Leap of Faith: BOOX Tab Ultra C

WHAT IS IT?

Launched in May 2023, the Tab Ultra C stands out in the e-ink market, though not through its boasted specs or ground-breaking mobile processing power, but rather because it ingeniously couples a distinctive e-ink screen with the versatility of the Android ecosystem.

E-ink or ePaper displays, like the ones found in the existing BOOX Tab or Amazon’s popular Kindle lineup, are traditionally monochromatic and can only display black ink on a white surface. However, the Ultra Tab “C” brings a kaleidoscope of colors to its screen. “C”, for color.

And, in contrast to conventional e-ink tablets whose functionality is limited to reading or writing, the BOOX Tab line of devices double as fully-capable Android tablets, meaning they can run the entire gamut of Android apps.

To simplify: The Tab Ultra C is a versatile tablet PC, designed with productivity in mind.. implements a color e-ink screen… runs android.. and supports touch, pen, and keyboard input.

…and that, for someone with my use case, is a unique and compelling package.

USE CASE

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?!

First impressions, the packaging oozes premium vibes and the unboxing experience feels elegant.

The box has a high-quality feel, finish and print – with the boox pattern on the sides – and a double-boxed, stacked lid presentation.

Lift the suctioned lid, and you’re greeted with the Tab Ultra C tablet itself. Note what you see on the screen in these shots is not a sticker or a cover, but genuinely the e-ink display in its dormant state. Because of the way e-ink operates, the screen state can retain the image even when powered off – which is neat.

Digging deeper, you’ll find a neatly packed accessory box containing the SD card ejection tool, a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging (power brick not included), and the slick, literally and figuratively, Pen2 Pro stylus.

Onyx has thrown in a generous supply of replacement nibs for the stylus; which is a thoughtful addition and guarantees that you’ll be stocked for years to come.

Last and certainly least, the quick start guide and documentation. Pluck em and file ‘em for the goat Flossy.

The default bundle from Onyx includes a magnetic cover case which comes in a separate box as an accessory, and I purchased the bundle that also includes the keyboard cover case. I will be unboxing and review both later in the video.

PRICE

The Tab Ultra C is priced at $599.99. That gets you the tablet, the Pen2Pro, the essential accessories, and the magnetic case cover. If you opt for the keyboard cover bundle, which is what I did, you get both cases for $665.99 – a little savings compared to buying separately which would total to $709.98. I even found a $5 coupon online, making my final total, with tax and free shipping, $700.65.

At the time of scripting this review on July 1, the US version is sold out. I’ll drop links in the description so you can keep tabs on availability and pricing changes. I’ll include the coupon code I found too in case it still works.

Also, note that you can snag the Tab Ultra C on Amazon, but there’s a catch – the magnetic case is only bundled if you purchase directly from Onxy – potentially their little nudge for you to buy direct. You still get the Pen2Pro and other accessories with the Amazon listing, but bear in mind you’ll need to sort out the case separately.

Update: Onyx has announced they plan to discount the Tab line in the Amazon Prime Day sale for 2023, July 11-13, if I get this video out on time – which might undo that cost difference. Link in description to check that out.

I/O & UX

UX and I/O on the device include a top-mounted power/lock button with a built-in fingerprint reader, a microphone, and the left channel speaker grill – pleasantly surprising additions to an e-ink device that enhance its functionality. There’s also a status LED to indicate power/charging.

The bottom houses the right channel speaker grill and microphone, a microSD card slot, and the USB-C port.

The left side, which displays the BOOX LOGO, has an extra-wide lip to provide a better grip when holding. On the edge is a 5-pin female port for the keyboard case. The device’s model, input power, and serial number are printed here.

On the right edge, there’s a marking for the pen’s magnet location. While it can technically attach anywhere on the side, it’s most secure at this specific spot (which fooled me in my first shake test when the pen went flying across the room). But, rest easy, the magnet’s actually strong enough to keep the pen in place even during intense shaking!

The back features a brushed aluminum finish in a dark charcoal grey, and a stylish bar with a pattern of etched Boox logos, providing a tactile contrast to the smooth brushed aluminum. It’s likely purely aesthetic, though it could be an opening in the housing for the wireless transmitters.

Speaking of which, it comes with Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi, supporting both 2.4 and 5GHz channels.

And lastly, on the back, there’s a 16MP rear camera, ideal for capturing documents and utilizing optical character recognition to convert to text. Like most smartphones, it protrudes from the body and causes a wobble unless you slap on a case.

BUILD QUALITY & SPECS

The tablet feels quality in the hands and its aesthetic is minimalist, elegant and professional, comparable to the unboxing experience. Crafted from a single piece of aluminum, the body housing is void of noticeable cracking, creaking, or bending. It’s dimensions are 8.9 by 7.3 inches, resulting in just under a 10.3-inch diagonal display, significantly smaller than my analog note-taking pad

It’s also quite slim, less than a quarter-inch thick. It weighs in at 484 grams bare – or 668 grams with the standard case – which is comparable to my portfolio notepad at 665 grams.

and is roughly a pound and a half. Which makes it comfortable enough for long sessions of one-handed usage while sitting or laying. With the keyboard case, it weighs 909 grams or 2lbs – though you likely won’t be holding it in the hands with that attached.

The right-angled edges are quite sharp. But because it comes with a case, this flaw is nullified as I can’t imagine using the device bare. Similar to the camera protrusion, while annoying design flaws, they dont bother me as I slap a case on and never think about it again.

