3 methods this Android E Ink pill outshines my Kobo

Boox is an fascinating firm. The China-based E Ink gadget maker sells so many products that it is tough to determine what one is best for you. There’s the tiny, phone-like

Palma 2
, the expensive, stylus-equipped Note Max, after which the extra e-reader-like Go collection, together with the Go Coloration 7 (and shortly, the Go Coloration 7 Gen II).

Given the Boox Go 7’s 7-inch coloration display screen measurement and total design, the $250 pill is designed to compete instantly with e-readers like

Kindle’s Colorsoft
and

Kobo’s Libra Color
. Whereas I am nonetheless loyal to my Libra Coloration as a result of I admire its single-use simplicity, over the previous few weeks I’ve jumped into Boox’s versatile, Android-powered E Ink world.

There are fairly just a few issues I do not like in regards to the E Ink pill that I am going to cowl in an upcoming story, but it surely’s additionally shocked me in just a few methods, significantly with regard to how versatile it’s.

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Accessing Android apps is extra helpful than I anticipated

There’s nonetheless simply sufficient friction to stop me from doomscrolling

I at all times discover it tough to focus on studying longer-form content material on my smartphone, pill, or laptop computer. The siren tune of the unending doomscroll or a random

YouTube
video at all times calls out to me, and I discover myself ditching no matter I am studying much more shortly than I might like. This is the reason I have been massive on single-use e-readers just like the Kobo Libra Color. Regardless of their limitations, they hold me targeted and, in flip, truly studying.

However after spending just a few weeks with Boox’s Go Coloration 7, I perceive the enchantment. All through the day, I am going to usually take down Notes in Google Preserve, whether or not it is grocery lists, duties I want to finish, and even Pocket-lint headline or story concepts. For the reason that Go Coloration 7 is powered by Android, I can simply open up

Keep
and write down no matter I must with out having to drag out my telephone. The expertise is not precisely clean, even once you flip up the app’s refresh price (extra on this later), but it surely works and has me turning to my telephone rather less, which I admire.

This brings me to my subsequent level. A part of what makes the Boox Go Coloration 7 work is you could’t comfortably use it as an E Ink Android pill (The Verge’s David Pierce had related ideas in regards to the Palma). Social media apps are a laggy mess and YouTube movies look terrible on the Go Coloration 7 E Ink show, no matter how excessive you flip up the display screen’s refresh price. However a podcast on Spotify or Pocket Casts, or launching Firefox to shortly look one thing up? Boox’s Go Coloration 7 can simply deal with these duties when you flip the app refresh price up.

Possibly you are bored with typing in your passwords manually and need to set up

1Password
on the E Ink pill, similar to you’d on a smartphone? You are able to do that too. There’s simply sufficient friction right here to stop me from diving into apps I do not need to be utilizing after I’m targeted on studying, however the Boox Go Coloration 7 remains to be succesful sufficient for easy duties like brief note-taking or listening to a podcast. This implies I am snug leaving the home with simply Boox’s Go Coloration 7 if I need to do some phone-free studying at a close-by park.

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Accessing my library of Kobo books was simpler than I anticipated

Simply obtain the app and also you’re in

sw

One of many causes I’ve by no means thought of switching to a Kindle is as a result of I have already got a fairly substantial library of Kobo books. Fortunately, making the bounce to Boox’s gadgets is straightforward when you’re

coming from Kobo land
. All I must do is obtain the Kobo app from Google’s Play Retailer and signal into my account (after all, with the assistance of 1Password), and my library is there. I am even capable of pick-up books the place I left off on my Palma 2, or Kobo Libra Coloration, making the studying expertise that rather more seamless.

This additionally makes putting in apps like Libby, which is often utilized by libraries, very straightforward, alongside Pocket (which you

can also use with a Kobo
), Google’s eBookstore, Moon+ (which is absolutely well-liked with Boox customers), and extra. The truth that the Boox Go Coloration 7 runs Android opens up app compatibility that is a lot wider than e-readers from Kindle and Kobo.

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I’ve by no means used a E Ink pill that is this customizable

You possibly can actually make Boox’s Go 7 your personal

Excluding Kobo’s app for some purpose, you may customise precisely what you need the Boox Go Coloration 7 two facet buttons to do. That is one thing I’ve actually appreciated over the previous few weeks. On prime of that, every app’s refresh price will be custom-made.

I’ve shortly discovered that the Kobo app does not want a quick refresh price, but when I am utilizing Pocket Casts or Firefox, I’ve to show up the refresh price significantly for the app to be usable. To do that, choose the three-line settings choice beside the refresh button on the backside of the Go 7’s navigation menu. You possibly can then decide between Regular, Velocity, A2, and Regal. It’s also possible to change different settings like an app’s DPI and coloration by long-pressing on its icon and choosing Optimize.

Possibly you need to change the system-wide font? You are able to do that within the settings. Maybe the usual

Android System Bar
is an eye-sore for you. Don’t be concerned, simply make it solely seem once you swipe down on the show. It’s also possible to change the House Display to launch a number of completely different choices, together with your apps or settings. It is even potential to vary what number of presses it is advisable make on the display screen earlier than it does a full-system E Ink show refresh (the default is 10).

I am going to have extra on Boox’s Go Coloration 7 quickly, together with among the key points I’ve skilled with the E Ink pill over the previous few weeks.

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