Everyone is verbalize about e - readers again , and it ’s because Amazon of late releaseda whole Modern bunch of Kindles . Of the raw releases , one stand apart as something new for Amazon : TheKindle Colorsoftis the company’sfirst attemptat a color e - ink exhibit , and it replace the long - forget Kindle Oasis as Amazon ’s new flagship tocopherol - reader twist . At $ 280 , it ’s sure as shooting an expensive piece of outfit — peculiarly if you consider the introductory Kindle costs almost a third of that . But it ’s quite simply the most modern Kindle that Amazon has ever made .
So , does that mean you should grease one’s palms it immediately ? Absolutely not ; I want you to bribe something else instead .
Amazon was late to the political party . Other manufacturers have been doing this whole “ coloration e - ink ” thing for a lot longer , and frankly , they ’re doing it better . Do n’t buy the Kindle Colorsoft ; purchase the Onyx Boox Go Color 7 rather .
What makes the Onyx Boox Go Color 7 so special
We ’re no strangers to the Boox Go Color 7 . In fact , our own Nadeem Sarwar took the original black variant out for a spin in July . He have it away it , pronouncing itthe best Kindle option he ’d ever used . I have to let in , after using the fetching unexampled bloodless version , he ’s utterly on the money .
The key to the e - reader ’s success in his eye , and increasingly in mine too , is the operating system . Unlike a Kindle , which usesa “ fork ” version of Androidthat basically just runs Amazon ’s software and nothing else , the Boox Go Color 7 run a fullAndroid 12install . That intend it has more in common withan Android tabletthanan Amazon e - reader , with entree to not only Onyx ’s e - reading political platform , but the Google Play Store too . Yes , that same Google Play Store you ’ll discover on your Android smartphone or tablet is available here , and it entail you could download the same apps you use on your other devices .
You might assume that intend it does n’t endure much other than the most basic of apps , but you ’d be wrong . While traditional benchmarking software seems to be beyond its modest capabilities , the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 nestled inside the plastic carapace is actually surprisingly knock-down . It ranBalatrojust fine , without the central processing unit struggling or giving any reading it was n’t up to the task .
Does that mean it ’s essentially a tablet , then ? Well , no . It ranBalatro , sure — but it was n’t cracking . While the processor was up to the labor , the screen ’s refresh rate really was n’t , and the biz looked a small bit like it was trudging through mud . Even with the card ’s soft carry motion move around off , it was n’t always easy to see what was going on while the plot was in motility , and while it was playable , it was n’t a game I revisited on the Go Color 7 .
But that does n’t matter , because the Go Color 7 is n’t meant to playBalatro . No , it ’s mean to show pretty much anything .
You can readanything
The Boox Go Color 7 has its own reader app and its own stock for corrupt e - books , and by most account , it function pretty well . I ca n’t tell you from firsthand experience because , well , I did n’t use it very much . And that ’s because I had access to the Google Play Store .
Access to the Google Play Store is a large deal for any e - reader . Amazon ’s walled garden intend the Kindle is silklike and fast — but walls are still walls . The Go Color 7 has no such barriers .
If you ’re anything like me , you have vitamin E - books circulate all over the place . You ’ve buy e - book from Amazon , there ’s that Humble Bundle you bought , that free e - Holy Writ on Google Play ledger — not to name your dalliance with Barnes & Noble , back from your very first Nook e - reader .
So unless you ’re right smart more loyal to a undivided brand than me , you ’ve probably got a treasure treasure trove of e - book of account pass around around . I ’m an old hand at this now , so I know youcansend books to the Amazon Kindle — but doing so can be a second of a pain . Not so on the Go Color 7 . set up the app , contract in , and you ’re ready to go .
I ’ve been blithely book - hopping between apps for the undecomposed part of the last few weeks , and it has beendelightful . No longer tether to Amazon , I ’m free to explore where I want .
This extend over to other apps as well . I ’m a longtime manga reader , and the Go Color 7 is perfect for reading in the Shonen Jump app . I ’m not much of a risible guy , but I loaded a few up through the Kindle app , and they face with child . The limitations of the e - ink display think it ’s not as cleared or frizzy as it might be on my phone , but there ’s a beauty to the slightly lave - out colouring and delicate grain . It ’s more like scan an actual comedian than any other digital method , and that have in mind I in reality prefer it .
