When it comes to selecting an e-reader, for many customers it comes all the way down to which system has quick access to the books they really need to learn, and the reply is often both the Amazon Kindle or the Rakuten Kobo. There’s now a 3rd choice, the Boox Leaf 2 from Onyx, that lets customers purchase books from the competitors’s e-book shops, with out having to accept both firm’s locked-down gadgets.

Unless you’re as obsessive about E Ink gadgets as I’m, or stay outdoors the United States, Onyx won’t be an organization you’ve heard of earlier than. And that’s a disgrace, as a result of for the previous few years it’s been placing collectively an in depth lineup of e-reader and e-note gadgets that basically do put the established manufacturers to disgrace in the case of efficiency and performance. Unlike the Kindle or the Kobo, which every run proprietary working techniques, the Onyx Boox Leaf 2 runs Android 11 beneath a customized front-end, and consists of full entry to the Google Play Store—together with not simply e-book apps, but in addition video games and different instruments as properly.

Is it the right e-reader for everybody? No, because it positively skews in direction of the customizability-loving Android energy person. But if you happen to’re keen to take a position a while to get it operating precisely the way you need, it’s an e-reader that anybody who’s left paper books behind ought to be critically contemplating.

Solid Hardware That Doesn’t Dare to Be Different

By now, if you happen to’ve seen one e-reader, you’ve kind of seen all of them. Like smartphones, there’s not quite a lot of variation between E Ink gadgets today, except for their display dimension and the place different options like buttons and charging ports are positioned.

If the Boox branding within the higher nook doesn’t catch their eye, most individuals could be laborious pressed to distinguish the Leaf 2 from the Kindle Oasis or Kobo Libra e-readers, which all characteristic an uneven bezel design, making the gadgets simpler to carry in a single hand.

The Boox Leaf 2 is among the first Onyx gadgets in a couple of years to characteristic devoted web page flip buttons inbuilt, however I’m not completely thrilled with their execution. I like that the ahead and again buttons on the facet of the Kindle Oasis and Kobo Libra have an area between them, making them simpler to differentiate with out having to look. On the Leaf 2, they sit proper subsequent to one another with barely a discernible hole between them.

Another factor I’m lacking on the Boox Leaf 2 is the raised lip that the Kindle Oasis and Kobo Libra have on the broader facet of the bezel, making them simpler to grip one-handed. That doesn’t imply the Leaf 2 is difficult to carry, because it’s really stunning gentle and durable, however it’s simply one other instance of how a scarcity of polish and design acuity is stopping Onyx’s gadgets from turning into as standard as they should be. But 12 months after 12 months, they’re getting higher and higher.

On the highest fringe of the Leaf 2, you’ll discover a mixture energy/sleep button for briefly shutting down the e-reader or powering it off utterly, whereas alongside the sting closest to the web page flip buttons are audio system, a USB-C charging port, a microphone, and a slot for a microSD reminiscence card, permitting you to complement the built-in 32GB of storage.

Overall, I’d describe the Leaf 2’s {hardware} as minimal and glossy, however its easy again panel is a fingerprint magnet and is in determined want of some texturing to make the system simpler to grip. That being mentioned, I extremely suggest e-readers with asymmetrical bezel designs like this, as I discover them a lot simpler to carry with out fingers blocking or by accident tapping the touchscreen, and I’d nonetheless select the Leaf 2 over the extra primary Kindle and Kobo gadgets that lack devoted web page flip buttons.

Onyx really sells two variations of the Boox Leaf 2, in black or white, however it’s not only a shade distinction that units the 2 choices aside. Both fashions are practically similar in the case of their {hardware}, every coming with the seven-inch, 300PPI, E Ink Carta 1200 display we’ve already seen in different gadgets. But whereas the black model, which I examined, has a layer of protecting glass over the E Ink panel, ensuing within the show sitting flush with the remainder of the entrance of the e-reader, the white model skips the glass panel, with an uncovered E Ink panel sitting barely decrease than the encompassing bezel.

The black model affords the advantage of additional sturdiness, notably if the Leaf 2 goes to be bouncing round unprotected in a bag or backpack, however the additional layer of glass does contribute to display glare when the system is utilized in direct daylight or beneath a lamp, and a slight softening of what’s seen on-screen. It’s not an evening and day distinction, however when put next carefully, textual content and particulars on the white model of the Leaf 2 will seem barely crisper. Both variations are priced precisely the identical, and Onyx leaves it as much as every person to determine what’s going to work greatest for his or her wants. That’s kind of the theme of the Leaf 2—excessive customizability—which is each a plus and a minus for this system.

Android: The Onyx Leaf 2’s Not-So-Secret Weapon

While the Amazon Kindles and Rakuten Kobos each run a proprietary working system (a model of Linux under-the-hood on the Kobo), the Boox Leaf 2 runs Android 11, with a customized front-end developed by Onyx.

