3 methods this Android E Ink pill outshines my Kobo

Boox is an attention-grabbing firm. The China-based E Ink gadget maker sells so many products that it is troublesome 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 Colour 7 (and shortly, the Go Colour 7 Gen II).

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

Kindle’s Colorsoft
and

Kobo’s Libra Color
. Whereas I am nonetheless loyal to my Libra Colour as a result of I recognize its single-use simplicity, over the previous few weeks I’ve jumped into Boox’s versatile, Android-powered E Ink world.

There are fairly just a few issues I do not like in regards to the E Ink pill that I am going to cowl in an upcoming story, but it surely’s additionally stunned me in just a few 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 stop me from doomscrolling

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

YouTube
video all the time calls out to me, and I discover myself ditching no matter I am studying way more shortly than I might like. Because of this I have been large on single-use e-readers just like the Kobo Libra Color. Regardless of their limitations, they hold me targeted and, in flip, truly studying.

However after spending just a few weeks with Boox’s Go Colour 7, I perceive the enchantment. All through the day, I am going to usually take down Notes in Google Preserve, whether or not it is grocery lists, duties I want to finish, and even Pocket-lint headline or story concepts. For the reason that Go Colour 7 is powered by Android, I can simply open up

Keep
and write down no matter I have to with out having to tug out my telephone. The expertise is not precisely easy, even if you flip up the app’s refresh price (extra on this later), but it surely works and has me turning to my telephone rather less, which I recognize.

This brings me to my subsequent level. A part of what makes the Boox Go Colour 7 work is that you would be able to’t comfortably use it as an E Ink Android pill (The Verge’s David Pierce had related ideas in regards to the Palma). Social media apps are a laggy mess and YouTube movies look terrible on the Go Colour 7 E Ink show, no matter how excessive you flip up the display screen’s refresh price. However a podcast on Spotify or Pocket Casts, or launching Firefox to shortly look one thing up? Boox’s Go Colour 7 can simply deal with these duties for those who flip the app refresh price up.

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

1Password
on the E Ink pill, similar to you’ll on a smartphone? You are able to do that too. There’s simply sufficient friction right here to stop me from diving into apps I do not need to be utilizing after I’m targeted on studying, however the Boox Go Colour 7 continues to be succesful sufficient for easy duties like quick note-taking or listening to a podcast. This implies I am snug leaving the home with simply Boox’s Go Colour 7 if I need 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 of switching to a Kindle is as a result of I have already got a reasonably substantial library of Kobo books. Fortunately, making the leap to Boox’s units is straightforward for those who’re

coming from Kobo land
. All I have to do is obtain the Kobo app from Google’s Play Retailer and signal into my account (after all, with the assistance of 1Password), and my library is there. I am even in a position to pick-up books the place I left off on my Palma 2, or Kobo Libra Colour, making the studying expertise that rather more seamless.

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

can also use with a Kobo
), Google’s eBookstore, Moon+ (which is de facto fashionable with Boox customers), and extra. The truth that the Boox Go Colour 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’ll be able to actually make Boox’s Go 7 your personal

Except for Kobo’s app for some purpose, you possibly can customise precisely what you need the Boox Go Colour 7 two facet buttons to do. That is one thing I’ve actually appreciated over the previous few weeks. On prime of that, every app’s refresh price could be custom-made.

I’ve shortly realized that the Kobo app does not want a quick refresh price, but when I am utilizing Pocket Casts or Firefox, I’ve to show up the refresh price significantly for the app to be usable. To do that, choose the three-line settings possibility beside the refresh button on the backside of the Go 7’s navigation menu. You’ll be able to then choose between Regular, Pace, A2, and Regal. You can even change different settings like an app’s DPI and colour by long-pressing on its icon and choosing Optimize.

Possibly you need 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 even change the House Display to launch a number of completely different choices, together with your apps or settings. It is even potential to vary what number of presses you should make on the display screen 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 Colour 7 quickly, together with a number of the key points I’ve skilled with the E Ink pill over the previous few weeks.

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