Onyx Boox Tab Mini C evaluation: Colourful and compact, but now not without compromise

As soon as I exhaust a product from Onyx, I undoubtedly feel esteem any individual who chooses Donkey Kong in Mario Kart. He can’t velocity as a lot as set his lifestyles, and his going through is rubbish, but when that you may well maybe presumably also overcome that, his high velocity is in actuality gorgeous. It’s a gap playstyle. And, if you realize what you’re coming into into, it will also be efficient and a variety of fun.

I will tell the a similar about the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C — a 7.8-trail E ink coloration tablet. It’s now not for each person, but when you realize exhaust it and tag its though-provoking capabilities, it will also be a immense instrument for work and college.

Trace and availability

The Onyx Boox Tab Mini C is straight away available through Amazon, Finest Buy, and Onyx for $449. A case and pen for the Mini C are integrated within the sphere, but extra pens will more than doubtless be purchased through Onyx for $80.

Create and hardware

It’s easy to esteem the invent quality of the Tab Mini C as soon as you make a choice it up. It’s top rate the total system around, from the steel construction to the solid weight. It’s also a pretty modern tool with a thickness of simplest 8.3mm. I bag Onyx nailed the glean of the Tab Mini C. The case and pen magnets are solid, and the total lot snaps into area because it need to quiet. It’s the presentation you’d depend on from a tool in this tag fluctuate.

You obtained’t discover a lot across the frame of the Mini C; simplest a microphone, twin audio system, sleep/wake button, and USB-C port wreck up the unibody glean. I was a tiny bit greatly surprised now to not discover a MicroSD card slot. I’d’ve anticipated a media tool esteem this, even supposing inquisitive about smaller info esteem PDFs, to trust expandable storage — in particular when the e-reader simplest comes with 64GB of onboard memory.

Existing

On the origin peek, the Tab Mini C looks to trust a rather long-established 7.8-trail E ink conceal. On the other hand, the extra you dig into the tool’s aspects, you attach how removed from the truth that’s. Unlike a Kindle, which is limited to inductive touch, the Tab Mini C helps capacitive touch — pinch and zoom are doubtless to your current Android apps. To boot to, the panel aspects a Wacom layer to support pen input. I’ll talk about the pen later, but the Wacom layer makes a noticeable contrast.

Whereas the touch layers are spectacular, the real resolution falls a tiny bit flat. Onyx lists a resolution of 1872×1404, which could maybe seem adequate — but that’s simplest for dusky-and-white impart. Must you add coloration, the resolution falls to 938×702, and the pixel density drops in half — from 300 to 150. It makes a contrast that you may well maybe presumably also discover alongside with your eyes.

Even if the Tab Mini C can conceal 4,096 colors, impart esteem Webtoon and Tapas is now not nearly as consuming as you’d bag. Ghosting is one other field. Onyx does its most efficient to invent alternatives within the tool to decrease it, on the other hand it’s quiet an E ink conceal with obstacles. If I’m spending extra on coloration, I’d desire the skills to be better for the impart the build coloration in actuality matters.

However, dusky-and-white field topic is supreme to appear at on the Tab Mini C. Even if the MOON Gentle 2 front gentle system works wisely, I favor the conceal with the lighting fixtures off. Shaded text is clear and jumps off the accumulate page, placing it up with the most interesting E ink displays I’ve viewed. It’s a frustrating inequity between the washed-out coloration and the laser-consuming dusky-and-white skills.

Utility

Onyx ships the Tab Mini C with a closely modified model of Android 11. It doesn’t look familiar from the originate, but after you exhaust a short time with it, you’ll undoubtedly feel at home. Android 11 could maybe seem a tiny dated, on the other hand it’s now not though-provoking for E ink gadgets esteem this. Amazon has a same field with Fireplace OS 8, which is in accordance to Android 9. Unlike a frequent tablet, the important allotment of the Android skills on the Tab Mini C is how the changes support the E ink conceal.

Onyx contains several alternatives to tackle ghosting to a minimum. There are four refresh rate settings on the Tab Mini C. Internal every app that you may well maybe presumably also judge whether a increased refresh rate or better resolution is the priority. Whereas tempting, the increased refresh rate comes at a tag — sharpness suffers. Web browsers and Twitter scroll a lot better at increased refresh rates, whereas an app esteem Webtoons advantages from extra detail in every frame. It’s a tiny of legwork at the initiating to dial particularly particular person e-books and apps, but when you glean your settings locked in, it makes a significant contrast to the particular person skills.

I strongly suggest the utilization of the navigation ball or picking button navigation over the readily available swipe gestures. The swipe gestures work, but they require a conscious effort to verify that that adequate strain is utilized to the conceal. Button navigation also carries an added earnings. Whereas you’ll quiet discover the three default Android buttons, Onyx solutions a button to power the conceal to refresh. While you survey artifacts left over from a previous conceal, one press, and the conceal is repopulated cleanly. It is some distance available in at hand extra than you’d bag, even with tweaks to the refresh rates.

