Even after Voja's excellent Deep Guide I learnt something new: that scans of documents in pdf form can be improved by reflowing them! The font becomes clearer (but of course isn't reflown as such) and most importantly the ink stains on the paper from a photocopy machine are cleared from the pdf. This is so helpful for me as a student! Thank you so much, MUO.
Hi Stephen, thanks for the kind words! Unfortunately, I shipped the unit back to the manufacturer, but I can summarize both of the features that I demonstrated in the video and in the article (the article explains the features in more detail). These software enhancements work in all versions of Onyx's 2.0 or later version of their firmware, so that's anything made in 2018 or later. 1. On-the-Fly Translation Feature: Open a foreign language book from the Library (it should automatically open in NeoReader). Then tap on the middle of the text to open the menu. Then from the context menu, choose "Split View" and then choose "Current Doc & Translate" from the follow up options. The ebook should then get translated, with the original language copy on the left side and the translation on the right. 2. To Reflow a Document: Tap on the middle of a book to open the menu. Then choose "Format". From the follow-up menu, select "Reflow" (it's hard to find but it's near the upper-right of the menu). Then you can play with the text sizes, columns, etc... Columns should match the number of columns in the scanned document, not whether you want columns in the reflowed text. I hope that helps!
Just got my Note Air this week. I’m understanding how much of a learning curve there is with this. I’m coming from a Remarkable 1, which had a much more simple interface.
Learning curve, really? Hum, took me about a week to set up the way I like, I never felt like it was a tough learning in any way. Actually I found it pretty intuitive and fun to explore along the way. I say don’t let this worry you. But compared to the Remarkable 1 there’s so much more under the hood but not over done and too many features to distract but of course that depends on how YOU set it up.
I recently stumbled across your blog posts on this subject and it sent me down this e-reader rabbit hole. I have watched every video review on RU-vid now, and here I find you again! :) On an unrelated note - this is as good an opportunity as any I guess - I want to thank you for your work in teaching creative coding and math. The knowledge I gained from reading your old ActionScript book Making Things Move has pretty much been the basis for my whole career in programming and motion design. And your RU-vid series was really good as well. Hope to see more of your blogging and vlogging in the future!
@@gummifer haha. thanks for the shout out. as it turns out, I did get this exact model and do indeed love the Note Air. Now there's a Note Air 2 and Note Air 2 Pro, but the original Note is working great for me.
Nice review, wanting a wacom for some work and fun and really needing an e-reader, but this price is way higher than I am now willing to pay (it's 2020 my dudes )
The market for these tablets has been increasing, but until they hit full-blown mainstream status, we're all stuck paying higher prices for a niche product.
Thank you for interesting review. I am student and considering to purchase Remarkable 2, as I will be just taking notes and read e-documents. Is it not better than Onyx air for writing and managing the comments ( turning the writing coments to text etc.). Thank you for your opionon.
I like the Remarkable 2 for note-taking but its e-reading experience is remarkably poorer compared to any of Onyx's larger-format ereaders. Forgive my bad pun. ;-)
Great review! Could you please make one for Boox Nova 3 and it's functionality. I find it a little tricky that you are invited to use the Onyx Boox account for exporting files. I wonder if it's secure enough and even though I can open or try to open files in other apps like google drive and dropbox, I find it tedious that you have to go around it. Well, I guess it is what it is... Thank you so much for your reviews. First class👍🏻
Hi Geronimo, thanks! I did review the Nova 3 (www.makeuseof.com/tag/onyx-boox-nova2-review/) and it has identical software and almost identical hardware to the Note Air (it has a 7.8-inch screen). I didn't demo all of the features in the video review though. It's also not as nicely built but it is cheaper. IMO, the 10.3-inch form factor is far better for note-taking in the margins of books as well as reading legal-sized documents. But the 7.8-inch model is credibly the best of its class in 2020. I'm waiting on buying until a color version is released.
Can you highlight moments of the text, and export them to notes then ? Like you'd do with the oasis kindle ? Can you use it at night with warm light ? I'm a PhD student and it seems amazing. Those who have it, do you recommend it ?? Can you easily read Academic papers/articles on it ?
