The Onyx Boox Go 6 Did Not Free Me From the Kindle Retailer’s Grip

I actually, actually, wished to love the Boox Go 6 e-reader. Most reviewers have been enthusiastic in regards to the Boox Palma, the e-ink substitute for smartphone doomscrolling, for its easy-to-read show and handiness. I believed that this small tablet-like studying machine would have the identical impact. Sadly, the Boox Go 6 e-ink reader did not convert me to a full-time person.

The Boox Go 6’s e-ink display screen isn’t an issue for me—I just like the 6-inch show, which options an adjustable backlight and brightness. Textual content and particulars on the display screen seem sharp and crisp even with the backlight turned off. However the show’s sluggish refresh fee powered by a middling processor made my studying expertise slower than a standard, tangible guide. It made me wait, and I hate ready. It doesn’t matter what I wished to learn, I needed to anticipate the display screen to catch as much as my fingerpress earlier than the e-reader would load the specified content material. It did this for ebooks I saved regionally, books I’d borrowed from Libby, and some different apps I attempted out over the thrill of getting practically unfettered entry to the Google Play Retailer. One of many promoting factors of the Go 6 is that it runs Android, making it simpler to load third-party apps and shops. However interacting with the Boox Go 6 could be so irritating; it virtually doesn’t make the open nature of its software program alluring, in any case.

Open Studying

The 2021-era Kindle Paperwhite, the opposite e-reader in my stead, additionally has a cushty show and slim profile. I hoped to swap it out for the Onyx Boox Go 6, which doesn’t restrict me to the Kindle library and its companions. I had way back discovered easy methods to add DRM-free comics and graphic novels to a Kindle via Calibre, a Home windows app, however I’m nonetheless lacking a few third-party libraries I’d prefer to have available, like Google Play Books, which I’ve been utilizing for a very long time on Android, and this one app I began utilizing to seize Romanian ebooks. The Play Retailer additionally lets me learn my newspapers via their cell apps: the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Occasions.

The Go 6’s Android software program gives built-in entry to the Google Play Retailer with out requiring a third-party resolution. Organising a Google account on the machine is simple, after which you possibly can entry the Google Play Retailer and obtain apps. However it’s not a copy-and-paste Android expertise. The model of Android 11 that runs on the Go 6 shouldn’t be the person interface you’re used to on a smartphone. As an example, there are two extra buttons within the navigation bar for refreshing the web page and accessing the settings—you’ll be utilizing that refresh button fairly a bit, relying on the content material you’re perusing. The notifications panel drops if you happen to drag down from the higher left facet of the display screen. The fast settings can be found on the higher proper facet. It’s fluid if you happen to’ve used Android on a pill, although it’s typically felt sluggish on the Go 6.

Whereas I bought the San Francisco Chronicle loaded to learn on the Onyx Boox Go 6, I haven’t been capable of sync up the New York Occasions—arguably the subscription the place I’m attempting to get my bang for the buck. There appears to be an authentication difficulty I haven’t been capable of troubleshoot but. (The browser instances out when I attempt to log in.) On the very least, what I’ve managed to expertise studying the Chronicle app has been comparatively pain-free, save for the instances the Go 6 would crash on me mid-scroll. It helps that cell information apps of this kind are fairly rudimentary. It’s simply black textual content on a white background. Relatedly, the Go 6 has extra problem scrolling if you happen to go into darkish mode. I attempted perusing Reddit via the Chrome browser on the Go 6 that manner, however the display screen couldn’t sustain with every web page leap.

The one saving grace of the Go 6’s frequent sluggishness is that the e-reader doesn’t “catch up” on notifications for the Android apps you could have put in. When the e-reader is off and turned on once more, you’re not instantly bombarded by ineffective notifications for stuff from days or perhaps weeks in the past. You do get push notifications from information apps that help it, nevertheless it’s tempered. I seen it pushes solely the newest alert because the display screen has been on. 

Loading books on the Boox Go 6 in any other case is quick, although not as easy as dragging and dropping recordsdata from level A to level B utilizing a pc. As a substitute, the Go 6 makes use of BooxDrop, which creates a little bit WiFi direct/FTP state of affairs the place you possibly can drag and drop recordsdata via the browser. I loaded PDFs of classic magazines from the late ’90s and DRM-free comics I bought from SilverSprocket.  I additionally loaded up conventional CBR and EPUB recordsdata I’ve collected through the years. The Go 6 comes with a default 32GB of onboard storage. There’s a microSD slot if you wish to add extra, which I discovered is the simplest technique for onboarding a large library of ebooks you may have already got saved up.

What’s Inside

The Go 6 is a lighter machine than the Kindle Paperwhite by practically two ounces. Its 6-inch E Ink HD Carta 1300 show has a 1,448 by 1,072 decision. There are bezels on the machine, which is okay as a result of I prefer to have a little bit of chassis to carry onto when mendacity on my again. Boox additionally despatched over the magnetic cowl case to guard it. I like how svelte the entire bundle is, and I beloved the feel and appear of the machine alongside my different on a regular basis carry.

The Go 6 has a 2GHz octa-core processor powering it up, plus 2GB of RAM, which is why it’s not quick. It’s a slower expertise than any early-generation Android machine you’d use, although issues run extra easily if you happen to’re not leaping round between screens and apps. I discovered it finest to navigate to the app or title I wished to make use of after which hold it there. Anytime I attempted to multitask, I’d get a little bit flustered, remembering the entire level of this machine is to decelerate. I needed to constantly remind myself that there was a 14GB distinction in reminiscence between this cute little e-reader and my Pixel 9 Professional smartphone and that I wanted to behave the half. 

Ought to You Purchase the Boox Go 6?

One can find the Onyx Boox Go 6 at Goal and Wal-Mart for $150, about as a lot as the most recent Kindle Paperwhite on Amazon. The Go 6 is an honest various to a locked-in Kindle Paperwhite for a similar value. However simply because it runs Android doesn’t imply it runs Android apps. The apps present extra entry exterior an ecosystem of e-books over an in any other case plain e-reader. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t recommend this machine for somebody new to e-books or digital studying. 

In case you are in search of a platform-agnostic, non-OLED resolution to studying at night time, the Go 6 isn’t a nasty selection. Simply mood your expectations. Do not forget that the e-ink display screen shouldn’t be the identical as a smartphone. However the payoff is an unbelievable battery life for an e-reader—as much as 5 days consecutive days of studying off the charger in my testing—and the flexibility to load up a digital library of books, comics, and magazines onto one devoted machine. On the very least, the Boox Go 6 reminds you to maneuver slower than the tempo of the whole lot else lately, even in case you are ready some time for the web page to load.