Onyx has released another new Android-powered ereader and eNote called the Note Air2 Plus. It’s almost exactly the same as the previous Note Air2, but they changed a couple details.
Onyx is back to their old bag of tricks by releasing a “Plus” model. That used to mean they added more storage and RAM, but this time they just added a larger battery and the option to use a magnetic cover accessory. Additionally, the color of the new version is dark green instead of blue.
The battery size has gone up from 3000mAh to 3700mAh, and that also increased the overall weight of the device by 25 grams, now 445 grams overall.
Luckily they didn’t increase the price for a change so it still sells for the same price as the Note Air2 did, except now the Note Air2 is available for $20 less.
The Note Air2 Plus is available to order from Onyx’s Amazon store for $509.99 with free shipping. The new magnetic case sells for $50.99 (it does not work with the previous model).
It’s kind of surprising they didn’t include more upgrades than a larger battery and a magnetic cover, but it’s not surprising at all to see Onyx release a new version of the Note Air so soon after releasing the previous model.
That’s why I don’t review Onyx’s devices anymore. What’s the point if they’re just going to replace it with a new model in six months? The upgrades are usually so minor there’s virtually no usability difference to speak of; I would bet that this new model is 95% functionally identical to the original Note Air that was released in 2020. I’m sure it’s a nice device, though, but it’s a shame Onyx’s Note models keep getting heavier. I’m still using the ancient Note2 from 2019 and it only weighs 378 grams, and it has an even larger 4300mAh battery.
I don’t know the weight difference between mobius and Carta screens, but Note 2 you refer to has plastic substrate and so it’s lighter.
It may be the glass substrate Air has more strong build and it increases more yet its weight?
I am going to get one at some point. The Onyx Boox AirX (a new model all the time…which to me is better than Amazon’s every few years) will probably be out in a couple months.
Sooner or later an upgrade will really be significant.
Ridiculously frequent or not, it is nice to see a company so thoroughly dedicated to the eReader market.
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But seriously, this frequent a release schedule just drives people away. Maybe dial it back a tad, Onyx?
I’d say they’re more dedicated to the eNote market than the ereader market. Their ereader app really isn’t that good and it doesn’t even support books with DRM, and they only have a few devices that are just meant for reading. Their PDF software is excellent, though.
Nathan, you have said something similar a couple times. What would you say is lacking in their ebook app. besides drm ebook use?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a decent app with a lot of features but the onboard store is a joke when it comes to English-language ebooks and not supporting DRM is a big negative for people that don’t use Calibre to manage everything. Boox devices used to support Adobe DRM but they dropped that a long time ago. I just think most people prefer to use other ebook apps than the built-in app. The interface is rather awkward and there are like 20 different settings menus, and some of the little things are annoying. There’s no left justification, hyphenation is wonky (but at least it can be turned off), sometimes it’ll drop punctuation to the next line, it only comes with one English font type (at least they finally separated it from the 200+ system fonts that are a total mess to navigate, and none of the fonts are optimized for E Ink screens and most look terrible). It’s probably great for Chinese books but for English books it could still use some work. It’s definitely not on the same level as Kindles and Kobos from a pure ebook reading perspective.
I’m still wary about Onyx. Their refusal to release the source code for their Android build is against the use of the licence and makes it seem they are hiding something. What does it do they don’t want us to see?
The hardware like excellent but I’ll wait for a bit.
There’s definitely something fishy about Onyx as a company, and the way they handle customer returns when purchasing from their website is very questionable. There are lots of complaints about it, and that’s why I no longer link to their webstore.