An elegant 10-inch ebook reader with flexible format support
Most E Ink readers available in the US are 6- or 7-inch models because those are the appropriate sizes for one-handed reading of most books. However, people who read large-format documents or frequently take notes might prefer a tablet with more screen real estate, such as the $499.99 Onyx Boox Note Air 2. The Note Air 2 takes the reins from its excellent predecessor as the most capable and physically delightful E Ink tablet in its size range. The device also isn’t tied to any one format or ecosystem, either—it can run any Android reading app. We ran into some inconsistencies with its note-taking experience and wish it was waterproof, but those issues don’t prevent the Note Air 2 from being worthy of our Editors’ Choice award. Cool and Classy In a mostly plastic E Ink landscape, the Note Air 2’s metal frame stands out. At 9.1 by 7.7 by 0.2 inches (HWD) and 14.8 ounces, it’s the same size and weight as last year’s model. It balances decently well in one hand, but is a bit too heavy to hold like that for extended periods. The tablet is smooth and cool, with a flat front and a grip area to the left of the 10.3-inch,1,872-by-1,404-pixel screen. The included pen doesn’t require charging and attaches magnetically to the right side of the tablet. The magnetic grip isn’t that strong, however, so it’s pretty easy to knock the pen loose. Unfortunately, the tablet isn’t waterproof. The Note Air 2 uses an E Ink Carta HD screen, not the newer E Ink Carta 1200 panel that the Kobo Elipsa uses. Compared side by side, the Elipsa turns pages slightly more quickly and its front light is slightly bluer and brighter. On the other hand, the Note Air 2 has a color-changing light that goes from blue to yellow. Both tablets sport the same resolution, with 226 pixels per inch. The Onyx Note Air 2 (left) has a much less blue front light than the Kobo Elipsa (right) Unlike Kindles, the Note Air 2 has a speaker and a microphone. The tablet lacks a headphone jack—the whole thing is slimmer than a 3.5mm plug—but you can connect Bluetooth headphones to it. A power button and a USB-C port round out the exterior features. It connects to the internet using dual-band Wi-Fi. The Note Air 2’s plastic active stylus is cylindrical; one side is flat and magnetized (for attaching to the tablet), while textured lines to help with grip. There are no buttons on the body. A replacement pen costs $45.99 and a pack of five tips costs $20.99. Ideal for Reading Onyx devices are a paradise for tweakers. They feature color and brightness sliders for the front light; darkness and contrast sliders for image rendering; and four different refresh rate options. This flexibility is useful if you read different kinds of PDFs. For example, a color document may benefit from higher contrast, while a scanned black-and-white one could use less sharpening. Onyx’s reading app, NeoReader, is another advantage. The app supports in-document annotations, PDF tables of contents, and even OCR for PDF documents. The Note Air 2 loaded every document I tried (even PDFs and CBR graphic novels that are hundreds of pages long) within a few seconds and flipped through pages smoothly. Yet another strength of the Onyx platform is that you can read in whatever app you prefer, including the Kindle app.