Phew finally someone on the same boat. Yeah from what I've seen across various reviews and articles, it achieves almost everything that we need. Annotating, split screen for quick notes, Google play!!!! (= many Zotero integrations!!!!). It feels like it has one of the best note taking abilities in addition to being a multipurpose tablet. Remarkable 2 has the best note taking integration, but it's a big trouble to configure it for our use (annotating is a pain it, you need to upload it to the pc then download it on the tablet, ehhh moving on). Only thing upsetting is the price. 480 to get me through my dissertation? or do I just stick to my laptop and pen and paper? :shrugs:
@@adarshakkshai8268 ahaha. Thanks a lot for this com... Yup, i'm honestly in the exact same situation ... I hate paper though and try to avoid it ... I just bought a KOBO (way cheaper) and i'm like, maybe i'll send it back, I don't know ... I'm looooost dear friend. Thanks a lot for ur feeback
@@adarshakkshai8268 and @AnotherproblemOn you're going to have to spend a lot of time configuring it for note taking, particularly for a graduate student. I can only tell you a limited amount on this subject: First, all highlighted and annotated text is stored as metadata in a folder (same name as the book you're reading) in your book directory. You can edit and read this text in code view by opening it with a text editor. I don't know how hand-written notes appear but I would guess it's stored as an image somehow. (I"m sorry for neglecting to adequately test this feature). Second, the metadata contains the highlighted text as well as the position and location (page number). But it's worthless if you've reflowed the text. I think if you jump out of reflow mode, though, you'll be able to use the metadata to locate where in the text the notes were made. Although if you made handwritten notes in reflow mode, those notes will be hard to connect to the original text.
@@kannony5393 Thanks a lot ! Maybe some ppl out there will develop apps such as "kobonotes" and equivalent for kindle, in the future. I personaly on my kobo added a small line of code permitting me to export notes (wasn't complicated and many websites were explaining how to do it), but i wish there would be some apps permitting to have it automatically done on the cloud ! that'd be soooo nice. And also, on kobo, i can only do it on epub formats. Here, do you think it's doable on a PDF format ? PS : thank you so much for your help,
@@AnotherproblemOn I think you can set Dropbox (or other cloud storage apps) to automatically upload that metadata, but there are a whole lot of other hoops you have to jump through to get background apps working... and it'll not be good for battery life. I've made highlights on PDF documents. But, again, I don't know what handwriting will look like.
Great review. i would love to have one(as a reading and note taking device for college)just for info: have you tried using the stylus in google/microsoft applications?(onenote,etc..?),is the latency and experience that bad compared to the native app or compared to the ipad? Thanks for the explanation!
Using handwriting in MS Office applications is that bad; I didn't want to believe it, but it's seriously not usable. Typing however is a different thing, especially if you use Gboard as the digital keyboard of choice as it's faster than the ONYX native one. But - I would only ever make use of MS Office apps in a case of urgency. It's just not comfortable imho.
@@kannony5393 Thanks for your reply. I still couldn't find any information about PWM for this device whcih I believe is a deal breaker for someone looking for an eye strain-free experience. Otherwise, most users would prefer an ipad over e-reader if the same level of eye strain is the case for both.
@@alirany It might be possible to use a smart phone camera to detect PWM. My guess is that it would have flicker at low brightness levels and undetectable flicker at high brightness levels. But my best guess is that they almost certainly do not use PWM. Judging from the specs, though, if PWM only modulates the length of a pulse (or length of the voltage being supplied), then it's software and not a hardware feature. In which case, it's probably not supported. I've emailed Onyx's public relations to see whether they support it. If they respond, I'll let you know.
@@alirany Onyx got back to me. They confirmed that it does not use PWM to control the frontlight. Here's their response: "Quite a techinical problem. Consulting my colleague in hardware devlopment, Boox ereaders use non- PWM LED driver, which avoids flicker of LED bulbs of frontlight component."
