Boox Note Air 4C: Advanced E-Ink Tablet with a Steep Price

The Boox Note Air 4C, introduced by Shenzhen-based Onyx, marks another stride in the e-ink tablet market, offering a lightweight and visually appealing design tailored for reading and writing enthusiasts. This 10.3-inch e-ink device boasts significant advancements in user experience and functionality, making it a strong contender in its category. However, its $499 price tag places it in a challenging position, especially as conventional tablets with dual functionality, like those from Huawei, enter the e-ink space.

Weighing just 420 grams and measuring 5.8 mm in thickness, the Note Air 4C stands out for its portability and premium feel. Its aluminum body, finished with a sleek black coating, exudes sophistication. The device is equipped with essential features such as dual speaker grilles, a USB-C port, and a power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner. The highlight, however, is its e-ink display, which offers a resolution of 2480 x 1860 in monochrome mode and 1240 x 930 in color mode. While the black-and-white mode delivers sharp text for an excellent reading experience, the colors in the display’s color mode appear muted, a common trade-off for e-ink technology designed to reduce eye strain.

Included with the tablet is a high-quality stylus and folio cover case, enhancing its value. The stylus provides precise input, detecting up to 4,000 levels of pressure, and the textured screen closely mimics the feel of paper. Writing and sketching on the tablet is intuitive, delivering a tactile experience that surpasses most conventional tablets. However, competitors like Huawei have developed similar tactile screen technology, narrowing the gap between e-ink and traditional devices.

The Note Air 4C excels in addressing issues like ghosting, a common drawback of e-ink displays, by incorporating a dynamic refresh rate for smoother transitions. This improvement minimizes distractions and enhances usability, making it suitable for tasks like reading, annotating PDFs, or signing digital documents. Powered by an octa-core processor, the tablet handles basic e-ink tasks efficiently but struggles with more demanding applications. While it runs Android 13 and allows access to a wide range of apps, performance lags when using graphically intensive applications, reinforcing its role as a specialized device rather than a general-purpose tablet.

Battery life is a standout feature of the Note Air 4C, lasting over 10 days on a single charge and requiring charging only once every two weeks with moderate use. This longevity makes it an attractive option for users seeking a reliable and low-maintenance device for extended reading or writing sessions.

Despite its strengths, the Note Air 4C faces stiff competition from hybrid tablets like Huawei’s, which combine traditional tablet features with an e-ink display mode. These versatile devices offer users more functionality, making it difficult for single-purpose e-ink tablets to justify their premium price. While the Note Air 4C is priced lower than these hybrids, its $499 cost still feels steep, especially when compared to the broader capabilities of its rivals. A price closer to $375 would have significantly bolstered its appeal.

The Boox Note Air 4C is a well-designed, capable e-ink tablet that caters to specific needs, such as eye-friendly reading and tactile note-taking. It offers a distraction-free environment that appeals to avid readers, note-takers, or those with sensitive eyesight. However, its limited versatility and competition from hybrid devices restrict its audience. For those committed to the e-ink experience, the Note Air 4C delivers in many areas, but for others, the broader functionality of hybrid tablets might make for a better investment.