I’ve tried dozens of E Ink tablets, but this Android checks more of my boxes than any other

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Boox Be aware Air5 C is offered for $530.
• It has an improved pen and writing expertise, and is quicker with much less ghosting.
• The AI options aren’t that helpful, and the magnetic pen placement is a design flaw.

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There’s nothing like laying out a brand new planner with to-do lists and objectives at first of a brand new yr. Up to now, I might purchase a brand new planner yearly, however would ultimately abandon filling it out by April.  

To ensure that me to stay with a planner for the entire yr, it has to supply fully customizable note-taking options, whereas permitting me to interrupt down my priorities. Effectively, I believe I’ve lastly cracked the code to the right planner. 

Additionally: I wasn’t looking to replace my Kindle, but this Android e-reader made it easy

The brand new Boox Note Air5 C is an e-ink pill that permits you to create pages upon pages of notes and templates in a single single gadget, all optimized with options like AI-powered Good Scribe instruments powered by Android 15. 

Digital paper tablets are getting increasingly more consideration with manufacturers like Kindle and ReMarkable, and there is even analysis to again up why. In line with a 2025 study, members who labored on digital paper tablets had 35% decrease stress ranges whereas finishing their duties, in addition to a 30% discount in cognitive load, in comparison with those that labored on computer systems. 

What makes this explicit Boox digital paper pill stand out from older fashions is the way it writes. I’m a pen-to-paper individual, and the mix of the Pen3 stylus and this pill’s display screen makes it a real paperlike writing expertise. That is as a result of the pen has an improved texture floor with 4,096 ranges of strain and ultra-low latency to make it really feel like you’re writing on precise paper with an actual ballpoint pen.

Additionally: The best digital notebooks you can buy

Nevertheless, for many who favor typing over writing, or who might have messier handwriting, you may get an attachable keyboard cowl for even simpler note-taking (bought individually for $110). 

Apart from the note-taking side of the Boox Be aware Air5 C, it’s a productiveness machine. The side-by-side function is not something new, however the Android 15 makes it sooner and simpler to navigate forwards and backwards between completely different apps than different Boox merchandise I’ve examined. 

Going again to the note-taking side, the pill has customizable options like color-coding, inserting hyperlinks and attachments to notes, in addition to layers, a number of notebooks, infinity canvas, tags/flags, and so forth., making it splendid for conceptual work and for journaling or analysis. 

For the brand new yr, I wish to make quite a lot of lists, and I used to be capable of make every day and weekly to-do lists, objectives, calendars, a listing of residence tasks, and a weekly grocery purchasing listing all on this one gadget, customizable to precisely how I like my lists, as an alternative of a planner that has restricted pages and set out web page sorts that may not move with the way you create and set up. 

Additionally: I tested the ReMarkable Paper Pro, and can’t go back to ‘real’ paper – especially at this price

When it comes to enhancements from earlier generations, there’s a lot much less e-ink ghosting within the Be aware Air5 C in comparison with different Boox Notes I’ve examined. It is also extremely sooner, particularly whereas net looking or utilizing apps like Pinterest. 

I’ve, once in a while, used the Boox Be aware Air5 C as an e-reader by downloading the Kindle app, however it may be a bit of too large and cumbersome to carry. Nevertheless, I’ve discovered studying magazines on the Be aware Air 5 C is healthier suited, because of the ten.3-inch Kaleido 3 coloration show and the big display screen dimension.

Additionally: The best tablets for note-taking

AI is, unsurprisingly, one of many gadget’s most marketed options, nevertheless it leaves a lot to be desired. Whereas you should utilize it for textual content recognition, to auto-perfect shapes, and to ask questions, I believe it will be way more helpful to ask the AI specifics, for instance to “create a to-do listing based mostly on my January calendar.” For now, the AI duties are nonetheless very primary, and I did not use them a lot throughout my testing. 

As well as, essentially the most safe magnetic attachment level for the pencil causes it to overlap with the quantity down button, and urgent on it, which, in case your settings aren’t set excellent, can find yourself including 80+ pages to your pocket book unintentionally (this occurred to me many occasions earlier than I discovered why). 

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

Boox has grow to be a standout model for note-taking tablets, and the Note Air5 C is my new favourite mannequin. Its coloration display screen is brilliant and snappy, and the included pen appears like a premium expertise. Though it comes with a excessive worth for a note-taking pill at $530, it is nonetheless $150 cheaper than competitor coloration e-ink gadgets just like the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft and the ReMarkable Paper Pro. 

If note-taking is a precedence for you within the new yr, I like to recommend the Boox Be aware Air5 C to be your go-to gadget. In the event you do not care concerning the coloration show or the attachable keyboard, nevertheless, the Boox Note Go 10.3 is one other nice choice for $410.