I dont understand why they put the sleep button on the side. Would it not be really easy to accidentally hit while reading? I have a kindle and they put the sleep button on the bottom and I hit it all the time. It is infuriating.
I suppose that could be an issue for some, but personally I've never had any issues with hitting the button accidentally, despite having read from the device in most thinkable positions. I guess the overall size just makes it unlikely that you hit the small button and it is also fairly stiff, so strafing it lightly with a finger won't trigger it. You have to press it with some confidence.
5:10 why no speakers? that it's useful to use text-to-speech and read documents, emails, and many other things ... I could love an headphone jack to hear music while I'm reading.
You can use blue-tooth earphones/headphones or a usb-c headphone, if needed. Not sure why he would try an e-ink device to view videos since that's not it's primary purpose.
@@stephenleach3110 I think Maisonier knew that already. The reviewer had mentioned it has a speaker but he preferred that it should not have one since he thought it would be a distraction, say if you get audible notifications as an example. Ofc, you can turn that off as an option anyway.
@@fmagic2000able @maisonier maybe it's because I've never had (or seen) an ereader with speakers before? That they exist isn't an issue, but I wonder what the impact on weight and cost would have been to leave those hardware components off. Probably a minor impact at most. Some people will appreciate those features, but on an Android platform, it seems superfluous as many people have phones and if they needed notificatoins, they could more conveniently get them there. On the ereader, it seems more of a distraction and yet another feature that most people will likely disable. I used the text-to-speech feature with headphones on my Boox Nova Pro and it worked well (usin Google's Speech-to-Text software). I neglected to test this feature on the Note Air. :-(
@@KannonYamada Just an FYI, Amazon older kindle devices (the large ones anyway) use to have speakers for TTS and audible books. Concerning Onyx's choice to use the Android platform, I think it was a business decision to use that instead of doing a custom OS from scratch or some other forked version of Linux as was done on the rM tablets. I figure Onyx was leveraging the APIs and tools that Android offers for their platform as a "quick", solid foundation for developing their e-ink tablets. By doing so, probably allowed them to get them to market faster, not to mention be able to add features not normally found on other e-readers - anyway, that my two cents for what it is worth.
I tried with a USB-C keyboard. So it supports OTG so you can use any USB-C or microUSB keyboard with it. For typing the lag isn't terrible. While it's not as responsive as an LCD, it comes close, particularly if you put it in the fastest refresh mode. Personally, I found it almost as good as an LCD tablet although it's probably only good for emails and not for more strenuous composing tasks. There are a lot of issues with black-and-white screens displaying hyperlinks (you can barely see links) and overall, I'd say it's good for writing on the go but not good enough as a daily driver.
@@kannony5393 Wow! That was great stuff! And yeah, I was thinking of as a writing machine, long form writing, which seems that this isn't really good for that. I was hoping for something light on the eyes, but this isn't it.
@@jonglass nice! Glad that I could help. My biggest issue with writing on Android is that it doesn't have advanced composing tools that you might find in Word. Onyx ereaders have a short lag between when you enter text and when it registers on the screen. Although X-Mode (the fastest refresh setting available on the Note Air) offers significantly better performance, it's still not quite as good as LCD. And in X-Mode, there are a lot of artifacts on the screen, which can be off putting to some. But to clarify, there's nothing terrible about writing on it, I just feel there are better options out there if you are primarily interested in writing. There is an upcoming "reflective LCD" tablet coming out (supposedly any day now, but I'm not holding my breath) called the TCL TabMid and TCL TabMax. They have reduced contrast ratio compared to E Ink and regular LCD, but they're non-reflective and easy on the eyes. I think if you are okay with writing on an Android device, these two options are probably going to be better than E Ink (and they also cost a lot less, even the 10-inch TabMax).
I enabled auto scroll in Moonreader on the older Boox Nova Pro. Which feature are you interested in? The only issue I could find is in speed reader mode where you have to use X-Mode or A2 to be able to fluidly read at the higher speed settings. A2 goes up to 500 WPM and X-Mode can use speed read without dropping words well beyond that. I think at least more than 700 WPM.
