Last fall Onyx released the Note Air 3 C, and it was their first “Note” model to come with a color E Ink screen, a Kaleido 3 screen to be specific, which debuted on their Tab Ultra C earlier in the year, and then in December Onyx released a Note Air3 with a regular black and white E Ink screen.
Both Note Air3 models share the same design and they have a lot of overlapping features. The main difference, of course, is the screen, and the color model features Boox’s BSR technology for faster refreshing and a smoother user experience, but at the cost of decreased battery life.
The color model also costs a lot more than the regular black and white version. $100 more to be exact. The Note Air3 C sells for $499 at Amazon and the regular Note Air3 sells for $399.
What’s surprising is, despite the higher price tag, the Note Air 3 C is outselling the regular Note Air, at least at Amazon, and it’s been that way ever since they started selling the black and white Note Air3.
On the product page for the color model is says they’ve sold 500+ units in the past month, whereas the regular Note Air3 page says they’ve sold 400+ units in the past month.
That’s not a huge difference, but considering the Note Air 3 C costs 25% more than the Note Air3, and the fact that a lot of people seem to think that color E Ink still isn’t good enough yet, it is rather unexpected.
I do think the regular Note Air3 would be more popular if it had a 300 ppi screen like the color version instead of a 227 ppi screen like all black and white eNotes not named the Kindle Scribe. But if it did have a 300 ppi screen Onyx would probably be charging more than $399 for it, probably more like $449.
Regardless, I still think it’s interesting to see the color version outselling the black and white version. It goes to show people are ready for color E Ink to take off, despite the drawbacks, like color screens appearing darker because of the added color filter layer.
However, the darker screen is still the most common complaint that comes up in regards to color E Ink, and that’s reflected in the reviews for the Note Air models. The color version has a 3.9-star rating at Amazon, with 112 reviews, and the black and white version has a 4.2-star rating with 18 reviews. It makes you wonder about the return rate, though. You’d think the color version would have a higher rate of returns since most people don’t really know what to expect with color E Ink yet.
Either way, it looks like color E Ink is the way of the future. I bet we’ll start seeing a lot more color E Ink devices getting released this year.
You hit all the right points for me, that’s exactly how I feel and I’d add that I also wouldn’t have gotten the NA3C if my older reader wasn’t threatening to die on me
While I don’t think BSR is driving the higher sales, If I got a 10 inch plus Boox these days, I would not get one without BSR. I already have a Kindle Scribe and an A5 gen 2 quaderno for large screen reading, and I don’t use the Scribe anymore due to the weight difference vs quaderno. I am kind of curious about using an Eink device as a tablet (mainly for web browsing), which may be possible with BSR.
It might be my dark apartment but where I read unless it’s sunrise I will have to use the backlight regardless of B/W or the colour display, so the lower contrast doesn’t bother me as much,
Unfortunately it hurts the battery which is awful.
Maybe awareness of colour e-ink capabilities is increasing. Did you see this e-ink covered car https://www.designboom.com/technology/bmw-i5-flow-nostokana-color-changing-technology-03-13-2024/ I wonder if things like that will further increase adoption of e-ink handheld devices?