Onyx Boox M96 vs Sony Digital Paper (with video links)

[The Inktelligent]

Hello Everyone!

Recently when I was on this forum, there was quite a bit of curiosity expressed about how the Onyx Boox M96 compared to the Sony Digital Paper.

To help give people an idea, I've uploaded a couple of videos to You tube.

The links are:

https://youtu.be/i2J4W9BSTVY -Part 1

https://youtu.be/VUm1iTB7Y6w -Part 2

Hopefully, this can help people who are on the fence about going with one of these e-readers.

[machinogodzilla]

Hi Inktelligent :-)

Excellent review, very thorough and thought out. I found a couple of issues, though, listed near the bottom. Can we expect a follow-up review with Onyx Max vs Sony?

Your M96 have this stylish silver edge around the bezel, looks like Onyx did a face-lift on this model, quietly so as not upset people like me

That preview option in Sony is very good, I want!

The contrast slider in M96 you don't really have to slide, I could see you were struggling to grab the edge of it, tapping anywhere within the slider box is enough.

Your demo clearly shows that the menu layout of Sony is superior to that of Onyx. Especially frequently accessed features like the zoom options which in Onyx (any device) are buried deep inside the menu. Also I think it's a good idea they use the long edge of the Sony reader for the icons.

The trick to precise highlighting is, once you've 'grabbed' the start or end marker, to imagine there is no marker and focus on the tip of the stylus instead, which you drag to the base of the letter you want the highlighting to end (or start) at. In the case of your video the tip of the pen should last touch the bottom right of the 'y' letter. I have no problem with highlighting text as small as a typical newspaper size.

Another great idea in Sony's software is to allow hand writing annotations in addition to typing, Onyx should have that too. Can you browse all of your annotations on the Sony? This is kind of possible in Onyx, but again very tedious (same goes for the bookmarks). You have to do Menu -> Notes -> Annotation (or Bookmark) for every item.

The quick erase function in Onyx is great but dangerous at the same time. Positioned next to 'line erase' it takes very little to tap on the wrong option and... doh! All the scribbles gone, no "Are you sure?" dialog box or anything.

That M96 does not support tables of contents in PDF files is not correct. While you cannot tap on the TOC links in the document, you can go to Menu -> Notes -> TOC and access it from there. You can therefore access it from anywhere in the document.

That you have to use 'Search' for going to a particular page is also incorrect. You just tap on the 12/123 style page indicator in the bottom left corner. You may have the status bar disabled, in which case go to Menu -> More -> Settings -> System -> Enable Reader Status Bar. 'Search' is for searching

Finally, regarding the 'General Thoughts' at the end of the video, you implied that M96 was unreliable. Can you expand on that, please?

[allochi]

Thanks @The Inktelligent, I was trying to do one myself to share, but the lack of time and proper filming setup pushed me back, this is better than what I could have done.

I actually like my Sony so much better that I'm going to sell my M96+

Thanks a lot!

[The Inktelligent]

Originally Posted by machinogodzilla

Hi Inktelligent :-)

Excellent review, very thorough and thought out. I found a couple of issues, though, listed near the bottom. Can we expect a follow-up review with Onyx Max vs Sony?

Your M96 have this stylish silver edge around the bezel, looks like Onyx did a face-lift on this model, quietly so as not upset people like me

That preview option in Sony is very good, I want!

The contrast slider in M96 you don't really have to slide, I could see you were struggling to grab the edge of it, tapping anywhere within the slider box is enough.

Your demo clearly shows that the menu layout of Sony is superior to that of Onyx. Especially frequently accessed features like the zoom options which in Onyx (any device) are buried deep inside the menu. Also I think it's a good idea they use the long edge of the Sony reader for the icons.

The trick to precise highlighting is, once you've 'grabbed' the start or end marker, to imagine there is no marker and focus on the tip of the stylus instead, which you drag to the base of the letter you want the highlighting to end (or start) at. In the case of your video the tip of the pen should last touch the bottom right of the 'y' letter. I have no problem with highlighting text as small as a typical newspaper size.

