Important points
- Details about the Supernote A5 X2 have been revealed through an FCC disclosure, revealing key specifications such as screen size, resolution, and internal components.
- The A5 X2’s 10.65-inch screen, Carta 1300 display, 4GB RAM, and replaceable battery are set to outperform the competition in both size and technology.
- Supernote has been unusually transparent in sharing new details, demonstrating its strong community relationships and confidence in its upcoming products.
After months of long wait, it looks like the Supernote A5 X2 is finally around the corner. A lot of new details have been released about the upcoming 10.7-inch E Ink tablet, but the only big mysteries left about the A5 X2 are how much it will cost and when it will be available.
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Details about the new A5 X2 are based on an FCC disclosure first spotted on Reddit, which includes exterior photos, interior photos, and a quick start guide. The last time we heard from Supernote was in September, when it teased that the A5 It’s all about information. But now you can start filling in the missing specifications.
The exterior photos don’t reveal much that we didn’t already know, but there are a few parts. One photo shows the A5 X2 next to a USB-A/USB-C charging cable and driver. This may have come with the device, but given Supernote’s reputation for making high-end writing devices, it’s surprising not to see a stylus. Another interesting piece of information is that you can see a pogo pin connector on the left side of the device. I’m hoping someone makes a keyboard folio case.
There’s not much to see inside the A5 X2 other than the RK3566 CPU. This is the same 4-core, 1.8 GHz chip that powers the Nomad. This isn’t all that surprising considering Supernote showed in its last release that you can move your motherboard from the Nomad to the A5 X2.
Source: FCC
Finally, the Quick Start Guide contains the most new information and almost all new specifications. This guide features the new Carta 1300 display (one of the largest Carta 1300s we’ve seen), a 10.65-inch screen with a resolution of 1920 x 2560 and 300ppi. It’s only 6.4 mm thick, about the same as the new reMarkable Paper Pro, and weighs 370 g without cover. Powered by a 3,600mAh 5V/2A battery, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage expandable via SD card.
So how does the A5 X2 compare to its competitors? First, it has a 10.65-inch screen, the largest of any E Ink device with a stylus. Only Boox with its monster 13.3-inch Tab X and Bigme with its similarly sized X6 can beat it. There aren’t many devices using Carta 1300 at the moment, but the only one of this size is Viwoods’ niche AiPaper. When it comes to processing, it’s a little underpowered since most E Ink writing tablets have an internal performance of at least 2GHz, but it makes up for it with RAM, outperforming Scribe, Elipsa, and Paper Pro. It’s possible with a bigger battery, but it’s not only better than the Kindle, kobo, reMarkable, but also a replaceable/upgradeable battery, which is virtually unheard of. Finally, at 370g, it’s one of the lightest E Ink tablets, only the PocketBook InkPad X Pro is lighter.
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One of the notable things about this data dump is how rare it is for this type of image to exist. Take Kindle’s recent FCC filing, for example. In that application, virtually all information was embargoed for 180 days. In other words, Supernote wasn’t. have Make this information public. That it actually happened speaks to Supernote’s strong relationship with its community, and hopefully Supernote’s confidence in its product. We reached out to Supernote for pricing and release information. I will update the article if I receive a response. In the meantime, I’m counting the days until I can get my hands on one of these.