Onyx does not reveal the CPU model in their marketing material, product listings, nor website.. and only refer to it as a Qualcomm Octa-core Processor. It is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 – which is a mid-level processor from 2019 (with 4 cores @ 2GHZ and 4 cores at 1.8GHZ)

Onyx also boasts an “exclusive”, dedicated GPU but again provides no specifications or model.. so I had to dig for them.

It’s running a Qualcomm Adreno 610 GPU @ 950mhz. Again, a mid-range component and not one that I would deem “exclusive” as Onyx has pitched in their marketing.

It has 4GB of RAM, which feels a tad underpowered, especially given it is marketed as a “tablet PC” for productivity. With phones and competing tablets sporting 16GB and performing similar tasks, and given the affordability and availability of RAM, 6-10GB would’ve been a welcome sight, and possibly prevented some of the app crashing and unloading.  I’ve noticed when screen splitting and jumping between apps quickly.. which I’ll dig into the in the software & performance chapter of this video.

For storage, you get 128GB onboard ROM, with the OS and pre-installed apps taking roughly 16GB of that. Kudos to Onyx for keeping it free from bloatware or redundant apps. There’s an SD card slot for expandable storage – a feature I applaud as more and more brands axe upgradeability to sell their more expensive variants.

I stuck an additional 128gb in there. I can’t imagine using this much space on a tablet as my workflow will be fairly fluid and all projects temporary and consistently cycled on and off device.

It’s got a 6,300mAh battery which lacks fast charging support. More on the battery and its performance coming later in the review.

And, as I mention previously, it supports Bluetooth 5 and WiFi. But, in Onyx fashion, no details provided on the WiFi which leads me to believe it’s a lower end receiver – I couldn’t get past 280mbps down, 150up, where I can reach over 600 down and 350 up via wifi6 from my phone and laptop from the same access point.

It also sports a gyroscope for screen rotation, an accelerometer, (both of which I believe are requirements for Android).

If you didn’t spot the pattern, the Tab Ultra C sports midrange hardware components at a premium price point – suggesting the culprit is the screen. From my limited research, what I gather is it’s likely out of Onyx’s hands. A company holds the patents for the screen technology.. and the volume is likely so low that it’s difficult to reduce costs.

For reference, a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ which offers 50%+ performance across the board – Snapdragon 865+, Adreno 650 GPU, 6GB of RAM, up to 1TB expandable storage, and a full RGB color 2560×1600 pixel OLED screen with a 120hz refresh rate AND an S pen stylus – and better peripherals like speakers and mics – comes in at $100 less than the Tab Ultra C.

But, the Tab Ultra C carves out its own niche. It is designed for reading, writing, and working, rather than media consumption and gaming. It simply can’t compete with the iPad Pro, Samsung Galaxy Tab, or Microsoft Surface for tasks like photo/video editing, watching movies, playing games, or doom scrolling social media – because it does not offer a full-color, high refresh rate LED screen.

At this point, you may be wondering why would anyone buy this device? Well, the answer, and the magic, lies in the screen.

THE SCREEN

The core of the Tab Ultra C and its main value proposition: the screen.

In order to appreciate the complexity, we have to peel back the layers like an onion – which is sure to bring tears to the eyes of some of you tech enthusiasts.

Sitting on top is a strong, scratch-resistant glass layer. Not Gorilla glass, but a close relative.

Directly beneath, we have a capacitive touch layer boasting multi-touch gesture support and a significant reduction in thickness compared to previous models and competitors – this means a reduction in the infamous drawing “gap distance” – so that there’s less space between where your pen hits the glass and where the e-ink layer reacts, leading to less visual distortion and brain confusion when writing with the pen.

Peeling back another layer, we have the the Kaleido 3 LCD layer. This is the game-changing layer of the screen onion that brings color to the screen. It’s a passive layer of RGB subpixels that, when manipulated by the layer below, is capable of displaying 16 shades of grey and 4,096 colors. However, keep in mind that’s still a far cry from the 16+ million colors that your laptop or smartphone screen might offer. It has a resolution of 1240×930 at 150ppi.

Below the Kaleido 3 layer is the e-ink layer, the standard you’ll find across most e-ink or ePaper devices, but with a crisp resolution, double that the Kaleido 3 color layer, at 2480×1860 at 300ppi. This layer determines what the image on the screen will be.

The final layer of this technological onion is a Wacom layer which provides the pen or stylus interactivity. Wacom are the veterans in pen display and stylus technology. It can support 4096 layer of pressure sensitivity, pent tilt, and more.

As you can see, there is a lot going on in the screen which brings great range of versatility to the device. But, to not lose the thread, the main selling point of the Tab Ultra C is the fact that it is the first in line of Android tablets that sports an Kaleido 3 color e-ink screen.

The A5 sized screen, sitting flush with the bezel, is a joy for reading PDF’s, writing, browsing the web, and using productivity apps.

The black and white e-ink layer displays crisp text and line edges and the black is deep and comfortable to look at. Text and handwriting both have structured edges that I’m a big fan of – it’s almost like turning up a dial on your visual acuity- there’s no anti-aliasing to blur edge pixels that ends up being a feature rather than a flaw on a screen like this. There is also “vividness enhancement slider” that I’ve turned to max which sharpens even further and creates rogue pixels as the edges of text giving it almost a “bleed” like feel, as if your ink is bleeding into the paper a little.