Another great idea in Sony's software is to allow hand writing annotations in addition to typing, Onyx should have that too. Can you browse all of your annotations on the Sony? This is kind of possible in Onyx, but again very tedious (same goes for the bookmarks). You have to do Menu -> Notes -> Annotation (or Bookmark) for every item.

The quick erase function in Onyx is great but dangerous at the same time. Positioned next to 'line erase' it takes very little to tap on the wrong option and... doh! All the scribbles gone, no "Are you sure?" dialog box or anything.

That M96 does not support tables of contents in PDF files is not correct. While you cannot tap on the TOC links in the document, you can go to Menu -> Notes -> TOC and access it from there. You can therefore access it from anywhere in the document.

That you have to use 'Search' for going to a particular page is also incorrect. You just tap on the 12/123 style page indicator in the bottom left corner. You may have the status bar disabled, in which case go to Menu -> More -> Settings -> System -> Enable Reader Status Bar. 'Search' is for searching


Finally, regarding the 'General Thoughts' at the end of the video, you implied that M96 was unreliable. Can you expand on that, please?

Hi machinogodzilla!

Glad you liked the reviews and thanks for your input on this!

I was pretty sure I had tried the TOC option to access links in the document in the video (just forgot to film this!), but just in case, I tried it again. Still no luck unfortunately, as nothing shows up in under any of the "TOC" "Bookmark" or"Annotation" tabs. My experience with this feature has been spotty, although once in a while it has worked.

Regarding the inference that the M96 can be unreliable at times, I was principally thinking of the various issues I've had trying to get the scribbles I've made to stay on the device. Alas, I have given up on any kind of export functionality . For the other issues I have had, I have provided this quote of myself below from way back when on these forums.

Hi everyone!

New to this forum and to the Boox products as well, but recently purchased an M96.

So far I'm really impressed with this device, even with the bugs I have already encountered with its software. The features included out of the box in the onyx Neo reader app put most e-ink readers to shame in terms of its versatile pdf management.

Having said this, there are a few key areas where the software could use some improvement. In an effort to help that process along, I decided to come on here and list a few of the errors I have noticed so far. Perhaps Booxtor and his team can release an update which will address these issues and fully unlock the potential of this e-ink reading device.

The bugs I have noticed so far:

-NO export functionality! (at least that I can see)---This was a huge reason for my purchasing the device. Would be great to be able to scribble notes on the pdfs and then be able to keep them by exporting a separate, marked up copy of the pdf (like what some video reviews of the m92 showed). However, as it stands, when I tap the export button nothing seems to happen. Even just having an option whereby one could simply keep the notes they scribble on the one pdf (e.x. they appear in the pdf even after the device has been turned off)without being able to export would be appreciated.

-Certain apps will not open---Adobe reader and Adobe pdf reader in particular.

-Scribble bar page turning glitch-----When the scribble bar is open in Onyx neo reader, and I press the page turn button, the device often skips several pages ahead instead of simply moving to the next page.

-File renaming issue--Files do not always keep their new name once they have been renamed, and usually do not display it in the home screen or when being read.

-TOC button does not seem to have a function---It does not seem to matter what pdf I open in Onyx neo reader, but clicking on TOC simply takes me to a blank screen with the tab headings "TOC", "Bookmark", and "Annotation". Not sure what the function is supposed to be exactly, but clicking on any of those ta heading also does nothing.

Suggested Functionality to be added:

-An in app accessible tab to more easily switch between several open documents. I seem to remember seeing a review video of another device (I think it was the M92 (?)) which had this capability.

My apologies if these have all been heard before, but perhaps it helps to have these bugs listed in one place.

If anyone has any advice on a current update or method which might fix some of these issues please let me know.

Thanks for giving this a read over!

Anyway, thanks for your comments and glad it was well received

Just to let you know, I will be posting an i86 vs Sony Digital Paper review in the next few days... actually, part1 is already up!

[The Inktelligent]

Originally Posted by allochi

Thanks @The Inktelligent, I was trying to do one myself to share, but the lack of time and proper filming setup pushed me back, this is better than what I could have done.

I actually like my Sony so much better that I'm going to sell my M96+

Thanks a lot!

Thanks allochi!