If you’re accustomed to Android, and like it over extra restricted working techniques like Apple’s iOS, you’ll in all probability discover the Leaf 2 a well-recognized and welcome expertise, full with a Control Center that’s accessible always by swiping down from the highest of the display, and a navigation bar accessible by swiping up from the underside. Functionally, utilizing the Leaf 2 feels extra like utilizing an Android pill than an e-reader, however visually it seems extra like a Kobo or a Kindle because of Onyx’s front-end, which is sadly missing quite a lot of polish.

I’ve mentioned it earlier than with Onyx’s gadgets, however the customized person interface can really feel a bit complicated, clunky, and is much from fairly. You’ll simply discover your means across the system after spending a while with it, however it’s removed from intuitive, and that could possibly be an enormous flip off for customers already accustomed to, and who’re followers of, Amazon’s e-readers. Benefiting from Onyx’s e-reader method takes some willpower and perseverance.

If you prefer to customise the feel and appear of your gadgets, the Leaf 2 is, indisputably, the e-reader for you. Users can decide to make it really feel extra like an Android pill, with menus that pop on-screen from all instructions, or swap to a extra streamlined interface the place swipe gestures on particular elements of the display make adjustments, like adjusting display lighting or quantity, with none on-screen controls showing. Onyx additionally affords a novel characteristic on all of its E Ink gadgets: a tiny on-screen dot that may be positioned wherever and gives fast entry to a small menu of shortcuts that customers can configure nonetheless they need. I really hate it, and instantly turned it off, however I can perceive the potential usefulness it affords.

Side-loaded content material, together with e-book information, textual content docs, or PDFs, are accessed by means of the default Boox Neo Reader app, which itself affords an virtually exhausting stage of customization in the case of how content material is displayed and the looks of textual content. It’s actually a welcome characteristic for energy customers, and there are alternatives I’ve typically wished had been out there on Kindles and Kobos, however on the similar time I can simply see my mother and father getting overwhelmed by the numerous menus filled with sliders and toggles that the Leaf 2 presents a person. To broaden its attraction, I believe that Onyx ought to contemplate including a ‘dumbed down’ choice that streamlines the UI for novice customers and retains extra superior and typically intimidating configurability utterly hidden.

You’ll additionally need to understand that the Leaf 2 is a $200 system operating a Qualcomm 2.0G Quad-core processor from 2012, not a $1,000+ smartphone with the newest and best Qualcomm has to supply. That, coupled with the constraints of E Ink display know-how, implies that paperwork like magazines or comedian books, which frequently require quite a lot of zooming or panning to learn, is not going to make for a lovely studying expertise on this system. And powering Android 11 on a decade outdated processor means the Leaf 2 isn’t the snappiest system you’ve ever poked. It’s nonetheless an e-reader optimized for textual content, initially.

Source Your Reading Material From Everywhere

If there may be one motive to decide on the Boox Leaf 2 over a Kindle or a Kobo, it’s that not solely are you not tied right into a single content material eco-system, you even have quick access to all of them.

If you’ve been utilizing a Kindle for years and have purchased tons of of titles from Amazon’s e-book retailer, you possibly can simply set up the Android Kindle app on the Leaf 2 and nonetheless have entry to all of that content material.

The similar goes for the Kobo, or for individuals who for some motive had been devoted customers of the Barnes & Noble Nook. Prefer to not pay for ebooks however don’t need to enterprise into the darker corners of the web? You can set up Libby and borrow digital titles out of your native library. The Leaf 2 does audiobooks too, with built-in audio system and Bluetooth for connecting to wi-fi headphones. You may even subscribe to all the above companies and supply your content material from as many sources as you need, all on one system that features the easy-on-the-eyes advantages of E Ink display know-how.

It doesn’t cease at books, although. With full entry to the Google Play Store, you possibly can set up Spotify and use the Leaf 2 to stream music, and even see what watching YouTube movies on a tool with an E Ink display is like.

Spoiler alert: Even with a number of choices for altering how the Leaf 2’s E Ink display behaves, together with a mode that prioritizes refresh pace over picture high quality, watching movies on an E Ink system remains to be an disagreeable expertise.

An Alternative Worth Considering

There are as many causes to change to the Onyx Boox Leaf 2 as there are to stay together with your tried-and-true Kindle or Kobo. Its person interface can really feel a little bit messy and clunky, and as a lot as I hate to say it, I wouldn’t belief my mother and father to determine it out on their very own with out many panicked telephone calls to me. Onyx additionally doesn’t have as massive a world presence as Amazon or Rakuten do, which may make getting help for a defective system a attempting expertise.

That being mentioned, for these devoted to the duty, the customizability of the Boox Leaf 2 means you possibly can finally get the e-reader functioning precisely how you want, whereas the pliability of having the ability to leap from e-book retailer to e-book retailer everytime you need, on a single e-reader, is a compelling characteristic you’ll by no means see from the competitors.