The addition of color was a seemingly great value add to me and is why I chose to purchase this device over the regular Tab Ultra. It opens a new world of options – I can color code my notes and document annotations, I can highlight text and sections for review, for example I’ve used the colors to code the sets of b-roll I need for this video which helped me more easily track them down in my document and organize the shoots, and draw or paint. On top of that, it enables me to browse the web and view imagines in a familiar fashion – in color – which is something I feel would have increased the amount of time to get acclimated to the device and really integrate it into my daily routine over the black and white only version.

Color is awesome, but keep in mind this screen can only display 16 shades of grey and 4096 colors.. which is much less than the 16+ million colors you are likely used to on your laptop or phone screen. There is a magnitude of difference in the capability of here due to how they have to use the ink to manipulate the static RGB layer to display the colors. That said, I’ve found it’s enough colors to keep the tablet feeling alive and engaging when browsing content – and makes it much easier to pick up to work on in lieu of a phone or tablet.

The colors can be best described as Onyx does in their marketing – pastel. The entire color gamut follows that descriptor. The colors are.. subtle, and lack the vibrancy and saturation of colors you see on LED screens. Funny, though, when you screenshot or export something to an LED screen, you can see the colors that were being interpreted – for instance, it’s trying to show a bright, vibrant colors here as we can see in the screenshot rendition of the image, but on-device it comes across as a muted, deep color.

Onyx provides controls that let you change screen settings to your taste – dark color enhancement which seems to select the shades of deep blacks, vividness enhancement which seems to affect sharpness, and color brightness which affects the strength of colors. I’ve found my spot is maxed out on all of them.

There are front lights built into the edges of the screen, that shines down onto the display to illuminate it. You can control the intensity and warmth of these lights.

Onyx has highlighted their BSR “Super Refresh Technology” and offers 5 display refresh modes. Traditional LED screens have refresh rates of 60-120hz on modern devices that make every animation and action feel seamless and smooth, e-ink displays refresh differently and are notorious for their screen refresh sluggish-ness and ghosting – which is when the content of something you were looking at previous is still visibly burned into the screen, though lightly, into the background of the new content you are looking at.

While I don’t have a ton of e-ink devices to compare this to, I can say that:

• the HD mode is comparable to what I’m familiar with in devices like the Kindle – where nearly every action you take triggers a full refresh of the screen. This screen mode provides a great page-turn, meaning where you’re turning the page of a book one page at a time, reading experience with minimal ghosting, but is not feasible for any other task like writing or productivity.
• the balanced mode is a mix of quality and a bit of a faster response time – and is where I find myself reading most of the time as I don’t enjoy the time to refresh for the HD modes and the lag associated – but its input lag and scrolling are still quite sluggish
• the fast and ultra fast modes, I don’t know that I can tell a crazy difference but ultra fast does seem to have a slightly faster response time with scrolling, but both definitely making scrolling up and down through a file or website feel more responsive and less of a struggle- while also introducing a ton of ghosting. I default to fast mode for writing and productivity tasks.
  • ultra fast is listed as having heavy detail loss and suitable for video –
• REGAL mode, which is one I haven’t explored deeply, is essentially the HD mode but specifically optimized for color – so built for color illustrations like comics which is not a use case that I have.

I’ve found it best to run the majority of my time in the Fast mode and manually refresh using the refresh button Onyx’s custom Android UI has baked into the navigation bar to reset the screen when I feel ghosting is out of control or I want to focus on something specific. Though, I also spend a lot of time in balanced when reading something static on the screen for a bit.

The viewing angles of this screen are fantastic. There isn’t an angle that I can hit where I can’t read the screen – looking even parallel to the screen you can still read everything as you could at a 90 degree angle.

While everything about the screen sounds magical and amazing.. I was able to find quite a few flaws that really degrade the whole experience.

front-light + grey edge on left/right sides, mostly left – dead pixels

When first powering on, the first thing I noticed was how dark the screen is. I was expecting paper white – a bright white background with deep, contrasting black text. While the blacks are dark and have a nice punch, the paper background is more of a grey. From what I gather, this is due to the Kaleido color layer that provides a tint. But, even with the front light on at 100%, I find myself wishing it were brighter in just about every scenario. I think this is my biggest gripe with this device. Even comparing it to a super cheap Kindle ePaper screen, the ultra tab is much darker and thus provides less contrast. It’s quite unfortunate.

In bed, with all the lights off, is really the only spot in which I can turn down the front light and still get use out of it – but sitting in a room lit by overheads or the sun, the front light has to be at 100% or else it’s just too dark to work comfortably and effectively.

The Kaleido color layer also provides a noisy overlay of the already grey screen – making it feel even greyer, or darker. I can literally see the RGB sub pixels.. and it’s not something I only see when I’m up close inspecting – it an be seen at the greatest use distance, arms length typing on the keyboard. It’s especially obvious when the majority of your screen is white/empty.. as it fills with text the level of noise fades into the back a bit more. Some shades of grey or color exaggerate the effect.

Coupled with the ghosting, it makes for a somewhat distracting experience – and not one that I would immediately associate with productivity. To pile onto the dark screen train, it gets even worse after you touch the screen – as the sweat/grease creates an extra layer of reflections and noise.

