stupid to give the precious screen area for navigation. The developers of Onyx Boox got out by adding a translucent button, by pressing which a custom menu opens. However, I prefer gestures from the bottom edge.
In addition to connecting USB and receiving books from the Internet, Onyx Boox has a special Transfer application. With it, you can upload files to the reader via a local network or via the Internet.
Tablets have to be charged once every couple of days, if not more often. The 2000 mAh battery built into the reader can last for a month – it all depends on the frequency of using the backlight and Wi-Fi. The system is tuned for energy saving: the screen goes to the splash screen after a few minutes, and after another 40 minutes the device turns off completely. Google services are also disabled by default, and the background work of other applications is severely limited to level out excess gluttony.
Review after two weeks of use
If your handbag is not quite small and will fit in it Onyx Boox Edison, then there is no doubt – a large diagonal will give comfort during use. This is especially useful if you are going to be working with tutorials that are most often scanned to DjVu or PDF and don’t scale well. In other words, the novelty easily copes with all basic cases, and also partially overlaps the functionality of the tablet, thanks to modern Android 10. For comparison, many readers are simply content with very outdated OS versions and do not support all software. Although the manufacturer should not have abolished the memory card slot.
Pros:
- glass front, aluminum rear;
- high-quality leather case with lid and keys;
- large screen with two-tone backlight MOON Light 2;
- Android with the ability to install third-party applications;
- extensive additional functionality;
- support for a large number of formats;
- Google services can be activated in the settings;
- long battery life.
Minuses:
- ill-conceived fastening of the cover;
- lack of support for memory cards.
May not like:
- the page turning keys are under the left hand.
Source: Trash Box
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
