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 dear, stylus-equipped Note Max, after which the extra e-reader-like Go sequence, together with the Go Shade 7 (and shortly, the Go Shade 7 Gen II).

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

Kindle’s Colorsoft
and

Kobo’s Libra Color
. Whereas I am nonetheless loyal to my Libra Shade 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 a couple of issues I do not like concerning the E Ink pill that I am going to cowl in an upcoming story, but it surely’s additionally stunned me in a couple of methods, significantly with regard to how versatile it’s.

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The tiny e-reader has a number of points, but it surely helped me overcome one in every of mine and skim extra.

Gaining access to Android apps is extra helpful than I anticipated

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

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

YouTube
video all the time calls out to me, and I discover myself ditching no matter I am studying much more rapidly than I might like. For this reason I have been massive on single-use e-readers just like the Kobo Libra Color. Regardless of their limitations, they preserve me centered and, in flip, truly studying.

However after spending a couple of weeks with Boox’s Go Shade 7, I perceive the enchantment. All through the day, I am going to typically take down Notes in Google Maintain, whether or not it is grocery lists, duties I would like to finish, and even Pocket-lint headline or story concepts. For the reason that Go Shade 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 easy, even if you flip up the app’s refresh fee (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 Shade 7 work is which you can’t comfortably use it as an E Ink Android pill (The Verge’s David Pierce had comparable ideas concerning the Palma). Social media apps are a laggy mess and YouTube movies look terrible on the Go Shade 7 E Ink show, no matter how excessive you flip up the display’s refresh fee. However a podcast on Spotify or Pocket Casts, or launching Firefox to rapidly look one thing up? Boox’s Go Shade 7 can simply deal with these duties for those who flip the app refresh fee up.

Possibly you are uninterested in typing in your passwords manually and wish to set up

1Password
on the E Ink pill, identical to you’d on a smartphone? You are able to do that too. There’s simply sufficient friction right here to forestall me from diving into apps I do not wish to be utilizing once I’m centered on studying, however the Boox Go Shade 7 continues 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 Shade 7 if I wish 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-about switching to a Kindle is as a result of I have already got a fairly substantial library of Kobo books. Fortunately, making the leap to Boox’s units is easy for those who’re

coming from Kobo land
. All I must do is obtain the Kobo app from Google’s Play Retailer and signal into my account (in fact, 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 Shade, making the studying expertise that rather more seamless.

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

can also use with a Kobo
), Google’s eBookstore, Moon+ (which is actually fashionable with Boox customers), and extra. The truth that the Boox Go Shade 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 may actually make Boox’s Go 7 your personal

Except Kobo’s app for some motive, you’ll be able to customise precisely what you need the Boox Go Shade 7 two facet buttons to do. That is one thing I’ve actually appreciated over the previous few weeks. On high of that, every app’s refresh fee will be custom-made.

I’ve rapidly discovered that the Kobo app would not want a quick refresh fee, but when I am utilizing Pocket Casts or Firefox, I’ve to show up the refresh fee 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 may then choose between Regular, Pace, A2, and Regal. You can too change different settings like an app’s DPI and shade by long-pressing on its icon and choosing Optimize.

Possibly you wish 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 if you swipe down on the show. You can too change the Dwelling Display to launch a number of totally different choices, together with your apps or settings. It is even attainable to vary what number of presses you should make on the display 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 Shade 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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