It’s not perfect, but that’s why I love it
As far as I ’m concerned , there are two type of smart devices ; svelte and refined ones , and buggy but magnetic ones . InStar Warsterms — because I ca n’t do anything without relate it back toStar Wars — it ’s the difference between an Imperial Star Destroyer and the Millennium Falcon .
The Amazon Kindle is an Imperial Star Destroyer . It ’s backed by a massive establishment , it ’s sleek and no - hokum , and it ’s incredibly good at what it does . That ’s a good affair , obviously , but one Star Destroyer is much like another , and that also put on to Kindles . My Kindle Paperwhite is wild , but it ’s very much a credit card slab with no personality . I ’ve had it for age , but I ’m not particularly attached to it because it lacks charisma .
But the Boox Go Color 7 has charisma . It has it in nigra — and it ’s because it ’s flawed .
That sounds unknown , but I promise you it make common sense . Consider my example from to begin with . What is it you remember most about the Millennium Falcon ? It ’s certainly not that it worked flawlessly . No , it ’s that it had problems . The hyperdrive was peerlessly fast , but it was wonky . Sometimes she need a bonk on the control dialog box to start up , but when she got going , she could outfly any Imperial bucket .
The Falcon ’s character was strong — so firm that I slipped into calling it a “ she ” without intend . And that ’s because personal appeal can be create by lovable flaws . Because the Kindle is so good , it does n’t leave much of an impression . It just works , to borrow a phrase , and that ’s sometimes a hurt .
The Boox Go Color 7 is an fabulously equal to machine . But it has more than its share of problems . It ’s prone to ghosting . A lot of ghosting ; sure as shooting more than you ’re used to if you ’ve used Kindles . you could fine - melodic line how the display work to lessen this , but it never really fully goes out . The screen rotary motion also is n’t nifty , and the colour is a little wash away - out . While it has a work up - in speaker , it ’s unmanageable to use apps like Audible , because the speaker wo n’t continue playing with the covert off . you could keep the filmdom open , but finally it ’ll meter out and playback will stop .
It ’s flawed in a way that I ’ve never receive a Kindle to be , but I receive myself loving it all the same . So , while those flaw are definitely present , they are n’t bad enough to bankrupt the gimmick . Instead , they bring my aid back to the Boox Go Color 7 in a way of life that ’s slowly increased my affection for it . It ’s an odd thing to accept , but I actually care the e - lecturer because itisn’tas flawless as a Kindle .
I might not experience this way if it only put up as much as a Kindle did — but because it offer way of life more than Amazon ’s e - reader ever has , I love it despite its flaw . In the same path Han Solo feel a connection to the Millennium Falcon because of the battle they ’d been through together , I feel a stiff connexion to this eastward - reader .
Is the Onyx Boox Go Color 7 a Kindle killer?
It ’s fourth dimension for the big interrogative : Should the Boox Go Color 7 replace your Kindle ? Well , that ’s a complicated dubiousness . Thebasic Kindlehas a grown bound in pricing , and I ’m not about to fence that anyone looking to buy a $ 100 Kindle should alternatively spend almost three - sentence that amount for the Go Color 7 . The same apply to theKindle Paperwhite , which also includes waterproofing for a much low price .
But that ’s not what I came here to argue ; at the price of $ 250 , the Go Color 7 is a full $ 30 cheap than the Kindle Colorsoft . And sure , it does n’t have waterproofing , and it does n’t have the passing slickness of Amazon ’s software program — but it has everything else , and it ’s a darn good atomic number 99 - reader in its own rightfulness . Access to the Google Play Store is a major game modifier , as it means the Go Color 7 is a universal Es - reader in a way the Kindle simply is n’t . If you only own e - Good Book through Amazon , and do n’t show comedian or manga through their own apps , then the Kindle Colorsoft is definitely still a good selection .
But at $ 30 less , with access to all the e - version apps you could ever need , and its own store and reader besides , the Onyx Boox Go Color 7 is a hard prospect to pass by up . Even if you do have to live with some bug , it ’s simply one of the undecomposed value proposition around .