Kind of you to say so and I'm glad you enjoyed the review

[machinogodzilla]

Originally Posted by The Inktelligent

just in case, I tried it again. Still no luck unfortunately, as nothing shows up in under any of the "TOC" "Bookmark" or"Annotation" tabs.

Could you PM me a link to that document which stubbornly refuses to reveal its TOC? I'm curious if it's a regression in a newer firmware (mine is pretty ancient, yours I suppose must be quite fresh) or something else. From what users report on the forum sadly Onyx seems to be quite good at breaking existing features in new releases.

Originally Posted by The Inktelligent

Regarding the inference that the M96 can be unreliable at times, I was principally thinking of the various issues I've had trying to get the scribbles I've made to stay on the device. Alas, I have given up on any kind of export functionality . For the other issues I have had, I have provided this quote of myself below from way back when on these forums.

Yeah, that monster thread on M96... You will be better off asking for help with troubleshooting in a fresh thread or one by one on StackExchange. I won't answer here but in short export generally worked for me and I can't recall any issues with the scribbles (and I scribble a lot). It could be that my firmware version works better in these areas. Post a new question and we can try to investigate.

Originally Posted by The Inktelligent

Just to let you know, I will be posting an i86 vs Sony Digital Paper review in the next few days... actually, part1 is already up!

Personally I have no interest in anything smaller than 9.7" (I gave my i86 away) and will wait patiently for your quality comparison of the Max vs Sony

[machinogodzilla]

The reason you cannot access the TOC in the "Canada's System of Justice" document is that it simply doesn't have one. What you see there are internal links overlaying the 'printed' TOC but the document doesn't have an 'embedded' TOC.

You can check that by opening the document with a PDF viewer on your PC. Then try with this example document.

So it appears that Onyx Neo Reader does not support links in documents but TOC works perfectly fine.

[xtech]

Originally Posted by The Inktelligent

Hopefully, this can help people who are on the fence about going with one of these e-readers.

If the software on the Onyx Boox Max is the same as on M96, from this review it seems that it is easier to work with the Sony than with the Max. The Max has a plus of the boldness of the fonts (changeable contast), but in terms of the export of the annotations and of handling the annotations, which is the essential piece of work with the text, it is not as good as Sony. The Bluetooth and thus attachable keyboard is another plus.

However, the decisive and winning pluses of Onyx Boox Max can now only be the new pdf reader, where all the shortcomings are avoided, and the second monitor option "out of the box".

[The Inktelligent]

Originally Posted by machinogodzilla

The reason you cannot access the TOC in the "Canada's System of Justice" document is that it simply doesn't have one. What you see there are internal links overlaying the 'printed' TOC but the document doesn't have an 'embedded' TOC.

You can check that by opening the document with a PDF viewer on your PC. Then try with this example document.

So it appears that Onyx Neo Reader does not support links in documents but TOC works perfectly fine.

Thanks for testing that out!

[The Inktelligent]

Originally Posted by xtech

If the software on the Onyx Boox Max is the same as on M96, from this review it seems that it is easier to work with the Sony than with the Max. The Max has a plus of the boldness of the fonts (changeable contast), but in terms of the export of the annotations and of handling the annotations, which is the essential piece of work with the text, it is not as good as Sony. The Bluetooth and thus attachable keyboard is another plus.

However, the decisive and winning pluses of Onyx Boox Max can now only be the new pdf reader, where all the shortcomings are avoided, and the second monitor option "out of the box".

Hi xtech,

I think your conclusions are pretty accurate. The Sony, from my experience, is definitely the most stable of the lot.

However, one other big advantage of the Onyx Boox devices is their ability to zoom in very far into the document. The zoom on the Sony is certainly acceptable for most normal font sizes (ex. 10-12-point font shouldn't pose a problem in most cases), but it doesn't allow one to zoom in nearly as far the boox e-readers do. I have put up a video illustrating this here:

https://youtu.be/DgNB-rIyncI

[The Inktelligent]

Fixed the above link-the video is much better with sound.

[Orange Gelato]

Thanks Inktelligent!

Your video reviews are extremely helpful!



Will look forward to any others you put up in future.