I’m nonetheless a sucker for taking handwritten notes in quite a lot of circumstances. For some objective, it helps me focus further on what I’m taking notes on than if I’ve been to type notes. Because of that, I truly beloved the Boox Discover Air3 C. It equipped an beautiful handwriting experience with a versatile Android OS that was intuitive to me as a long-time Android cellphone individual. So when Boox launched the Discover Air4 C, I was excited. In the end, any enhancements to a software I already like and advocate sound participating.
Sadly, a number of of my excited anticipation was unwarranted. To spoil the shock, the upgrades are, to put it mildly, refined. It represents further of a modest iteration than a significantly new product. That talked about, it’s nonetheless an excellent system for lots of causes and could possibly be very satisfying to utilize.


Editor’s Different
Boox Discover Air4 C
The Boox Discover Air4 C is an E-Ink capsule that may be utilized with a stylus to take handwritten notes. It runs on Android 13 for bigger flexibility and suppleness. The ten-3-inch shade present makes it easy to see content material materials and supplies a great deal of customization decisions.
- Unimaginable writing experience
- Sharp, clear present
- Android OS offers quite a lot of flexibility and customization
- New UI helps widgets and acquainted tablet-like experience
- Further alternate options to utilize handwriting
- Not many very important upgrades from the sooner model

See our course of
How we verify and evaluation merchandise at Pocket-lint
We don’t do arm-chair evaluation. We buy and verify our private merchandise, and we solely publish purchaser’s guides with merchandise we have now actually reviewed.
Worth, availability, and specs
The Onyx Boox Discover Air4 C is on the market from Amazon, Walmart, Boox’s site, and the Onyx site for $499.99. It’s solely on the market in a single shade and measurement and comes with the Boox Pen Plus. If you would like a cover or the Boox Pen Skilled 2, you might should purchase these individually.
Bodily, the Discover Air4 C appears to be almost an equivalent to the Discover Air3 C. Boox modified its emblem placement on the doorway of the system (it’s now further refined and throughout the bottom left instead), nevertheless in some other case, it’s subsequent to inconceivable to tell them apart just by wanting. The model new model is one gram lighter than the Air3 C, nevertheless the thickness stays the equivalent. It moreover retains the equivalent Kaleido 3 Shade Show display screen, adjustable entrance light, microSD card slot, fingerprint lock, 3700mAh battery, and 64GB of memory.
What I favored in regards to the Onyx Boox Discover Air4 C
A tablet-like experience on an e-reader
The Discover Air4 C shares a protracted guidelines of similarities with its predecessor. That’s not a nasty issue given that Discover Air3 C is an excellent system. At first, similar to the Discover Air3 C, the Discover Air4 C offers a implausible writing experience. It feels remarkably like writing on paper, due to the refined texture of the glass. The stylus, which has similarities as a result of the sooner model, is as comfortable to hold as a pen or pencil, and it glides simply all through the ground of the system.
The Discover Air4 C offers a implausible writing experience. It feels remarkably like writing on paper, due to the refined texture of the glass.
The C throughout the title signifies that it’s a shade E-Ink system. Whereas you don’t get the colorful, saturated colors of tablets similar to the Apple iPadthere could also be ample of a selection to be helpful when highlighting textual content material or sketching designs. I am an unlimited fan of color-coding notes and charts, so I acknowledge that I can proceed that conduct on this capsule. It moreover makes for a nicer experience when using apps that are rich with shade.
Previous shade, the present is sharp and clear, making it quite simple to be taught textual content material. Graphics won’t look exceptionally detailed, as a result of it is further like a newspaper than a high-resolution capsule, nonetheless it is well-detailed for an E-Ink present. It supplies the subsequent determination for black and white content material materials (300 ppi) versus shade content material materials (150 ppi), so major textual content material appears to be pretty a bit increased than shade graphics, nevertheless shade provides are under no circumstances harmful for an E-Ink system.
The matte finish on the present makes it easy to see in any light, even shiny daylight. Not like completely different tablets with fancier exhibits, there are hardly any reflections or glare. You probably can go for no entrance light or flip the doorway light to very shiny for easy use in any lighting state of affairs. That entrance light can be shade temperature adjustable, all the easiest way to orange, saving your eyes (and circadian rhythm) at night time time.
Whereas there are a number of similarities with the sooner model, there are a variety of appreciated updates. First, Boox upgraded the Discover Air4 C to Android 13. Android 15 might be probably the most current Android OS, and whereas I don’t anticipate the latest mannequin in an E-Ink capsule, the Android 12 OS (which acquired right here out in 2021) throughout the Discover Air3 C felt unnecessarily outdated. Evidently, I was glad to see a step-up throughout the OS. As part of that swap, the model new system supplies an updated UI that options like a well-recognized capsule experience. Now, widgets give you sooner entry to books, notes, or present apps. Sadly, the on the market widgets are restricted to Boox apps significantly, nevertheless hopefully, these will finally broaden so I can have my Google Calendar and Spotify widgets as successfully.