I bought it, tried it for a month and it's now for sale on eBay. The firmware is shocking and completely nullifies the usability of the lovely hardware
@@kannony5393 Yes, but the tablet's WIFI is woeful and I don't trust the response I am getting from the device when it tells me that I have the latest updates
I've just got one, with the cover and I find the pen very secure even with the cover open. The pen clips to the smooth metal case but also touched the cover and does not slip.
@@stephenleach3110 one thing I didn't mention is that you can power the device on and off by either attaching the pen to the front portion of the "chin" (or the thickened bezel), right where there's the Boox lettering. It allows you to avoid pushing the power button every time you want to turn it on or off. It wasn't 100% reliable, but it worked well enough. :-)
@Kannon Y Thanks for that too. There seems to be a sensor mid way between the on/off button and the USB-C socket that detects the magnet in the cover opening and closing. If you apply the pen with the point up and the top, non writing end, about half an inch below the orange stripe it is very reliable.
UPDATE: If I may share what I've learned, the Note Air is a very poor product after all. Once I received it and spent several hours with it, mostly marking up research pdfs, I discovered how truly horrible it is. That's despite the glowing reviews many give it -- but keep in mind 90%+ of those reviews are made by people that don't really use the device (i.e. they are 'reviewers') or don't use it daily for professional applications. But, there's also one more thing I discovered... the Onyx company that makes the Note Air and other ereaders is extremely unfriendly, and they are bound, as they said in an email, to "policies of the Republic of China" and thus are unable to handle returns or refunds like the rest of the world has become accustomed to. I went through endless (and pointless) communications with them about doing a return. I'd only used the device for one weekend, that was all it took. My warning is to not do business with Onyx, unless you've got money to burn and like getting walked on. The money spent on an Onyx Boox e--reader would be better spent towards a high-end regular tablet. Original comments: Yes, a fine device. I have a Boox Note Air. But the software is pretty awful when you actually sit down to use it. For some reason in early 2021 it's still ok for this to happen -- make a nice device, load it with software that hasn't been through rigorous "usability" testing. What you have in the Onyx Boox operating system (an Android version) is a patchwork of interfaces that do the same things, but in different ways, layouts and workflows. It's quite annoying and quite clear that multiple programmers had their hands in it all, each with their own idea of how to implement things. If you're in the Notes area, there's a simple and useable UI. But move over to the vaunted NeoReader and you're in for a nightmare of mish-mashed toolbars and icons top and bottom that make your head spin. And then there are odd third UIs that show up when certain pop-ups happen. In the end, it's an unnecessary mess. My advice to Onyx, invest in cleaning up and unifying the numerous UIs that exist on the device. And, let's not even get into their horrible spelling and language usage errors that pepper all of it -- a product of English not being the first language of this device's creators. Nor, the non-standard ways of logging into their bizarre online cloud system with nomenclatures that require looking up, studying and trial by error. I'm still within my 15 day free-return window and am in doubt about whether I'll keep it, though I know there's little real competition in this market.
This is an Android issue rather than Onxy's fault, isn't it? I agree, but that's always been true of Android apps, compared to iOS - so many UI styles floating around and no common design language.
E-tablets/readers aren't traditional tablets. As an academic who reads countess journal articles and takes a ton of notes, I prefer these devices over traditional tablets for their lightweight, long battery life, small size, and functionality in terms of annotating articles. For anyone willing to take two or three days to learn how to properly use Onyx devices the benefits are well worth it. As for refunds, Best Buy sells these devices and offers refunds if the device is returned within 15 days.
@@RK-um9tu I agree - to compare this to an iPad is apples and oranges. Also, as with Best Buy, my understanding is that if you purchase from amazon, the device is subject to amazon’s prime return policies.
I'm sorry about your experiences and will keep your criticisms in mind for future reviews, particularly regarding return policies. (I mentioned the return policy issue in the written review.) Above all else, I'm going to make it clear to readers that they should make their minds up within the 15- 90 day return period offered by retailers.