And piling further, light reflection and glare handling is also fairly poor.. with windows behind me or lights overhead, I’m constantly shifting to keep the glare off the screen.

It’s an unfortunate combination of flaws, but one that I understand had to exist and is a sacrifice you make for the color version of this device. The default Tab Ultra, the previous non-color model, is apparently much brighter and lacks the noise. I opted for the color version knowing it was darker, but I honestly did not expect it to be quite so… grey.

That said, they’re all flaws that fade into the background once you get into a working flow state. They feel exaggerated and frustrating when you’re looking for them, and are distracting when your brain misses the gap and you spot one.. but, for the majority of the time, aside from the darkness, you don’t notice.

The screen is touch-enabled and supports multi-touch gestures. I’m not an Android gestures guy, I prefer button actions. The touch actions feel especially sluggish on the device – though I can’t fully tell if that’s because of the screen refreshing sluggishness or the hardware lagging. I do find myself touching multiple times, especially for smaller UI elements like the X to close an app, or the trash can to dump RAM and close all apps – or the handles for selecting text – to get the action to register. I have more to say there, so let’s dive into the Pen Stylus and input.

PEN & HANDWRITING

Accompanying the tablet is the Pen2Pro stylus, the magic wand that lets you write and draw on the screen. It’s worth emphasizing since the device lacks the ability to draw with touch in the default apps – so you can forget about finger painting.

The Pen2Pro shares the Tab Ultra C’s minimalist, professional design and build quality. It provides a satisfying feel in the hand and is comfortable enough for long writing sessions. The nibs are interchangeable so you can easily replace one after it gets worn and Onyx includes a bunch of replacements in the box. The tail end can be depressed slightly, without any click or tactile feedback, and functions as an eraser.

Weighing in at 16g, it’s nearly twice as heavy as my analog pens. It’s also longer than a typical pen and is top-heavy toward the eraser end. This creates a weight distribution similar to pens equipped with a metal clip; the balance feel here is.. decent.. due to its length and top-heaviness.. but I would prefer more weight at the bottom. The tablet is compatible with other e-ink styluses so you can have your pick.

There’s a distinct flat edge on one side, designed to attach flush to the tablet via a magnet when not in use. This design, however, can be awkward in the hand and hinders the natural rotation of the pen between the fingers and limits natural rotation and usage. And, the hard plastic coating becomes slippery after prolonged use due to oil and sweat.. which makes me wish it had a rubberized grip, like the styluses from Wacom.

Looking past these small design drawbacks, the Pen2Pro creates a fun and interactive note-taking experience. I truly enjoy it and it delivers what I hoped from a digital notepad.

When writing on the glass screen, there is an audible scratching, similar to writing on paper, though the tactile feedback doesn’t quite match. It reminds me of cars that play fake engine noises inside the cabin through the speakers.

The writing feel is more glass-like than paper-like – it’s not as slick as my S21 Ultra or iPad, but it’s much more slippery than my pen drawing tablets, like the Huion Canvas 16 that have obviously textured screens. There are screen protectors you can apply that will provide a more paper-like feeling.

The Pen2Pro’s precision and latency are notably impressive, it accurately tracks and renders light touches as dots where the pen tip contacts the screen and there isn’t a noticeable latency between an action and the e-ink appearing. The writing experience on the Tab Ultra C is thoroughly responsive, and, of course, having no paper to deal with is a major quality of life improvement.

Within the default Boox Notes app, there are several pen brushes (pencil, marker, calligraphy ink, ballpoint pen) to explore, each with distinct writing characteristics.

The tablet’s Wacom layer should provide 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, but it does not feel as it has that much depth and is not nearly as impressive as Wacom drawing tablets. The line thickness changes slightly with varying pressure, but it feels as if there are only 5-8 discernible levels of sensitivity. I haven’t yet pinpointed why, but I’m assuming it’s a limitation of the e-ink technology or its lack of support for opacity.

The stylus also has a tilt function which appears to only be optimized for the pencil brush. It is great for sketching or shading, though it can appear exaggerated and artificial. For instance, when writing on the left side of the page, my text is noticeably thinner than on the right hand side due to hand placement, creating an uneven reading experience. This inconsistency doesn’t occur with a real pencil and suggests the tilt feature may be a bit too sensitive.

And unfortunately, the interesting dynamics of the calligraphy brush, found with other styluses or even directional mouse drawing in Photoshop, are missing.

Those observations might seem nit-picky, and I admit they don’t affect my personal use as I wouldn’t utilize either function often enough, but I felt serious writers or artists may find these limitations significant.

Adding color to your handwriting and drawing is a fantastic bonus. I can color code my notes, add comments or alerts during reviews, and highlight or strike through text to stay organized. The addition of color also enhances the process of annotating articles, PDFs, or marking on screenshots – where monochrome scribbles might get lost in the documents. And, even though I’m not an artist, adding color to doodles, charts, and graphics is a pleasant experience and adds a lot of depth to my notes.

With most pen brushes, colors draw instantly and in full 150ppi resolution. However, the marker brush is different – the initial draw appears as a half-resolution zebra-print pattern with diagonal empty pixels separating the diagonal lines of colors. This resolves itself to a solid, fully-saturated resolution upon screen refresh, but it’s an unusual experience worth noting.

The marker also has a peculiar trait where the order of operations for color layering matters – for instance, if you write text and then highlight it, the text darkens and the highlight dominates, whereas highlighting an area first, then writing over it, ensures the text remains crisp and black.  Pre-built layering I wish they had a highlighter brush that stays in the initial zebra-print render mode, to highlight text without diminishing its readability.