Related
4 causes I’d buy the Onyx Boox Discover Air 3 C over a reMarkable 2
Though lesser acknowledged, the Onyx Boox Discover Air 3 C has some very important advantages over the reMarkable capsule.
The model new UI moreover makes it sooner to entry your apps. On the Discover Air3 C, you first wanted to navigate to the Apps folder (or change the default startup internet web page to that). Now, equivalent to everytime you flip in your cellphone or capsule, you might need a home show the place the apps are entrance and center (or on the very least an online web page away). Common, it makes for a further acquainted and intuitive experience.
That Android OS means you might entry the entire Google Play Retailer, which is one in every of my favorite points about Boox E-Ink tablets. I can acquire regardless of apps I need or want, akin to Spotify, all of my Google apps, Libby, and additional. New this time spherical, though, is a slight restore to one in every of my complaints in regards to the Discover Air3 C. It was as soon as that handwriting was solely attainable throughout the Boox apps and was not acceptable with third-party apps.
Now, though, you might mainly write on one thing due to the Free Mark selection and expanded handwriting devices in apps like Google Docs. It doesn’t work collectively utterly with every app, nevertheless it is good to see the handwriting operate expanded since that’s doubtless one of many predominant causes for getting this capsule. It’s worth stating that Boox moreover extended this operate to the Discover Air3 C, so it isn’t distinctive to the Discover Air4 C.
What I didn’t like in regards to the Onyx Boox Discover Air4 C
Solely a refined enhance from the sooner model
Whereas there’s quite lots to like in regards to the Boox Discover Air4 C, it doesn’t signify plenty of an enhance from the sooner model. On paper, there could also be 2GB further RAM on the Discover Air4 C compared with the 3C, and Boox promised a 50% effectivity enhance throughout the new model. Nonetheless in exact day-to-day use, it’s virtually inconceivable to discern a distinction in effectivity between the two.
Whereas there’s quite lots to like in regards to the Boox Discover Air4 C, it doesn’t signify plenty of an enhance from the sooner model.
On quite a few occasions, I started up the 3C and 4C at the exact same time, and they also every loaded inside a fraction of a second of each other (the 4C was ahead by a hair each time). The equivalent is true when opening up apps or flipping by way of information pages. Even when paying shut consideration to watch for any distinction between the two, I’m unable to find an precise distinction.
I beloved using the Discover Air3 C, so it isn’t basically horrible that there’s not an unlimited effectivity leap. However, it might have been good to see further of an increase in a model new model, on the very least to the aim the place it’s noticeable. In the end, plenty of the modifications seem like in software program program, which can have merely been a software program program exchange instead of a completely new system.
Do you need to buy the Onyx Boox Discover Air4 C?
The Boox Discover Air4 C is a extraordinarily succesful and versatile E-Ink capsule that gives a implausible writing experience. The E-Ink present has inherent lag and ghosting, so it isn’t a worthy system for graphic or color-focused functions like YouTubePhotoshop, and plenty of others. However, it is a good selection to ensure that you a further major system with a long-lasting battery for taking notes.
What about these with the Boox Discover Air3 C? Because of the very refined and modest upgrades, it isn’t worth upgrading. Other than the UI, you’ll not uncover any precise distinction between the two fashions, and it’ll not be worth spending money on. You’re increased off prepared for the next iteration, which we hope introduces further substantial modifications.


Editor’s Different
Boox Discover Air4 C
The Boox Discover Air4 C represents a light-weight enhance from the sooner model. It now runs on Android 13, offering a well-recognized tablet-like UI, nonetheless it retains the equivalent implausible writing experience.