New 13.3" Onyx Boox. Rumours, prototype specs, first pictures

[JonathanM]

My Max has arrived and it looks beautiful. However, I need a bit more clarity about how to protect it from being squeezed like my laptop is in my backpack together with my other possessions. The protective case that arrived from the factory as part of the package is very nice, but it seems to permit the transmission of pressure through itself onto the screen (albeit in a very diffused way, it is a thick kind of felt-type fabric, nearly 1 whole cm thick including the fabric insert). The instructions for the Max say that it requires a hard cover for full protection. Does anyone have any ideas about this please? The only thing I can think of is having a piece of aluminium specially cut, secured with elastic, with the scratchy parts covered in soft material, to cover the front of the Max, together with the protective case, so I can store it in my backpack just like a laptop.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

[desk7]

Originally Posted by JonathanM

My Max has arrived and it looks beautiful. However, I need a bit more clarity about how to protect it from being squeezed like my laptop is in my backpack together with my other possessions. The protective case that arrived from the factory as part of the package is very nice, but it seems to permit the transmission of pressure through itself onto the screen (albeit in a very diffused way, it is a thick kind of felt-type fabric, nearly 1 whole cm thick including the fabric insert). The instructions for the Max say that it requires a hard cover for full protection. Does anyone have any ideas about this please? The only thing I can think of is having a piece of aluminium specially cut, secured with elastic, with the scratchy parts covered in soft material, to cover the front of the Max, together with the protective case, so I can store it in my backpack just like a laptop.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

I bought this one, it' quite stiff:https://www.amazon.it/Notebook-Hardc..._1&s=pc&sr=1-1
The Onyx together with its protective case fits very well in it.

[Icey]

Hey guys !i finally orderee the onyx max, hum no its wrong, my wife orderee it as,a birthay gift ))))

So im very excited and i want to be ready and know all i need to know about the application. Im looking for a pdf afflication which work well on the onyx, and where i can open several pdf in the same time as tabs.

Also, if you know must have for the ongx max, you're welcome ))

[deb2016]

Hello,

Just received my Onyx boox max from ereader-store.

I have a few questions :
- how do you change the wallpaper when off/sleep ?
- in the settings there is a calibration tab, what is it for ?
- is there an update for android up to now ?
- how do you settle one password at boot (like on smartphones) ?
- how to root the onyx boox max (from linux if possible) ?

First impressions : it is rather pleasant, handwriting is nice, there is a (very) slight delay when you actually write, but it is bearable. For now, the default application does not seem to recognize the various pressure levels.

Navigation with the pen is not annoying : it is probably mainly because I want to use the onyx boox max mainly to handwrite, draw or annotate, so I always have the pen at hand.

I am just a bit scared that sometimes when using one application, it seems to freeze (no more response whatever I touch with the pen) and it reboots a few seconds after pushing the on/off button, that is why I am asking for an eventual software update.

More to come.

Regards

[deb2016]

Hello,

I rooted my Onyx Boox max with KingoRoot, trouble is I would like to replace it with Super User app (or supersu).

Googling around shows various methods to achieve this, but mostly on phones, I do not know if this can be applied to the ereader. This should however only depend on the android version.

Anyone ever tried ?

Also, when using onyx scribble, I noticed that some recorded pages could sometimes be simply deleted without any intention to do so, it occurs mostly when I create one new page or open an existing one. Did you experience this ?

Regards

[jlark]

Originally Posted by enosder

I am disappointed by the Onyx Boox Max I just bought. It appears to not have undergone serious usability design or quality control.

My thoughts exactly, except I wouldn't put it this nice. Given its price it's a piece of crap, hardware- and software-wise, and whatever desirable features it has are overshadowed by backwards engineering.

Originally Posted by enosder

The single core processor runs from slow (PDF opening, navigation) to unbearably slow when it waits for all graphic rendering to occur instead of buffering (browser, email, on-screen keyboard).

While waiting for useless animations inherited from an unmodified android (e.g. advancing the cursor).

Originally Posted by enosder

Rendering quality is barely acceptable, with various aberrations due to menu ghosting and poor dithering algorithms.

Add to that braindead handling of full refreshes - that instead of waiting to cleanly and fully render, treat you to a nice render - flicker - flicker - render.

On a related note, reading it in the sun, where this device should shine (pardon the pun), is abominable. First, one needs to find the right position to not get blinded by the glare, and then try not to remember how much one paid to stare at the wimpy, greyish, badly antialiased text.

Originally Posted by enosder

The physical design is stupid: the power button protrudes from the bottom and is pressed when the device sits vertically.

The choice of buttons shows no consideration for usability. Since it is unusable without constantly reaching for the stylus due to missing navigation buttons (d'oh), the menu and back buttons are more of a nuisance, getting in the way of the prev/next buttons.

Ok, I'm being unfair, they do save a bit of gorilla arm, but the button placement is awful, unusable both in portrait and landscape mode. Pair this with the distasteful cheap plastic with no grip, and you've got a recipe for displeased customers.

And speaking of the stylus and buttons: reaching for the home button on the top-left side with the stylus... Ugh.

Originally Posted by enosder

Build quality is weak: after one trip in a backpack, the case of mine formed a big bump on the back and now it wobbles when resting on a flat surface.

