How I’m using my Boox

Each morning, I plop down in front of my MagicHold laptop stand and journal on my Boox with Obsidian.

I use Syncthing to back up my planner and sync my Zotero library between my Boox and laptop.

In the evening, I review my PDF planner and plot for tomorrow.

I use these apps:

• Obsidian – a markdown editor that syncs between all my devices with no fuss for $8/mo.
• Syncthing – I love Syncthing—it’s an encrypted, continuous file sync-er without a centralized server.
• Meditation apps¹ – Guided meditation away from the blue light glow of my phone or computer is better.

Before buying the Boox, I considered a reMarkable.

The reMarkable Paper Pro has a beautiful color screen with a frontlight, a nice pen, and a “type folio,” plus it’s certified by the Calm Tech Institute.

But the reMarkable is a distraction-free e-ink tablet. Meanwhile, I need distraction-lite.

What I like

• Calm(ish) technology – The Boox is an intentional device. Browsing the internet, reading emails, and watching videos is hard, but that’s good.
• Apps – Google Play works out of the box. I can install F-Droid and change my launcher without difficulty.
• Split screen – The built-in launcher has a split screen feature. I use it to open a PDF side-by-side with a notes doc.
• Reading – The screen is a 300ppi Carta 1200, making text crisp and clear.

What I dislike

• Typing – Typing latency is noticeable.
  • At Boox’s highest refresh rate, after hitting a key, text takes between 150ms to 275ms to appear.
  • I can still type, though it’s distracting at times.

• Accessories
  • Pen – The default pen looks like a child’s whiteboard marker and feels cheap. I replaced it with the Kindle Scribe Premium pen, and the writing experience is vastly improved.
  • Cover – It’s impossible to find a nice cover. I’m using a $15 cover that I’m encasing in stickers.
• Tool switching – Swapping between apps is slow and clunky. I blame Android and the current limitations of e-ink more than Boox.
• No frontlight – The Boox’s lack of frontlight prevents me from reading more with it. I knew this when I bought my Boox, but devices with frontlights seem to make other compromises.

Onyx

The Chinese company behind Boox, Onyx International, Inc., runs the servers where the Boox routes telemetry. I block this traffic with Pi-Hole².

I inspected this traffic via Mitm proxy—most traffic was benign, though I never opted into sending any telemetry (nor am I logged in to a Boox account). But it’s also an Android device, so it’s feeding telemetry into Google’s gaping maw, too.

Worse, Onyx is flouting the terms of the GNU Public License, declining to release Linux kernel modifications to users. This is anathema to me—GPL violations are tantamount to theft.

Onyx’s disregard for user rights makes me regret buying the Boox.

Verdict

I’ll continue to use the Boox and feel bad about it. I hope my digging in this post will help the next person.

Unfortunately, the e-ink tablet market is too niche to support the kind of solarpunk future I’d always imagined.

But there’s an opportunity for an open, Linux-based tablet to dominate e-ink. Linux is playing catch-up on phones with PostmarketOS. Meanwhile, the best e-ink tablets have to offer are old, unupdateable versions of Android, like the OS on the Boox.

In the future, I’d love to pay a license- and privacy-respecting company for beautiful, calm technology and recommend their product to everyone. But today is not the future.