Erasing is enabled through either a button in the notes app or you can physically turn the pen over and use the back nub like an analog pencil’s eraser. The latter sounds like an awesome, interactive feature to bring to a digital device, but I’ve found it to be a bit of a hassle – both due to the length of the stylus when flipping it over and the amount of force you have to use to register the eraser function.

Additionally, having a button or two on the pen to map to the erase function would be incredibly useful, as both flipping the pen and tapping the eraser button in the app disrupt the flow of work.

Speaking of which, my use has  highlighted a handful of other pen UX issues that I feel pull you out of the immersive experience and productivity state.

For instance, the first stroke of the pen on the device frequently fails to render. There seems to be some polling feature that activates the pen AFTER the initial contact. As a result, which you can see here, the first stroke following any other action on the tablet does not get drawn. This means any action, like changing your pen, or panning or zooming the canvas, will cause your next stroke to screen to not appear. The software will re-draw your first stroke after a full screen refresh, but often appears out of place or has extra bits on it as if the app is back-guessing where it thought it was drawn based on your secondary stroke to compensate in the render.

Palm rejection also seems suboptimal, and I’ve found that it causes unintended pen strokes, desynchronization of the pen drawing location, and dots when writing until I disable the touch controls.. which complicates the interaction distracts from workflow.. as I have to tap with the pen a few times to re-enable touch controls for panning around or zooming.

And, there seems to be a de-bounce method that ignores strokes made within a certain timeframe of exiting a previous stroke, which results in partial or complete omission of strokes, especially when writing quickly. This particularly hampers my writing style, which is in all caps and requires many quick strokes, and suggests that the tablet is more suited to cursive-style writing.

Further, I’ve found there is occasional desynchronization of the pen’s location. It’s no secret that there is a 1mm gap between the glass and the e-ink layer, but with the good drawing latency of the device it’s only noticeable if I’m writing with my head down, say when hunched over or laying down, and look at the screen from a low angle. When sitting up with good posture and facing down, I can’t see the gap… until..

The pen desyncs, and the strokes drawn on the screen are rendered 1mm south of where my pen tip is touching the glass. This creates a disruptive and immersion-breaking experience that makes it physically difficult to write as my brain can’t gauge where I’m writing . There is a calibration feature in the settings that can help re-sync the location, but it has fallen off quite a few times throughout my week of use and requires re-calibration.

The pen input functionality is truly only optimized for the native Boox Notes app. Any other painting or drawing app suffers from a massive pen input delay that just isn’t worth it. You also cannot draw or write with your finger in the native notes app – only the pen – and need to use 3rd party apps for that which all have latency issues on this device.

To wrap up the pen, it’s a fun experience and serves my needs as a worthy analog notepad replacement.. allowing me to effectively take notes, and annotate documents, with an array of brushes types and color that provide a useful amount of depth for me to intake when reviewing in the future.

And, pen in the other hand, there seem to be a lot of UI/UX and software flaws that hinder the experience and make it feel unfinished.

BATTERY LIFE

The Tab Ultra C is fitted with a 6,300mAh battery, which drains faster than I expected based on other e-ink notetaking device reviews.. but, it’s also important to keep in mind the Tab Ultra line is much more than that – the Android tablet experience it provides brings that power consumption back into an obvious reality.

The following stats were observed starting from 100% battery, in balanced screen mode, with all the vividness & color sliders set to maximum, and are not standardized in any way – rather are derived from my typical usage in each scenario.

With the screen on and the tablet idle, the device drains at roughly half a percent battery every hour. As I understand e-ink, once the screen displays an image it does not require power to keep it there so screen refreshes should be minimal in this state.

For general reading and browsing PDF’s:

• with the front light at 100%, I observed a 7-8% drain per hour
• without the front light, I observed a 4-5% drain per hour
  • at 50% front light, I observed a 6% drain per hour

This gives anywhere from 12-25 hours of reading performance, which is great for me given my typical reading habit is in 1-2 hour sessions before bed or during breaks.

For writing, using the pen in the default Boox Notes app, the values were only slightly higher:

• with the front light at 100%, I observed a drain of 10% per hour
• at 50% front light, I observed an 8% drain per hour
• and without the front light, I observed a 6% drain per hour

Again, this is natural tablet usage from me sitting down and writing for hours – and includes switching pen types, creating new pages, color coding, etc. I’m looking at 10-16 hours of writing and note-taking time with the pen, which also feels acceptable.

With the keyboard cover attached and using a single third-party app, Notion, for writing and editing this video script, I observed anywhere from 10-13% drain per hour at 100% front light. I noticed similar performance with light web browsing.

And, when in a typical work pattern for my career, using multiple apps, actively context switching, and loading split screen apps, while using the keyboard cover and sporadic pen use, at 100% front light, I observed a 13-16% drain per hour. This allows for a maximum of 6-8 hours of work before needing to charge which places the Tab Ultra C back into the laptop and tablet PC realm of power consumption.

For context, a Microsoft Surface Pro 8 can also squeeze 6 hours of battery life running Windows, browsing the web, watching videos, and using full desktop apps like Zoom, with a backlit LED screen at 120hz.

