By Nermeen Nabil Khear 
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Amazon dropped the Kindle Colorsoft, its first e-reader with a color screen, last fall, and you’d be forgiven for thinking that they were the first company to crack the concept: a device with a screen that offers all the benefits of e-ink—no harsh backlight, easy readability in any light—that wasn’t just in muddy-looking greyscale. But while Amazon controls the vast majority of the e-reader market, lots of other companies are more innovative in their device designs, and others have been iterating on color e-ink for half a decade.
One of the companies is Onyx International, a Chinese tech company that has been producing e-ink e-readers and tablets since the early days of the Kindle, under the brand name Boox. Yes, the name suggests a company that produces cheap junk, but Boox devices are hardly knockoffs (the Boox Palma, which I reviewed last year, is my own e-reader of choice). Over the years, the company has launched features like touchscreens, front lights, and, yes, color screens alongside or even before Amazon.
$499.99
at Amazon
$499.99
at Amazon
$449.99
at Amazon
$449.99
at Amazon
The Boox Note Air series is a notable example. First launched in 2020, these e-readers/digital notebooks have a screen you can write on like paper—something Amazon didn’t offer until the release of the first Kindle Scribe two years later. In 2023, the Boox Note Air 3C brought color into the mix, and that device has since been slightly improved. And though the 2024 Boox Note Air 4C seems comparable to various Kindle devices (it has the writability of the Scribe and the comic-book-friendly display of the Colorsoft), it does a hell of a lot more than serve up reading material. It’s essentially a full-fledged tablet that can do most of what an iPad can do, but with a very different look and feel.
Credit: Joel Cunningham
A sharp display—for color e-ink
Its 10.3-inch display offers the same clarity as your average Kindle, with a resolution of 2480 x 1860 and 300 dpi in black and white, and 1240 x 930 and 150 dpi in color mode. It has a temperature-adjustable frontlight that makes reading easy on your eyes under any conditions. It weighs 420g, or a little under a full pound, making it a bit heavy for one-handed use. The “octo-core” processor is a 2.07Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G, which is on the slower side for a modern tablet but fast enough for most of the tasks you’ll likely be using the device to accomplish.
At 5.8mm, it is stylishly thin, and the build quality feels smooth and solid. The device is pretty spare, with only a USB-C charging point and a power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner. Having used the Boox Palma, I miss that device’s action button, which could be mapped to accomplish specific tasks (I always set mine to perform a manual screen refresh).
Battery life isn’t great
On the downside, battery life can’t compare to a typical e-ink device, which might go a week or more between charges. If you’re using all of the features the Note Air 4C has to offer, you’ll find the battery drains about as fast as any other tablet might. It doesn’t help that the color screen tech basically requires you to keep the frontlight at 100% at all times; in one of the faster refresh modes, you’ll lose basically all the advantages of a power-sipping e-ink display. Generally, if you’re a heavy user, expect to charge it every day. If you’re just using it for reading, it should last you several days to a week.
An e-reader and a full-featured e-ink tablet
To most, an e-ink screen screams e-reader, and you certainly could use the Note Air 4C as a dedicated e-reader, but it does a lot more. The device runs on Android 13 and is not locked to any particular ecosystem, which means yes, you can download any e-reading apps you like—Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Libby, etc. But you can also download most any other app available on the Google Play Store.
But let’s entertain the notion: It’s certainly a fine e-reader, if a larger screen is what you’re looking for. The dirty little secret of the e-ink world is that every company, from Amazon to Nook to Boox, uses essentially the same screen tech, as there are really only a couple of companies that produce it. The Note Air 4C, then, uses the same basic color screen as the Kindle Colorsoft, called the Kaleido 3 (though Amazon claims to have developed its own custom display stack for improved clarity and responsiveness).
Credit: Joel Cunningham
While color on an e-ink tablet is certainly novel, it still feels like little more than an experiment to me. Color images can look passable on the Note Air 4C, but only just—the results tend to look washed out and a bit grainy, with the dpi dropping from 300 in black and white to just 150 in color, a hugely noticeable reduction. You certainly will never be fooled into thinking you’re reading them on an LCD or OLED display like you’d find on an iPad.
