Boox Note Air 3 C is a delightful colour e-reader you can write on

The Boox Note Air 3 C adds a dash of colour to a versatile 10.3-inch e-reader. And you can write on it.

The Boox Note Air 3 C is made by China-based Onyx, which also makes the pocketable Boox Palma that I reviewed here: https://lnkd.in/gZzWebas

I got hold of this device earlier in the week and I can't help but talk about it. Here are my 3 immediate impressions:

High-performance e-reader

Like the other Android e-readers that it sells, the Note Air 3 C comes with Google Play. This means you can install various apps for your reading pleasure.

My personal favourites are:

• Libby
• Kindle
• Pocket
• BookFusion

What surprised me was how fast the 2.4GHz Qualcomm CPU proved to be, allowing me to download and install apps very quickly.

There's also a MicroSD card slot should you need more space than the onboard 64MB of storage.

Great digital notepad

Can the Note Air 3 C replace the Remarkable 2? I was initially sceptical but found the writing experience on its default writing app a surprisingly close match to the Remarkable 2.

Overall, I would rate it slightly worse, but it's imperceptible and only clear when comparing them side-by-side.

I didn't like cluttered writing interface of the default Note app, but there's a minimalistic mode that is also customisable. And that proved very nice to use.

Can other Android writing apps be used? After extensive research, OneNote is surprisingly the best candidate here.

But while it's amazing to see individual pen strokes on the Note Air 3 C mirrored on the OneNote desktop app in almost real-time, it doesn't cut it for me.

Colour e-ink

Now to the burning question: How does the colour screen fare?

The Kaleido 3 panel in the Note Air 3 C is one of the most advanced colour e-ink screens available today.

• 4096 colours; 16 shades of grey.
• 300 dpi in black and white.
• 150 dpi in colour.

It's great to have a dash of colour.

• Magazines are far more readable.
• Highlighting works properly.
• Can actually surf the web.

However, don't expect tablet-like colours of vibrancy.

• Screen appears 'darker' than a non-colour device.
• Backlight can compensate but is less bright.
• Colour dpi is much lower than black dpi.

A worthy e-reader

Overall, I do like the Note Air 3 C very much. I'm exploring if it can replace my Remarkable 2, allowing me to carry one less device in my bag.

For now, I'm planning to explore using it for:

• Recording audio notes.
• Accessing my Obsidian notes.
• Replying emails with a keyboard (https://lnkd.in/gsavXAyP)

What do you think of colour e-ink readers like the Boox Note Air 3 C? Would you consider getting one?