The Onyx Boox Nova 3 Color is one of the first color ereaders, but it has some issues when it comes to the basics.
All hail color E Ink! Its mono incarnation may have been popularized by the original Kindle devices, but Amazon is yet to sell its icon of electronic paper in a form that shows any kind of color. Cue the Boox Nova 3 Color from Chinese company Onyx. Color is a long overdue feature, but it comes with a few pros and cons. There’s a lot more to the Boox Nova 3 Color than 4,096 shades of color. It’s got an open Android 10 operating system, it’s compatible with loads of apps from the Google Play Store (including Amazon’s Kindle app), and it has an enviable ability to open almost any file. It also comes with a Wacom stylus for annotating, writing and sketching. Coupled with a large 7.8-inch screen, solid battery life and fairly fluid performance, that makes this a versatile device that’s more capable than most ereaders. It even has a speaker for playing podcasts and audiobooks. That said, the Onyx Boox Nova 3 Color isn’t without its flaws. While getting books onto it is easy – no matter what source, store or file format you choose – actually reading them isn’t as pleasant here as on some rival devices, such as Amazon Kindles, as the screen doesn’t go as bright as we’d like and there’s more ghosting than we’ve come to expect. The color E Ink used here is also far from perfect, displaying in a disappointingly low resolution, and with fewer colors used than you’ll find on a tablet. Indeed, given the size of its screen, the Android operating system, and the use of color, the Onyx Boox Nova 3 Color is almost more a tablet than an ereader – just one with longer battery life. But if you want a tablet, the screen here doesn’t really cut it, and if you want to read books, Amazon’s options are better. That leaves the Onyx Boox Nova 3 Color as a niche device, for those who want to make heavy use of the included stylus, or who want a color screen that’s not OLED or LCD. Or just for early adopters who don’t mind the compromises (and high price) for a taste of the ereading future. For all of those people the Onyx Boox Nova 3 Color comes recommended, but for everyone else it’s likely to be a hard sell. Initially released in March 2021, you can order the Boox Nova 3 Color on the retailer’s website now. It costs $419.99 / €399,99, and while prices are in dollars (or euros if ordering from the European store), you can have it shipped to other regions too, with conversions coming in at around £340 / AU$585. It ships with a Wacom stylus in the box. The main difference between the original (and considerably more affordable) Boox Nova 3 and this new Boox Nova 3 Color is, of course, its display.