I got the same bump on the back. Actually, mine also arrived slightly distorted on the front, above the USB plug, but I ignored it. It did travel with me for about a month in the backpack, but always in its protective cover, and always carefully placed against the laptop so it would never bend (with the laptop on the inside, against my back, and the wondrous device in the next "compartment", which keeps it neatly snugged against the laptop but without much pressure). Then one morning I took it out and it wouldn't start, and I noticed the bump. The previous day it spent a few hours in the trunk of the car, so I assumed it was the battery that inflated due to heat, although that didn't make much sense - it stayed there from ~ 3 PM to 6 PM, before the heat wave hit Europe. It only started up after I left it charge for a longer while (which is weird, it should've had enough power to last more, definitely not go *that* dead while sleeping, so something drained it real bad (no surprise there, given how crappy its sleep management is)).

Now it does work, although there seems to be some ghost "stylus presses" registered: I sometimes get random screen refreshes, and it did start an application on its own while the app launcher was open. I tried to watch it with adb and see what's going on, but I can't replicate it.

I've postponed sending it back for warranty, the thought of that is kinda nauseating given my experience with the device and the vendor so far. All in all, a sad experience.

The software could be improved, but that takes cooperation from Onyx, and so far that doesn't seem to be their intention. Which is again sad, because an e-ink android tablet that's easily hackable would attract developers. And then there's the hardware...

P.S.: and to add insult to injury: it phones home without user approval.

[Julius Caesar]

Which one has a higher contrast, black texts against a white background, the Onyx 13.3" or the Kindle Paperwhite/Voyage/Oasis with the light off?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Julius Caesar

Which one has a higher contrast, black texts against a white background, the Onyx 13.3" or the Kindle Paperwhite/Voyage/Oasis with the light off?

The Kindle. They use a "Carta" screen, which has a 50% higher contrast ratio than the older "Pearl" screen that the Onyx uses (Carta has a 15:1 contrast ratio, Pearl has 10:1).

[jlark]

Originally Posted by Julius Caesar

Which one has a higher contrast, black texts against a white background, the Onyx 13.3" or the Kindle Paperwhite/Voyage/Oasis with the light off?

Originally Posted by HarryT

The Kindle. They use a "Carta" screen, which has a 50% higher contrast ratio than the older "Pearl" screen that the Onyx uses (Carta has a 15:1 contrast ratio, Pearl has 10:1).

Under strong light the Onyx Max doesn't hold a candle to the Paperwhite. The contrast ratio alone doesn't account for the difference: the Kindle has a higher pixel ratio, and the Max has what looks like an unfortunate antialiasing algorithm (the fonts look like they've been typed by a typewriter that was going out of ink, besides their being pretty greyed out).

This is totally obvious outdoors, even it the shade. Indoors however you can tell the difference only if you know what you're looking for.

[deb2016]

Originally Posted by deb2016

Hello,

I rooted my Onyx Boox max with KingoRoot, trouble is I would like to replace it with Super User app (or supersu).

Googling around shows various methods to achieve this, but mostly on phones, I do not know if this can be applied to the ereader. This should however only depend on the android version.

Anyone ever tried ?

Also, when using onyx scribble, I noticed that some recorded pages could sometimes be simply deleted without any intention to do so, it occurs mostly when I create one new page or open an existing one. Did you experience this ?

Regards

Hello,

I was finally able to get rid of kingoroot. I would like to install supersu through the recovery. Do you think it is possible ? without hurting the device ?

Thanks for your help

Regards

[bsnick]

Originally Posted by deb2016

Hello,

I was finally able to get rid of kingoroot. I would like to install supersu through the recovery. Do you think it is possible ? without hurting the device ?

Thanks for your help

Regards

Super-Sume will convert King Root or Kingo Root (they are different) to SuperSu. Unfortunately the free version will only remain rooted until reboot, and I don't think that version is shown on the Play Store, so you may have to google to find it.

Super-Sume Pro will make SuperSu permanent and retain root after you reboot. The downside is that pro = $5. Rooting doesn't take long so you could perhaps buy and then claim the refund if it doesn't work (or if you just don't see yourself needing it again).

I haven't tried any of this on a Max, only T68+ and M96+.

[deb2016]

Hi

Thanks for your answeer.

I used towelroot (tr1.apk) to install at first a basic "su" program, then I retrieved the supersu.apk, installed it normally, it asked me then to update the "su" program and finally I got supersu working with the device root surviving each reboot.

Still, I do not know if it will survive each android update, but at least this procedure should work again.

Best regards

deb2016

[franzli]

Originally Posted by deb2016

Hi

Thanks for your answeer.

I used towelroot (tr1.apk) to install at first a basic "su" program, then I retrieved the supersu.apk, installed it normally, it asked me then to update the "su" program and finally I got supersu working with the device root surviving each reboot.

Still, I do not know if it will survive each android update, but at least this procedure should work again.

Best regards

deb2016

Yes, it probably won't survive updates (didn't on the t68), but as you say, you can just repeat the procedure.

[desk7]

I've accidentally erased Onyx Boox Max Guide from my device. Could anyone upload it?
Thanks!

[lepau]

how can I prevent the Max from phoning home to Onyx, google, ...?