One thing that does set Boox devices apart is their variable refresh rate, which allows you to choose how often the screen refreshes based on the app you’re using. “HD” mode will give you the crispest text and images but only really only works for static images, or you’ll see lots of “ghosting”—an afterimage that lingers even after you chance whatever is on the display.
Credit: Joel Cunningham
The other options—Balanced, Fast, Ultrafast, and Regal—will sacrifice some detail at the expense of less ghosting and a faster refresh rate. You can change the refresh rate manually at the system level, change it while you’re using an app, or choose preset refresh rates on an app-by-app basis.
Credit: Joel Cunningham
Great for comics and manga (if you aren’t too picky)
The large screen and color (however dodgy) might have you wondering if the Note Air 4C is a good choice for reading comics and manga, and to that I say: sure. Manga, especially, can look very nice on this device, mostly because the art is typically almost exclusively black and white. The sharpness and clarity of the screen makes manga really pop, and it’s nice to be able to see the art at a much larger size than the typical tankōbon volume.
Credit: Joel Cunningham
That said, color images aren’t quite as satisfying—you certainly can load up a graphic novel and appreciate it is more or less in color. But the best color e-ink can serve up with current tech is not exactly ink and paper, let alone the crispness you’d get with an LCD or OLED display. It looks OK at a glance, but at reading distance, you won’t be able to ignore the fact that colors look muted and grainy, and that detail isn’t great.
Credit: Joel Cunningham
If you’ve got a large collection of digital comics and you don’t want to read them on a glossy tablet screen, the Note Air 4C is a great e-ink option, but you have to understand its limitations.
App store access, gaming, and even YouTube (kinda)
I haven’t gotten a chance to use a Kindle Colorsoft nor a Scribe, so I can’t directly compare them to the Note Air 4C, but I can note that on paper, it does everything those devices do (respectively, offer a color e-ink screen and a writable screen), and significantly more.
Like the similarly capable Palma, the Note Air 4C has an impressively responsive screen. Relatively. While, again, not as smooth as scrolling on a phone or iPad, using the touch screen to scroll and read the internet is pleasingly familiar, and the slight dissonance you’ll experiencing doing it is arguably a good thing, if you’re looking to kick your doomscrolling, device addicted ways.
This means that while you can download most any Android app you like, the experience of using many of them will be just worse enough as to be slightly annoying.
All the apps that fall under the broad category of “reading” (including audiobook- and podcast-related apps) work pretty great on the Note Air 4C. It has a speaker, but it also has Bluetooth, and will work with your favorite earbuds. My various reading apps all work great, and retain their own features (note that the Boox OS doesn’t include a dark mode, but you can still use an app-level dark mode, like the one on the Kindle app).
Productivity apps like Gmail and Google Docs also work well, but anything more graphically intense will suffer. Other apps typically can be installed, but their performance will vary wildly. You can, for instance, download full-motion video apps like Netflix and YouTube, but the experience will not be very good. Even the “ultrafast” refresh rate can’t really keep up with video, and the ghosting will make it difficult to actually, you know, see what you’re looking at.
Good for some games
Credit: Joel Cunningham
The same goes for gaming: You certainly can try to install a game like Subway Surfers on a Note Air 4C, and it will work, but the screen’s slight input lag and slow refresh rate will make playing a challenge.
However, less graphically intense games can work fairly well on the ultrafast refresh rate. I’ve managed pretty good games or Tetris and Block Blast, and card games, crosswords, and Wordle all play quite nicely with a color e-ink display.
A versatile digital notebook
The real strength of the Note Air 4C, particularly in comparison to a device like the Kindle Scribe, its its versatility as a digital notebook. Though it comes pre-loaded with some fairly capable note-taking software, access to a full app store means you can also choose to use your program of choice.