While the battery life of the Tab Ultra C is sufficient for most tasks, it’s a let down to spend a Saturday morning writing in Notion, then realize at 1PM that I’m already down to 50% battery, knowing that I intended to continue writing for the rest of day to give my eyes some rest from LED screens.

The absence of quick charge means I need to plan my usage around the Tab Ultra C, rather than it molding to my routine.

On workdays, though I don’t necessarily operate the device at maximum capacity for 6-8 hours straight, I feel the constrained battery life does hinder its potential to fully replace a laptop.

I imagine anyone planning to use this as their primary device on campus at university, or at work, would want to ensure they have access and time to charge up at some point during the day to guarantee they make it through.

I typically mix and match the above use cases.. my morning is filled with e-mails and light project management work or web browsing, then I swap to my workstation for work work, then swap back to the Tab Ultra C to perform a work sprint or two, and then back to my PC for a bit, and then wind down the evening with reading or writing.. and on weekends it’s a mixed bag but mostly writing/planning and annotating documents in split screen mode.

At present, I find myself needing to charge either daily or every other day at longest. I’m never going to see that week-long battery life that are common in e-ink devices.

Mind you, the Tab Ultra C has the flexibility Android, and Onyx has included an array of settings to configure the e-ink screen, so with those and reduced front light, I’m sure you could tinker yourself into a perfectly optimized situation to maximize your charge.

SOFTWARE & FEATURES

The Tab Ultra C leverages the power of Android, and, as a highlight for me, its split-screen functionality, giving it an edge over other e-ink note-taking tablets. As a longtime Samsung Note/Ultra user, I appreciated this feature and its seamless integration.

Onyx offers a suite of native apps designed specifically for e-ink devices, all of which also support the split-screen mode.

Among these is the Boox app for downloading eBooks, although it seems primarily stocked with older or expired copyright books which limits its value. Though, the unexpected journey through past literary works could prove enjoyable if one ever finds themselves bored or curious.

Next is the Neo Reader app, which is essentially an eReader, but with an extremely useful feature – it allows for annotating on documents with a variety of brushes and colors. I’ve made a lot of use of this feature in my first week of use and can see it staying as a most-used app for me on this device.

However, NeoReader leaves a lot of room for improvement. It seizes the tablet’s UI, seemingly to provide a “focus mode,” which masks the status bar and rearranges the UI elements. The settings and options are a bit cluttered and unintuitive, resulting in an often frustrating experience when trying to locate specific features.

I spent days trying to find a way to turn off the classic page-by-page navigation to enable continuous scrolling, and once I finally found and enabled the option, which was under the “Format” setting that looked and read as if it was a text formatting icon, it still scrolls in “chunks” rather than allowing for smooth scrolling like a website. NeoReader also lacks the ability to quickly export annotations.. which turns into a whole dance of trying to save, leave the app, and then send with another app.

Conversely, the Boox Notes app—Onyx’s native writing app—is a delight to use. The Android tablet UI remains untouched, and the app’s interface is clearly defined and accessible. This app is feature-packed, so much so it warrants its own review, including the ability to select a paper template, change pen settings, create marquee and lasso selections, and even record voice notes, among other things.

A specific feature that I found to be super handy is in the quick-access buttons for exporting and sharing. Within 3 screen taps, I can export an entire reel of my notes to PDF and ship them into another app, like Evernote, to OCR and store them for indexing and searching. This streamlines an intense and exhausting review and digitizing process that exists with analog note-taking.. and it’s easy to see why Boox has a devout following of notetaking users with this app.

While the Boox Notes app is impressive, it isn’t perfect. One significant drawback I found is the default canvas size, which is based on the drawing area’s 1×1 size in the current orientation. This can lead to a gap of inaccessible screen real estate or the need to scroll horizontally when you rotate your device for the first time after entering a note—neither of which are ideal. And, with the custom size option, the canvas can only be expanded up to 1×3 or 1×4, which limits the potential for extensive long-form writing.

One of my pet peeves with analog notebooks is the bottom area of the pad. I can never comfortable write in that space due to my hand hanging off and writing at awkward angles – it’s a sad reality, but it’s such a nuisance that I tend to avoid writing there unless absolutely necessary. You’d expect a device such as this to solve that analog limitation by allowing you to write more than a maximum of 3-4 times the screen height.. which would allow for a single stream of consciousness to be captured on a single scrollable page, with the convenience of finishing midway on a page pan, avoiding the need to write at the bottom of the device. But nope.

Another surprising limitation is the lack of color choices for writing and drawing. The screen supports 4096 colors and 16 shades of grey, but Boox apps that support writing only offer 4 shades of grey and 12 colors (which include multiple tints of red/blue/green). I’d like to see a color picture so that I can explore and utilize all of the available colors.

Further, the app fails to provide clear indicators of when your notes are saved, which adds to user anxiety. It seem as if notes are only saved when leaving the app – but they could easily add a saving indicator and save in real time if they aren’t already.

In terms of text/keyboard input, Onxy provides a separate note type in the Boox Notes app that works more like a word processor, providing autocorrect, word breaking, and other text processing features. There’s also a well-functioning text-to-speech feature that is useful for capturing quick thoughts on the go.. but it lacks the ability to determine sentences, punctuate, or create line breaks.

Other native apps include BOOX Drop for syncing files, a custom browser based on Chromium, and PushRead for syncing RSS feeds or pushing websites from your other device browsers into the Tab Ultra C for future reading. The latter has proved to be highly valuable for me, as it enables a seamless transition from browsing on my computer to reading on the e-ink display. There is a Chrome extension that you can download to support easy pushing.

