Important points of ZDNET
- of Onyx Box Note Air 3C is a color e-ink tablet designed with productivity in mind, priced at $500.
- The device is loaded with templates and useful features while offering an impressive pen and paper experience.
- However, it’s a bit lacking in video and web browsing, and the e-book library isn’t very comprehensive.
As a writer, I always worry when I hit a productivity or creative slump. I recently found myself in this situation, and in a desperate attempt to organize my life and get my creative juices flowing, I bought two paperback notebooks. I carried these with me for a while and opened them a few times, but ultimately they didn’t do much to activate my inner muse. Then I tried Onyx Box Note Air 3C.
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This color E Ink tablet has finally revitalized my productivity with its rich note-taking templates. I noticed that my creativity gradually returned when I used the stylus. The stylus has almost no lag and feels as smooth as placing your favorite ballpoint pen on smooth paper. The screen resolution is 1240 x 930 color (150 PPI) and 2480 x 1860 black and white resolution (300 PPI – same as Kindle Scribe).
While it doesn’t have as sharp a color display as a traditional tablet like the iPad, the purpose of this tablet is to take notes, and it does an excellent job. Forget about fancy note-taking apps. Onyx Boox Note Air 3 C has all the best features of the best apps, including templates, audio recording, color coding, and the ability to link and insert notes to your notes. Additionally, built-in artificial intelligence enables text recognition, perfect shapes, and strikethrough feature that makes erasing easier.
From organizing to-do lists to creating a daily planner to even serving as a space to jot down my thoughts, this tablet replaced my bulky notebook all in one slim design (weighing less than 1 pound). I still find satisfaction in putting things down on paper. I’ve even downloaded coloring apps from the Google Play Store (you can download almost any app you want). We’ve replaced your daily scrolling habit with a more mindful experience.
Tablets have several features that make them highly productive machines. For example, there’s a split-screen feature that lets you switch between two different apps. This was helpful when planning the layout of the flower beds in the garden. On one screen I was able to draw which herbs to plant where and on the other I was researching on the web which herbs were best to grow together and which herbs to plant. Avoid growing close to each other.
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Additionally, if you need to use this tablet for work or school, you can easily send files from your computer or smartphone to your tablet using BOOXdrop. Easily annotate PDFs and other Word documents in just seconds. I found it very useful for editing stories and planning content in my daily work.
You can also use the Note Air 3 C as an e-reader, but Boox’s available library of books is severely lacking. Luckily, downloading the Kindle app gives you access to more titles and color highlights within your book. I thought it was perfect for reading magazines because it had a color E Ink screen. Note that the Kindle app (and most third-party apps) doesn’t allow you to use features like handwritten notes or adjust the appearance of your pages.
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As with all E Ink displays, refresh lag can cause ghosting effects. I’ve only noticed this with certain apps, especially 3rd party apps. Web browsing works well enough, but this is an E Ink tablet after all. It has built-in speakers, which helped me watch YouTube videos about growing rosemary, but the sound was a bit harsh and had little bass.
ZDNET purchase advice
If you’re looking for a note-taking tablet to help you regain focus, this is not it. Onyx Box Note Air 3C more. The color E Ink screen is better than Kindle Scribe or ReMarkable tablets, and the writing experience and template availability make it easy to organize your thoughts.