I’ve tested dozens of E Ink tablets, but this Android checks the most boxes for me

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Boox Be aware Air5 C is on the market 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.

extra shopping for decisions

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There’s nothing like laying out a brand new planner with to-do lists and targets initially of a brand new 12 months. Prior to now, I’d purchase a brand new planner yearly, however would ultimately abandon filling it out by April.  

For me to stay with a planner for the entire 12 months, it has to supply absolutely customizable note-taking options and let me break down my priorities. Properly, I feel I’ve lastly cracked the code to the proper planner. 

Additionally: I wasn’t trying to change my Kindle, however this Android e-reader made it straightforward

The most recent Boox Be aware Air5 C is an e-ink pill that means that you can create web page after web page of notes and templates in a single single system, all optimized with options like AI-powered Good Scribe instruments powered by Android 15. 

Digital paper tablets are getting an increasing number of consideration with manufacturers like Kindle and ReMarkable, and there is even analysis to again up why. In keeping with a 2025 research, contributors 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 particular person, 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 floor texture with 4,096 stress ranges and ultra-low latency, so it appears like you might be writing on precise paper with an actual ballpoint pen.

Additionally: The very best digital notebooks you should purchase

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

Apart from the note-taking facet 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 quicker and simpler to navigate backwards and forwards between totally different apps than different Boox merchandise I’ve examined. 

Going again to the note-taking facet, the pill gives customizable options similar to color-coding, inserting hyperlinks and attachments into notes, layers, a number of notebooks, an infinity canvas, tags/flags, and so on., making it excellent for conceptual work and journaling or analysis. 

For the brand new 12 months, I prefer to make numerous lists, and I used to be in a position to make day by day and weekly to-do lists, targets, calendars, a listing of house initiatives, and a weekly grocery buying record all on this one system, customizable to precisely how I like my lists, as a substitute of a planner that has restricted pages and set out web page sorts that may not circulation with the way you create and arrange. 

Additionally: I examined the ReMarkable Paper Professional, and might’t return to ‘actual’ paper – particularly at this value

By way of 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 quicker, particularly whereas internet searching or utilizing apps like Pinterest. 

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

Additionally: The very best tablets for note-taking

AI is, unsurprisingly, one of many system’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 feel it will be way more helpful to ask the AI specifics, for instance to “create a to-do record primarily based on my January calendar.” For now, the AI duties are nonetheless very fundamental, 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 amount down button, and urgent on it, which, in case your settings aren’t set good, can find yourself including 80+ pages to your pocket book unintentionally (this occurred to me many instances earlier than I found out why). 

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

Boox has turn into a standout model for note-taking tablets, and the Be aware Air5 C is my new favourite mannequin. Its coloration display screen is vivid and snappy, and the included pen appears like a premium expertise. Though it comes with a excessive value 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 Professional. 

If note-taking is a precedence for you within the new 12 months, I like to recommend the Boox Be aware Air5 C to be your go-to system. Should you do not care concerning the coloration show or the attachable keyboard, nonetheless, the Boox Be aware Go 10.3 is one other nice choice for $410.