Back in October Onyx released the 10.3-inch Onyx Note Air with a new design and lower price than their other Note models, and so far it appears to be a big success.
Onyx released three other new models around the same time—the Nova3, the Max Lumi, the Poke3—and what I find interesting is it appears the Note Air is by far and away the most popular model.
Obviously I have no way of knowing Onyx’s actual sales figures, but if you just go by the number of customer reviews posted for the Note Air it has more reviews than all the other new models combined.
At Amazon the Note Air currently has 54 reviews. By comparison the Note3 only has 4 reviews posted and it was released at the same time. The Nova3 has 21 reviews and the Max Lumi has 32 reviews, and the Max was released a month earlier.
On Onyx’s own website the Note Air reviews far outpace reviews for other products as well. The Note3 looks like it has more reviews but that’s just because most of those are for the earlier Note2. Upon closer evaluation only 2 are for the Note3, compared to 20 for the Note Air.
So what is it about the Note Air that makes it so much more desirable than Onyx’s other models?
Is it the new design? Is it the lower price?
The Note3 has better specs (more storage space, more RAM, and it has a much larger battery and is lighter) so it’s interesting to see more people choosing the Note Air instead. It is $80 cheaper than the Note3 but it would appear the design is a bigger factor than the price for most folks.
Last month I posted a review of the Note Air, and while I think it’s a really nice device, I still prefer the Note2 with its longer battery life and lighter design that’s easier to hold.
Moving forward it will be interesting to see where Onyx goes from here. The Note Air is clearly a popular device. I wonder if it will send Onyx in a new direction. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them come out with a 7.8-inch Nova model with a similar design. Some people don’t like offset designs on ebook readers, but others clearly do, and that’s the direction things have been going lately with the Kobo Libra H2O, the Kobo Forma, and Kindle Oasis.
I would hazard a guess that the selection is based on the wireless connectivity as described on ‘zon:
* Note3 says only “4G” — meaning “it’s a phone”.
* Note Air says “Bluetooth and WiFi” — meaning “it’s a computer”
In other words, it’s about the implied method of downloading new books more than anything else. I already have WiFi and don’t want another 4G (with a monthly cost) appliance
I can see why you would think that based on their listing at Amazon, but the Note3 does not have 4G. None of Onyx’s devices do. What they’re referring to is 4GB of RAM. They should fix that because it’s basically false advertising saying it has 4G.
I like reading in landscape mode, so I appreciate the perfect symmetry of the onyx boox air. I also believe that many potential buyers of the remarkable 2 finally bought the onyx boox air because the software of the rM2 is too crapy. The only shortcoming for me is the weight of the boox air.
Good point about the Remarkable. I think it was clearly their intention to go after the Remarkable’s share of the market. That’s my biggest complaint too: I wish it was lighter. I think they figured they could make people think it was lighter if they put the word “Air” in the name. 😀
Exactly. I bought both the RM2 and the Note Air and after using them for a while decided to keep the Note Air. So far I am happy with my decision.
I find that I am clearly in the offset design camp(have an Oasis and Forma). If the Onyx Note Air had the same specs, and or page buttons. as the Note 3 I would probably have purchased it already. If they come out with a 64 gig variant I will probably go ahead and get it.
I think part of the popularity is because there is no large device with a similar design-the Note 3 looks like other Onyx models and specs are not that different.
Sometimes /for some, it is not all about the numbers-it is what appeals…to each their own.
In the 10.3 inch range, I prefer the Likebook Alita to the Boox Notes because of SD and many file systems – I haven’t found anything why I need the stronger Boox hardware.
I have the Boox Note Air exclusively because of the new design and the much better screen (lighting)
Does Likebook still sell the Alita? I haven’t seen it available on Amazon in ages.
It should be out of stock at the moment, but it is available at least in China and Germany
I hope there will be a boox nova air without the note-taking layer.