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Tab Ultra, Nova Air 2 and Leaf 2: Boox makes e-ink tablets and readers more productive

Oct 27, 2022

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The specialist for e-book readers and tablets with e-ink display Onyx has released three new mobile devices that are intended to appeal to three different user groups: While the smaller Nova Air 2 can also be used as a should act as a digital notepad, the Tab Ultra is primarily designed for productive use.

Tablet with e-ink display for productive use

Onyx markets the 225 × 184 × 6.7 mm and 480 g Tab Ultra as an ePaper tablet PC that is supposed to offer the greatest possible flexibility with an open Android 11 and full access to the Google Play Store. The tablet has a 10.3-inch display with Carta technology, which offers a pixel density of 227 ppi at a resolution of 1,404 × 1,872 pixels. The “Super Refresh Technology” should ensure a smooth workflow, which enables a constant and, above all, non-disturbing refreshment of the screen and should therefore also be able to display fast-moving content well. The built-in white and amber LEDs can also be used to adjust the color temperature of the integrated lighting to your own needs.

The technical basis of the Ultra Tab is a Snapdragon 662 from Qualcomm, whose two Kryo 260 clusters each consist of four gold (Cortex-A73) and four silver cores (Cortex-A53), which run at a maximum of 2 GHz and 1. clock at 8 GHz. The processor is supported by 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. The memory for your own content can be expanded by up to 2 GB using a memory card. In addition to WLAN in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz band and USB-C, Bluetooth 5.0 provides the necessary connections to external networks and devices. The two built-in loudspeakers should guarantee a solid background sound, and the two microphones are also suitable for conversations. A fingerprint sensor housed in the power button should ensure security. The battery, which has a capacity of 6,700 mAh, should also enable long runtimes.

The Tab Ultra also has pen support; a corresponding Boox Pen 2 Pro is included in the package. This has the 4,096 pressure levels that are now considered normal.

Camera should expand possibilities

A novelty, at least for Boox, is the camera installed on the back with a resolution of 16 MP. This is intended to expand the tablet's productive working area compared to the competition, for example by digitizing documents via the camera unit and further processing them using the OCR function. Natively, the Tab Ultra supports a wide range of formats including E-PUB and PDF (protected and unprotected), TXT, HTML and DOC. The image formats supported are PNG, JPG, BMP and TIFF, as well as the audio formats WAV and MP3. Other types can be retrofitted via third-party apps.

In addition to the case included, Boox offers a magnetic 2-in-1 keyboard cover as an optional accessory, which is connected via the pogo pins on the side of the tablet and to protect the Tab Ultra during transport.

The Tab Ultra can currently be pre-ordered from the Boox store for $599.99 before taxes, and the manufacturer charges $659.99 for the bundle including the keyboard. European customers should be able to order the Tab Ultra from December.

Nova Air 2 as reader and notepad

Also presented was the new Nova Air 2, which is supposed to be a mix between an e-book reader and a digital notepad. An open Android 11 including Play Store support also serves as the software basis for this. This means that additional reader applications can be used if desired, even if experience has shown that these are hardly optimized for e-ink panels.

The screen installed in the Nova Air 2 measures 7.8 inches with a resolution of 1,404 × 1,872 pixels. That means a pixel density of 300 ppi. The illumination of the new reader also has white (cold) and amber (warm) LEDs, with which the color temperature can be easily adjusted. The Wacom digitizer, in cooperation with the included Pen Plus, which supports 4,096 pressure levels, is intended to make it easy to create notes or drawings.

The reader, which measures 194 × 136 × 6.3 mm and weighs 235 g, is powered by a Qualcomm SoC that has 8 cores and is not described in detail in the specifications. The Nova Air 2 also has WiFi in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and Bluetooth 5.0. The manufacturer specifies 3 GB of RAM, the internal memory for your own content is 32 GB. Two loudspeakers and two microphones are also integrated. According to Boox, the built-in battery with a capacity of 2,000 mAh should enable a standby time of up to 26 days.

Natively, the format support is even slightly larger than that of the Tab Ultra. In addition to the formats already mentioned, the AZW format used by Amazon and Mobi as well as CBR and CBZ, which are interesting for comic lovers, are also supported here. Support for image and audio formats remains the same. Here, too, other file types can be retrofitted via third-party apps.

The basic bundle consisting of the Nova Air 2, pen, additional pen tips and a normal case, for which the manufacturer is asking 339.99 US dollars, is available now. Buyers have to wait until November 4, 2022 for the package with the magnetic protective cover. This is then slightly more expensive at 359.99 US dollars. The device is not yet listed in the Boox European shop.

Leaf 2 with scroll buttons

With the Leaf 2, Boox has presented a fundamentally revised new edition of the predecessor for the normal reader. In terms of the CPU, the number of cores has been reduced from 8 to 4, but performance is said to have increased and energy consumption reduced. The manufacturer specifies 2 GB of RAM, the internal memory for your own content is 32 GB according to the specifications, which can also be expanded using memory cards. WLAN (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and Bluetooth 5.0 are again available as interfaces.

The 7-inch display, on the other hand, has remained largely untouched. This still has a resolution of 1,264 × 1,680 pixels with a pixel density of 300 ppi. The color temperature can also be adjusted on the Leaf 2.

The operating system is now Android 11 instead of 10, and it is also possible to install third-party applications. In contrast to its predecessor, the Leaf 2 is no longer limited to its own Boox store, but can access Google's Play Store like its two big brothers.

The new feature of the 156 × 137 × 6.0 mm e-book reader, which weighs 185 g, is the integrated scroll button, which is intended to make use more convenient. The same applies to the stereo speakers and the built-in microphone.

The Leaf 2 is listed in Boox's online shop for 239.99 euros, but is currently not available.