Onyx has rolled out a back-to-school sale for their flagship Max3 and Note2 ereaders and digital notepads that are essentially E Ink tablets.
Both devices are on sale at Amazon and directly from Onyx’s website.
The 13.3-inch Onyx Boox Max3 is marked down to $779 with free shipping. That’s $80 off the regular price. It’s Onyx’s largest device. It’s especially good for PDFs, and it can also be used as an E Ink monitor thanks to the HDMI port (it’s the only Onyx model that has one, and it’s also the only model without a frontlight). More details can be found on my Max3 review page.
The 10.3-inch Onyx Boox Note2 is marked down to $519 with free shipping, which is $30 off the regular price. The special offers section also shows that you can add a case to the order for free, which normally sells for $40.
As far as hardware, these devices have 2.0 GHz octa-core processors and 4GB of RAM, with 64GB for storage. They have Bluetooth and support dual band WiFi. The USB-C port supports OTG for connecting storage devices and things like keyboards. Both have a fingerprint sensor and a Wacom touchscreen for writing and drawing with an included stylus. The Note2 adds a frontlight with adjustable color temperature.
Both devices run Onyx’s customized version of Android 9.0. They have Google Play support and can install Android apps, including the Kindle app, which works surprisingly well. Onyx’s built-in reading app supports a number of formats, notably ePub and PDF, and you can use the stylus to write directly on ebooks and PDFs.
If you happened to purchase one of these devices within seven days before the sale started on August 1st, you can contact Onyx about their price-matching policy.
These things are so WAY over-priced that it’s ridiculous. I wouldn’t ever consider buying one. Their so-called “sale” prices are a joke too. Why would anyone buy these things with such exhorbitant prices? It’s E-ink. The experience could not possibly compare to even a budget or mid-range tablet. These things are more expensive than a friggin’ iPad Air 3.- maybe some of the PROS too.! The people at Onyx must be crazy.
I don’t recommend buying the Boox Note2 10.3
e-reader myself! I ordered one on December 12, 2019, it cost me $779.99 Canadian. A luxury item but reading comes in first, second and third as my top hobbies and I figured in two years of use, my new large screen e-reader would pay for itself with the enjoyment of using it to read hundreds of books.
Two days ago two rows of dead pixels appeared running vertical and horizontally down my screen, I previously owned 5 e-readers; 1 Sony, 2 Kobo and 2 Kindle (DX and Voyage). All still running and regifted.
I had one dead pixel show up on both the Kindle Voyage and Kobo Aura One but said dead pixel’s appeared only after years of use. To have two entire lines of dead pixels appear on my Boox Note2 10,3 after minimal time and use of the e-reader is very disappointing!
I left a review on Amazon.ca of my experience today which is pending approval. For the amount of money the Boox Note2 cost, it should last for years and have a top build quality.
After this experience I likely will move over to using an iPad for reading e-books. I still have a first generation iPad Air which runs great using the Kindle and Kobo app. Using the iPad is a little hard on my eyes but I trust Apple’s build quality and the fact that when there is a problem, I have the connivence to go to a local Apple retail store and have it fixed.