Credit: Joel Cunningham
The native Boox Notes app will likely be enough to get you started. You can choose from a number of different pre-set templates, and modify them by writing on the screen with the stylus or inputting text with the touch screen. Depending on the program, you can work in split screen mode—for example, in the image above I’m marking up a PDF while taking notes on the page opposite.
A paper-like writing experience
Writing on the Note Air 4C still kind of feels like a magic trick to me. Using the included stylus, it provides a pleasingly paper-like writing experience, with the slightly textured, matte screen offering enough resistance that you won’t feel like you’re just sliding your pen’s nib across a slick surface.
Responsiveness is pretty good—there is only the slightest lag between pressing down and a mark appearing on the screen. It is worth noting that some users have anecdotally reported more lag in non-native apps; in the video above, I’m using the Boox Notes app, which performs well.
Drawing on the Note Air 4C is kind of fun—my kids love to use it for playing Pictionary—but I can’t imagine it will be a super-satisfying experience for dedicated artists; the color reproduction is so middling, it can be hard to tell what you’re actually producing without exporting it to another device.
Credit: Joel Cunningham
Durability concerns (or, make sure to get a good case)
I’ve had a lot of good to say about the Note Air 4C. Now for the biggest caveat: By all accounts, this thing is fragile as hell, and if you want to protect your sizable $400 investment, you’re going to want to treat it with extreme care.
I’m speaking from experience here. I tested out the previous generation of this device, 2023’s Note Air 3C, and everything was going swimmingly until I decided to take it with me on vacation. I stuck the device (secured in the standard Boox faux-leather cover) into my backpack’s laptop sleeve and filled the rest of the bag with clothes (it was a short trip and I don’t like paying for a full-sized carryon).
I wouldn’t say I crammed the bag full, but it was apparently full enough to exert some amount of pressure on the tablet—though certainly no more (and probably significantly less) than my laptop, iPad, and various Android tablets have survived. But the Note Air 3C didn’t make it. When I pulled it out to read on the plane, I discovered the e-ink display had been damaged—a portion of the screen displayed a “shattered” effect that didn’t go away with a reset.
Credit: Joel Cunningham
I reached out to Boox customer service (via a form on the company’s English-language website) and promptly received notice that the screen damage was not covered by the warranty and that the repair would be more than $300—approaching the cost of a new device. (I elected not to do this.) Lest you assume I’m simply clumsy, a bad packer, or I got a dud device, it’s worth noting that the r/Onyx_Boox subreddit is filled with reports from users who have experienced similar screen failures. Some people admit to dropping or otherwise putting fatal pressure on the device, but others report seemingly spontaneous screen failures.
I’ve been using the Note Air 4C with much more care for about two months, and I’ve had no issues, but I’m understandably anxious about how I treat it. If I put it in my bag, I always make sure it is nestled against something rigid (like my laptop) to avoid putting pressure on the screen. I try to only use it at home or in the office, because I don’t trust myself not to drop it in transit.
In short, if well-cared for, this device will likely serve you well for a long time. But if you’re expecting the same kind of durability you get from an iPad, or even a standard-issue Kindle, you’re going to want to spring for an aftermarket warranty.
Bottom line
With a $499 price tag comparable to a mid-range iPad and a far more limited use case, there’s no question that the Note Air 4C is a device with niche appeal. But if you’re looking for the features it offers—a screen you can write on like paper, a color display for reading comics or marking up PDFs, an open Android operating system—it’s hard to imagine you’ll be disappointed with it.
It’s not for everyone, but the people who its for are going to be very pleased. (But really, I must reiterate, buy a good case.)
Onyx Boox Note Air 4C specs
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Display: 10.3-inch, 2480 x 1860 and 300 dpi (black and white), 1240 x 930 and 150 dpi (color) Kaleido 3
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CPU: Qualcomm Octacore processor
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RAM: 6GB
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Storage: 64GB
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Connectivity: Wi-Fi 5 (2.4/5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0
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Lighting: Frontlight with temperature adjustment
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Operating system: Android 13
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Battery/charging: 3,700mAh via USB-C
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Size: 226 x 193 x 5.8mm
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Weight: 420g
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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