Boox Note Air 4C Review
The Boox Note Air 4C is the do-everything e-ink tablet. Where a reMarkable does one thing, the Note Air 4C runs full Android, takes a pen, reads in colour and will open Kindle, Kobo, Libby, your email and a browser on the same screen. It does all of that well and little of it perfectly. Here is how that trade-off plays out.
Published Updated
Specifications
| Screen | 10.3" |
|---|---|
| PPI | 300 |
| Colour | Yes |
| Frontlight | Yes |
| Waterproof | No |
| Stylus | Yes |
| Storage | 64 GB |
| Weight | 420 g |
Verdict
The Boox Note Air 4C is the most versatile e-ink device you can buy: colour, a good pen, open Android and every reading app on one screen. You pay for that with shorter battery life, the usual muted colour e-ink, and the ongoing friction of running Android on a slow display. For a tinkerer who does not want to be locked into one ecosystem and wants a do-everything slate, nothing else comes close. If you just want to read or just want to write, a simpler device will make you happier.
What I like
- Open Android: run Kindle, Kobo, Libby, browser and more on one device
- Colour Kaleido 3 screen, useful for comics, PDFs and colour-coded notes
- Capable stylus with a deep, feature-rich note app
- Premium build with a bright, adjustable frontlight
Worth noting
- Colour e-ink is dim and low-resolution, as on all such screens
- Android on e-ink can feel janky and needs occasional tweaking
- Battery measured in days, not the weeks of a plain Kindle
- Expensive, and more complex than a single-purpose reader
Colour screen and hardware
The headline is the 10.3 inch Kaleido 3 colour panel. Colour e-ink is lower resolution and noticeably dimmer than black-and-white, so text is slightly softer and colours are muted, more watercolour than magazine. For comics, highlighted PDFs, charts and colour-coded notes it is handy. If you expected iPad colour, you will be disappointed, as with every colour e-ink device.
The hardware is very good: a slim metal body, a bright adjustable frontlight, a fast processor and a responsive stylus. It feels like a proper premium tablet, which the price reflects.
Open Android: freedom and friction
It runs Android with access to app stores, so you are not locked into anyone's ecosystem. You can read your Kindle and Kobo libraries side by side, borrow from Libby, annotate PDFs in your app of choice and sync notes wherever you like. That is the reason to buy a Boox if walled gardens frustrate you.
Android was built for fast colour LCDs, and e-ink is slow. Some apps look and feel a little off, occasional scrolling and animation get janky, and you sometimes tune refresh settings per app to get things smooth. Boox has improved this a lot, but it is still fiddlier than a Kindle you never have to think about.
Writing and reading
Writing is very good. Latency is low, the palm rejection is reliable, and Boox's note app is deep, with layers, templates and handwriting conversion. It falls a little short of the paper feel of a reMarkable and has far more features.
For reading, the versatility helps most. One device holds every store's books, and the big colour screen suits textbooks, comics and PDFs. Colour e-ink is dimmer, though, so you lean on the frontlight more than you would on a mono reader.
Battery and software support
Running Android on e-ink costs battery. Expect days rather than the weeks a Kindle gives you, especially with the frontlight and Wi-Fi active. That is a fair trade for a device this capable, and a real difference from a single-purpose reader.
Software updates and the occasional rough edge in Boox's own layer are worth noting. It is powerful and improving, but it asks a little more patience than the plug-and-play crowd.
Price and who it is for
At around 499 USD it is a premium device, priced against the reMarkable and Kindle Scribe. What sets it apart is that it does the job of a colour reader, a note tablet and a PDF machine at once.
Buy it if you want one device to do everything and you are comfortable with a bit of Android tinkering. Skip it if you want the purest writing feel (reMarkable), a dead-simple reader (Paperwhite or Kobo), or weeks of battery, all of which mean giving up the all-in-one flexibility.
Frequently asked
Can the Boox Note Air 4C run the Kindle app?
Yes. Because it runs open Android, you can install the Kindle, Kobo, Libby and most other reading apps, and use them side by side. That freedom is the main reason people choose a Boox.
How good is the colour screen?
It is useful for comics, highlights and charts. Colour e-ink is dimmer and lower-resolution than black-and-white, so it looks like soft watercolour more than a glossy magazine.
How is the battery life?
Days rather than weeks. Running Android with the frontlight and Wi-Fi on uses far more power than a simple e-reader.
Note Air 4C or reMarkable Paper Pro?
Pick the Boox for colour, apps and all-in-one flexibility at a lower price. Pick the reMarkable for a better writing feel and a focused, distraction-free device with no Android quirks.