3 methods this Android E Ink pill outshines my Kobo

Boox is an fascinating firm. The China-based E Ink gadget 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 sequence, together with the Go Coloration 7 (and shortly, the Go Coloration 7 Gen II).

Given the Boox Go 7’s 7-inch shade display screen dimension and total 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 Coloration as a result of I respect its single-use simplicity, over the previous few weeks I’ve jumped into Boox’s versatile, Android-powered E Ink world.

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

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The tiny e-reader has a number of points, nevertheless it helped me overcome certainly one of mine and skim extra.

Accessing Android apps is extra helpful than I anticipated

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

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

YouTube
video all the time calls out to me, and I discover myself ditching no matter I am studying way more shortly than I would like. Because of this I have been massive on single-use e-readers just like the Kobo Libra Color. Regardless of their limitations, they preserve me targeted and, in flip, really studying.

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

Keep
and write down no matter I have to with out having to drag out my cellphone. The expertise is not precisely easy, even while you flip up the app’s refresh fee (extra on this later), nevertheless it works and has me turning to my cellphone rather less, which I respect.

This brings me to my subsequent level. A part of what makes the Boox Go Coloration 7 work is which 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 Coloration 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 shortly look one thing up? Boox’s Go Coloration 7 can simply deal with these duties if you happen to flip the app refresh fee up.

Perhaps 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 stop me from diving into apps I do not need to be utilizing after I’m targeted on studying, however the Boox Go Coloration 7 continues to be succesful sufficient for easy duties like quick note-taking or listening to a podcast. This implies I am snug leaving the home with simply Boox’s Go Coloration 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 reasonably substantial library of Kobo books. Fortunately, making the leap to Boox’s units 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 in a position to pick-up books the place I left off on my Palma 2, or Kobo Libra Coloration, making the studying expertise that rather more seamless.

This additionally makes putting in apps like Libby, which is usually utilized by libraries, very simple, 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 Coloration 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’ll be able to actually make Boox’s Go 7 your individual

Aside from Kobo’s app for some cause, you’ll be able to customise precisely what you need the Boox Go Coloration 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 may be personalized.

I’ve shortly realized 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 choice beside the refresh button on the backside of the Go 7’s navigation menu. You’ll be able to then choose between Regular, Pace, A2, and Regal. It’s also possible to change different settings like an app’s DPI and shade by long-pressing on its icon and deciding on Optimize.

Perhaps 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 while you swipe down on the show. It’s also possible to change the Dwelling Display to launch a number of completely different choices, together with your apps or settings. It is even potential to vary what number of presses it is advisable 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 Coloration 7 quickly, together with a number of the key points I’ve skilled with the E Ink pill over the previous few weeks.

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