The Boox Note Max is a 13-inch e-reader that features a crisp display, practical tools, and one of the most impressive digital pen experiences I’ve tested.
The Boox Note Max comes bundled with the pen and case for $649.
It’s thin and light, has a high-contrast display, and has a long list of features that make it a very versatile device.
Theres no backlight, it’s monochromatic, and there’s a bit of a learning curve to use it to its fullest.
I went hands-on with the Remarkable Paper Pro last year and thought that was a big tablet. The latest Boox Note Max takes things to another level with a 13.3-inch display, the size of a standard A4 piece of paper. It’s almost as thin, too — at just 0.18 inches, resulting in a physically impressive, premium device.
The capacitive touch display is a smooth glass-covered Carta 1300 screen, unlike the slightly more textured surface on the Remarkable Paper Pro. I won’t keep bringing up the Remarkable, I promise, but the comparison between the two has to be made since these two devices are the only premium e-readers on the same level in terms of performance and features.
The Boox Note Max has a resolution of 3200 x 2400 (QUXGA) and features 300 pixels per inch. When combined with the thin form factor, this delivers a very high-contrast, sharp image with ink that appears very close to the surface, like paper.Boox Note Max
The size of an A4 piece of paper, the Note Max has an extensive feature set and thin and light form factor.
The device itself is remarkably thin, weighing 615 grams (1.3 pounds), but it doesn’t feel fragile. It’s premium but rather neutral, with rounded corners and a clean white backing. The entire tablet feels like one single unit, without any bend or give between the components. The best part: when lying flat on a table, it resembles a piece of paper.
Under the hood, it has 6GB of RAM and a 2.8Ghz Snapdragon A55 processor, with support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0. The hardware results in fast-enough speeds when navigating through the windows, but it’s not instantaneous, as there is a bit of a delay that’s normal fare with e-readers. The on-screen keyboard, in particular, requires some deliberate finger poking to type with, but it is just one of those things you get used to.
The display is monochromatic, which means no color, and importantly, there’s no backlight, which means you aren’t really going to be able to use it in low light. The ultrathin and light form factor is the trade-off for these two features resulting in the device’s ultrathin, uniform design. The plus side of this is that it looks great in bright light, so you could easily take it to the beach.
The writing experience on the Note Max is very satisfying.