Other features include being able screen cast from your tablet to your PC, or plug into the Tab Ultra C and use it as an external monitor. Both are features I haven’t used extensively to date and see limited use for, since I have multiple portable displays and a pen drawing display, but for someone without that’s a nice bit of extendibility to have.

Overall, the software and features on the Tab Ultra C provide a generally useful set of tools and functionality to the device.. and it does all that Onyx claims it does. There are notable areas that need improvement to truly resolve the usability of the device.

Onyx claims to be committed to providing over 3 years of software updates. Based on this commitment, I feel compelled to extend a request to Onyx, or rather a critical warning to those considering purchasing this device.

SECURITY ISSUES

The Tab Ultra C runs Android 11, which is common for e-ink devices; nevertheless, its security updates are nearing expiration in the coming year or so.

My first major concern is the outdated security patches on the device. Alarmingly, the patches are ALREADY lagged back to NOVEMBER 2020. The most recent Android 11 patch is as of July 5, 2023. Considering the patches are typically issued monthly, that’s a startling backlog of 32 months of patches missed by Onyx. This neglect falls short of Onyx’s commitment to its users, in my view.

But the saga of security lapses doesn’t end there. Onyx’s file sharing app, BOOX Drop, exposes your device by creating an unguarded connection on your network. This flaw leaves your device vulnerable, allowing anyone on the network to access or transfer files to and from your device. Which is frankly an unnerving oversight.

And, unfortunately, the list of security problems persists…

If your tablet idles to the lock state while you’re working on it, the previous screen contents are still visible. This means that anyone in proximity could potentially view your work if you leave your device unattended. It’s another glaring flaw that begs the question: how could such a thing be missed? And to make matters worse, this issue escalates further…

In my quest to see if anyone else had this issue, I stumbled upon a Reddit post from a user facing the same problem. In response to the post, an Onyx employee responded along the lines of “it doesn’t happen on my device.” To me, this response indicates poor tech support and an unsatisfactory approach to problem-solving. “It doesn’t work on my device” has ironically become a meme in the tech and programming communities and cannot be taken as a legitimate attempt to debug an issue.

It seems likely that the Onyx employee pressed the lock button, which does usually trigger a screen refresh, though not consistently. However, the issue is most likely to occur when the screen goes to lock via timeout, where the screen does not refresh.

This problem appears to be a straightforward software issue for Onyx to identify and patch – simply by forcing a screen refresh on idle-to-lock transition. Yet, they’ve failed to act, even after being directly informed of the issue.

So, let me make it clear: the company’s vague stance on privacy, unclear disclosure on data sent back to their servers, and a lack of transparency about hardware specifications, are all factors, that together, reveal critical shortcomings that should not be taken lightly.

The device’s security is so compromised that it’s morally questionable to use it in a corporate environment, making it hard to recommend for personal use as well. If Onyx aspires for mass adoption, they must resolve these issues.

There’s been extensive online discussion about the device’s poor security and the uncertainty around what data is being sent back to Onyx’s servers. A common warning amongst users is to avoid using it for financial apps or storing sensitive banking information. That’s a given, but some of us were hoping to use this device for work-related tasks. Had I been aware of these glaring security and privacy issues before purchasing, I wouldn’t have made the investment.

Moreover, I find that my thoughts, notes, and streams of consciousness hold more value and are far more intimate than my banking login.. from both a value standpoint and a security standpoint. My financial data is two-factor authenticated, my thoughts don’t get that same luxury, potentially leaving them exposed to the world and to whomever Onyx might wish to sell them to or, based on their security standards, ignorantly hand away.

These security issues significantly limit the tasks I can perform on the tablet. While I’m a homebody and don’t conduct work in a shared space, I still can’t conduct sensitive work tasks or discussions on the device.. and that leaves a major hole in its potential usefulness.

I can’t suggest this device to anyone until Onyx addresses these glaring issues.

KEYBOARD COVER

When you order the Tab Ultra C directly from Onyx, it comes bundled with the standard folio case. Should you need to buy it separately, it is available for $50.99. The standard case is magnetized, providing fairly ordinary protection for your tablet. It provides coverage for the camera bump, eliminating the wobble experienced when placing the tablet on a flat surface. The case also triggers sleep and wake functions upon closing and opening, and its front cover folds into a triangular stand behind the device, which I’ve also found to be comfortable as a grip when laying down. Everything here is fairly standard in a folio case.

However, the keyboard cover case warrants a deeper exploration. It is an added value proposition that catapults the Tab Ultra C ahead of its competitors. While Android supports Bluetooth keyboards, making this case technically not a necessity, the case offers a level of convenience and portability that is unbeatable.

The keyboard case has been my most utilized accessory, overshadowing even the pen, and I’ve written and edited the full script for this review video with it, from my pen-taken notes, in Notion.

The keyboard case has a more rubberized feel compared to the standard case’s plastic touch, and the magnets are notably stronger. It features two protruding bars on the sides that provide stability during handheld use by keeping the tablet snug in place. The keycaps are a soft, sticky rubber which is a material seemingly built to attract fingerprints. It has chiclet-style keys with subtle clicking sounds and a decent tactile experience. It outshines the cheap Bluetooth keyboard I use for my TV or phone, for sure.

