BOOX Tablet Note Max 13.3 No Frontlight B/W ePaper Notebook 300 PPI 6G 128G

I have owned several eink devices at various sizes (Supernote, Kindle Scribe, various Boox devices) and I am blown away by the quality of the 300 ppi screen at 13.3", which was not available. Yes, there is ghosting, but it is nothing that a simple swipe won't solve, and it is near certain that Boox will continue to improve the ghosting. So we are clear, ghosting is an issue with all eink by default. While previous iterations of the 13.3 inch device had a backlight, it's a good thing in my book that this one does not because adding a back light decreases the fidelity of your handwriting. It's a tradeoff worth making. This is the opinion of the most thorough and popular reviewer on YouTube (My Deep Guide) and I concur. There is a reason he gushes over this device. If you want fantastic notetaking and crisp text, as well as the best PDF software I have ever seen, this is your device.

Pros: -Display: super high-contrast and much crisper than its competitors. I also love that it doesn't have a backlight. Since switching to this for my course reading (was using computer and iPad before), I have had a significant reduction in eye strain and migraines. -Writing experience: unmatched. I was using an iPad with Paperlike cover and fine-tip, friction-increasing apple pencil nibs, and the BOOX is far superior for control and enjoyability. I had also tried a Remarkable tablet prior to this and returned it because I hated the writing experience. -Writing features: super customizable toolbars in their native Notes app, several writing utensil options with very customizable stroke size, etc. -PDF reading--super easy to download them and simple yet effective tools for marking them up. You can read them at 100% size, or close to, because of the size of the screen. -Apps! Because this runs Android, I have my Canvas app for accessing all of my course materials for grad school, as well as Kindle, GoodNotes, Libby, OneDrive, and Outlook for a low-strain way to read my emails. -Battery life: I use this for both school and my social work internship and I only need to charge it every few days. -Weight: light enough that i can comfortably maneuver it on my lap or propped on my chest for reading on the couch or lying down. -Security: you can password protect your notes on multiple levels: the whole app, individual folders, individual notebooks, or all three. You can also opt out of backing up to the cloud, and can download PDF versions as backup directly from the device onto your computer or a hard drive. I work in research with human subjects so this is super important! Cons: -Ghosting: it happens. You can add a "full refresh" button to your toolbar to make it easy to get rid of ghosting when it's bugging you. -Glitching: I had one terrifying day where it seemed like none of my notes saved. I was able to fix it by doing a couple of restarts and logging out and back in from the online BooxDrop portal. -Highlighting: if you like using the highlight feature to mark up documents, all of the 'color' options, including the grayscale ones, are so dark that they impede reading the text you've highlighted. They need to offer adjustable tint/opacity. -Fragile: I haven't had any issues, but given the size of the screen and how thin the tablet is, I feel like its pretty susceptible to damage. You'll definitely need a case. That said, I'm a perpetual klutz and haul this thing around everywhere with me and with the case it's held up great. -Included pencil: they really should've included a more premium option, with an eraser on the back and the ability to toggle between writing modes. Given how thin the pencil tips are, stroke erasing is super inefficient and also will cause a lot of extra wear on your nibs. -Pencil grip: nonexistent, and the ridges are a little uncomfortable when you're doing a lot of writing. I fixed this by using Paperlike brand grips intended for apple pencils--it helped a lot, and they're magnet-friendly. -Nib Lifespan: the tips for the pencil wear down quickly. I guess this is the tradeoff for having them be the perfect texture. You can buy replacements and I'd suggest ordering them along with the device so you've got them ready.

Greatly reduced my eye strain. Works great for note-taking; however, Google Docs/Sheets and Gmail apps have limited functionality on this device. A Bluetooth keyboard pairs nicely, but a mouse creates so much lag that it is hard to position the cursor properly. Currently, there are limited options for cases that adequately protect the device in transit.

This device was phenomenal—until it abruptly wasn’t, with no reasonable explanation. I’d read reviews on other platforms about power buttons not responding and screens freezing for hours or days with no real way to fix it. After paying around $700, I’m disappointed to say it has major issues. In under two weeks with the Boox Max, it’s now unusable. It started with a persistent line across the bottom of the screen that came and went at random. Since this device is known for “ghosting,” it wasn’t a huge concern; it was still responsive and got the job done, so I brushed it off. I also saw reviews saying this wasn’t out of the ordinary. Yesterday I woke up ready to get some reading in. The lines were gone and everything looked normal. Then two faint lines started to appear. I watched a video on changing the display settings, thinking that might help, but after I adjusted them the lines became even more noticeable. I went to shut down the device—and it never came back on normally again. From that point on, the screen's colors have gradually become more inverted. The power button has been unresponsive, and over the last two days the screen itself has become less and less responsive and frozen for hours on end. The device is now completely unusable, with no explanation for what happened. I’ve requested a refund and return and hope that’s honored. There’s been no damage—this sat on my dining table and was only used for reading and taking notes a handful of times. I’d like a replacement because I genuinely enjoyed the product at first, but falling apart after only two weeks is scary. I’m glad this happened within the 30-day return window—but what if it happened on day 31? Paying this much for something that won’t last years isn’t worth it. The device is clearly defective, and what’s more concerning is that this seems far too common with Boox products. If they refuse to refund a device that fell apart without any explanation, I’ll post an update. Today I woke up to even more lines on the screen than yesterday when I last touched it. Very scary considering the cost. Very disappointed, and I hope to receive a working Boox device that won’t fall apart without explanation. Every time I look at the device it is in a worse condition than hours before. Never once dropped and never used roughly- very unfortunate.