Onyx hardware refresh cadence?

[GrandNeko40]

i've recently been considering a Boox device to supplement my Kobo. the Kobo Libra 2 is excellent for portability and as a pure, simple book reader with great battery life and essentially no distractions... but sometimes i want a larger device for more general-purpose use, like catching up on my rss feeds, instapaper and so on -- or for navigating reference/instructional books (cookbooks, crochet patterns, etc.) that really just work better on a larger screen.

the Note Air 4C seems like the device that best ticks all my boxes... but it seems to me Onyx updates and replaces and refreshes their many and various (and sometimes seemingly redundant) model families at a breakneck pace. like most consumers, i hate buying a new (to me) gadget only to learn that it's being replaced/refreshed a month later.

i used a Palma for a few weeks, but other than that, i am not at all familiar with their devices... so i wanted to ask: does Onyx typically make significant enough upgrades to their devices that i should wait a couple months to see what this theoretical 4C successor looks like, or are they generally just doing minor spec bumps here and there and i needn't worry about whatever tiny tweak they make? if this imaginary, not-currently-announced "Air 5C" is released with (for instance) Android 16, will my Air 4C be stuck on Android 13 indefinitely, or do they have an okay track record for providing significant OS upgrades to older devices? thanks!

[Aleron Ives]

Onyx uses old SOCs in order to reduce hardware costs, and the Android version is tied to the SOC, so Onyx devices never get Android updates; by the time the device comes out, the SOC is already on the latest Android version it's entitled to get. You do get Boox software updates, though.

The only real reason to wait would be if you need Android 14 for some reason, but the next devices may or may not have it. The Go 6 has Android 11, for instance.

[Harmon]

I have an Air 4C and an iPad. I know this does not speak to your inquiry, but have you considered an iPad?

iPad works better for Instapaper (which, incidentally, should be coming to your Kobo if it isn’t there already), Reader, pdfs - practically everything of that ilk, it seems.

The BOOX devices will accept apps for all those things, but the response time is slower, and within the apps, things don’t always work right. For example, in Reader, the delete button does not always work after I’ve read something, forcing me to use the hamburger menu on the inbox page to delete - even though it seems to bring up the same menu.

However, I prefer e-ink screens for reading comfort, and I find the Air easy to hold.

I do not use the note taking capabilities of either device, and an awful lot of people seem to prefer BOOX for that.