The input delay is distressingly noticeable, especially in non-Boox apps, seeming to lag by 200-300ms. This delay is visible, and as someone accustomed to the speed of a mechanical keyboard with optical switches, it’s a major regression. Correcting typos is especially challenging due to the device’s catch-up lag.

The compact keyboard layout comes with a host of function key combinations and shortcuts to compensate. Though, one particularly annoying example is CTRL + SHIFT + arrow. This combination, which is often used to select whole words, changes your Android keyboard input selection. Further frustrating is the persistent autocomplete function of the Onyx keyboard input, which seems to exacerbate input lag by trying to guess what you’re typing and has a poor pop-up placement over prime screen real estate.. and doesn’t seem capable of keeping your settings saved as I have disabled autocomplete numerous times and it KEEPS coming back.

A few physical design shortcomings also exist. The keyboard disconnects with even the slightest movement, due to its simple five-point male-to-female connector setup, causing interruption from as little as a vigorous typing session on your lap or sliding the tablet forward or backward on a desk.

The magnet placement of the keyboard case seems unconsidered.. as the magnets cause a distortion in the pen’s writing on the screen in areas where the magnets are placed.. which is a major engineering oversight.

If you wish to switch from typing to drawing, you need to swap the keyboard case with the standard cover, both due to this distortion and the keyboard case’s less comfortable handheld design which leaves you pushing in keys. I’ve found swapping cases to be a nuisance and wish I could permanently leave the keyboard case attached.

Additionally, the keyboard case inconsistently triggers the device’s sleep function when closed, unlike the standard case which works as expected.

The keyboard cover case still manages to serve as a functional companion for the Tab Ultra C despite the all the usability and design issues.

However, the problems not only detract from the device’s productivity label, often providing more frustration than efficiency, but also make me feel like a beta tester.. which about sums up my entire experience with the Tab Ultra C.

And, $110 without the bundled pricing discount, the keyboard cover case feels overpriced. I recently purchased a 9″ Lenovo 2023 tablet with a full-color screen, a charging brick, front and back-facing cameras, an octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a 5,100mAh battery, complete with a folio case, all for $140.

I’ll leave the value comparison there for you to ponder.

FINAL THOUGHTS

There’s no doubt that the Boox Tab Ultra C pushes the envelope in the e-ink tablet market.. and it’s brought me face-to-face with a tech niche I thought had died off a decade ago.

But.. did it solve the problems it promised to? And was it worth it?

For my primary issue of eye strain, it’s a resounding “yes.” The Tab Ultra C provides immediate relief to my tired eyes. It’s quite impressive how effective e-ink is in that use case; if my eyes begin to hurt, I can simply pull out the Tab Ultra C and pivot my task and keep working without issue.

The inclusion of android provides enough functionality to manage meaningful tasks and I can keep myself effectively busy without feeling that I’m wasting time or falling too far behind.

I feel the color screen has lessened the shock of transitioning to this new device. It allows me to perform a wide array of tasks like note-taking, replying to e-mails, web browsing, reading and annotating PDFs, and project planning.. and so much more.

The keyboard case keeps me moving swiftly through heavy writing tasks, while the handwriting capabilities and pen have made note-taking fun again and was the perfect analog replacement. It’s so much easier to keep thoughts organized and not having to re-review and digitize analog notes from paper is a major quality of life improvement. And, of course, the ability to use color is the icing on the cake.

Overall, the Tab Ultra C is fun to use, compact, and, for the most part, productive.

I mentioned at the start of the video that the Tab Ultra C has disrupted my daily routine.. and it absolutely has – in a positive and productive fashion. It has become a cornerstone of my workday, and often leaves me wondering if I could shift more tasks onto it to save my eyes for future, heavier tasks. I’ve also found myself migrating to my phone less throughout the day, especially before bed, and instead grabbing the Tab Ultra C to keep productive. I pick it it up first thing in the morning, before even thinking about booting up my PC.

But, like all things, it has its limitations and usability issues. Many of my interactions with the Tab Ultra C have made it feel like an early stage tech product with plenty of room for improvement.

Is it worth the $700 price tag?

I’d argue that the physical device, nor the software on it, are worth $700.

BUT, the eye relief it has provided, and the.. time.. and freedom.. it gives back to my day-to-day live over the analog fallbacks I had adopted make it worth every penny (and I likely would have paid double).

Would I recommend it?

In light of the security issues I discussed earlier, I can’t. I strongly urge potential buyers to wait until Onyx shifts its focus from producing more devices to refining and servicing their software and security.

However, if you have watched that part of the video and fully understand the security issues and potential privacy concerns, and are going to look past them.. then I can confirm the Tab Ultra C is an excellent remedy for eye strain and is an excellent, and versatile, productivity companion.

I have integrated the Tab Ultra C into my daily routine and will continue to do so – while being mindful that anything I introduce to the device could potentially become public. I will be exploring e-ink alternatives to see if I can’t find a similar offering without the security issues and from a company that feels more.. transparent.

For those of you who don’t suffer from eye strain or aren’t glued to screens for 8+ hours a day, the Tab Ultra C probably isn’t going to service you well. A more capable device, with a full-color, high refresh rate screen, going to serve you better. I’d recommend a Galaxy Tab if you’re in the Android ecosystem, an iPad if in the iOS ecosystem, or a Microsoft Surface if in the Windows ecosystem.