Onyx’s native apps work wisely, and the most traditional media codecs are supported. BOOXDrop permits customers to swap info seamlessly from their PC to the Tab Mini C — right here is in particular precious as a result of the lack of MicroSD card beef up. The Notes app is wisely laid out and presents several templates for you to exhaust. I esteem that that you may well maybe presumably also house up your Tab Mini C esteem a physical planner, with the Boox pen finishing the skills. Android apps downloaded throughout the Google Play Store also work wisely. It adds one other layer of versatility to the tool you wouldn’t glean on other e-readers.

A significant fair appropriate thing about the Onyx tool over a product esteem the Amazon Kindle is the flexibility to play audiobooks and podcasts. The Tab Mini C has Bluetooth 5.0 beef up, and my wi-fi headset is continually paired within moments. I could maybe maybe even listen to the AP podcast straight off the accumulate web page. To boot to, that you may well maybe presumably also transfer over MP3 and WAV info to your total listening needs. RSS feeds, perfect for an E ink tablet, will more than doubtless be house up through PushRead.

Even if the Tab Mini C contains an app labeled as a “store,” it’s the leisure but. It’s largely a chain of public domain works that will more than doubtless be downloaded. It’s a downside of the tool, the lack of a local retail store to aquire industrial e-books. I do know Onyx doesn’t glean its products to be as walled off as Amazon’s, on the other hand it’d be delightful to trust as a minimum some neatly-liked impart readily available to aquire throughout the tool itself without the need for third occasions.

Performance

The Onyx Boox Tab Mini C is powered by a Qualcomm octa-core processor paired with 4GB of RAM. It obtained’t be confused as a flagship, but given the persona of the tool, it doesn’t need to be. Onyx also integrated a personalized GPU to attend force every of the conceal layers. App performance is like a flash, and the most interesting slowdowns you’ll reach upon are inherent to the conceal.

In the case of the conceal, the Wacom layer within the conceal is the highlight of the tablet. Pen sensitivity is supreme, and writing displays naturally on the Tab Mini C. Given the tool’s refresh rate, I didn’t depend on pen input to be this comfortable; it’s a tiny jarring that the writing feels so accurate. Palm rejection is one other highlight of the Tab Mini C.

I could maybe maybe lay my total wrist on the tablet whereas writing, and it did now not tackle in mind the leisure but the pen input. Marking up PDF info used to be a dream, and I could maybe maybe toggle between diverse highlighter colors and kinds factual from the overlay. If your college or area of enterprise work requires a variety of PDF or doc finding out and proofing, the Tab Mini C turns into a tablet price inquisitive about.

Battery lifestyles

E ink gadgets are known for prominent battery lifestyles, and the Tab Mini C will not be any exception. It aspects a 5,000mAh battery in a position to several days of exhaust on a single price. Obviously, your mileage could maybe presumably also fluctuate — extra intensive apps will drain quicker, but for conventional E ink utilization, depend on prolonged battery lifestyles as a lot as a week.

Standby drain will more than doubtless be nearly non-existent on the Tab Mini C. While you house it down with 93% battery left within the evening, depend on to come to a decision on it up there the next day. Flexible battery lifestyles is continually immense, as you’re by no system on the mercy of whether your tool can fabricate it throughout the day. That’s the final part you must be eager on within the morning as you put together for work or college.

Competition

The Amazon Kindle Scribe presents many aspects of the Tab Mini C at a $340 tag ticket. You possess a increased conceal with the Scribe, but you lose out on cross storage and a coloration conceal. While you esteem the postulate of the Tab Mini C but are quiet tethered to the Amazon ecosystem to your literary impart — the Kindle Scribe is price a peek.

Though a tiny unorthodox, Onyx’s Tab Ultra fits up favorably in opposition to the Tab Mini C. It’s dearer at $499, but the extra aspects fabricate it compelling. The Tab Ultra has a increased battery, bigger conceal, MicroSD card expandable storage, and a digicam for doc scanning. I will discover the flexibility to scan and ticket your bear paperwork as a immense earnings to customers.

Could maybe well maybe fair quiet you aquire it?

The Onyx Boox Tab Mini C isn’t a straightforward tool to esteem. Given its execution, I seek info from how significant the coloration conceal is — in particular inquisitive about the added tag. Even quiet, I discover myself liking it a immense deal. It’s a daring E ink tool, with wonderful pen input. If you originate to exhaust the extra aspects you salvage with a paunchy model of Android, you initiate to connect how restricted the Kindle skills undoubtedly is.

It’s now not for each person, and likewise you must manufacture peace with it costing as a lot as an iPad, but when you carry out, you’ll skills it. With out reference to the total lot, Donkey Kong is completely in a position to a hit — you only want to know exhaust him.