BOOX Max2 Pro - Buy?

[avinatbezeq]

I want to use the browser to read online books such as on Oreilly's Queue (see attached picture). Is the Boox Max 2 up to the job? Is it a good replacement for my iPad Pro 12.9" for PDF reading and annotating (I"m using PDF Expert on the iPad)?

[whopper]

I don't know about oreilly queue, but I can tell you that this device have been for me the best ereader I've ever had hands down, since more than 10 years ago that I got my first.

If they only release it with light and flushed screen, it would be perfect.

[Faeryink]

I have both Ipad Pro 12.9 (2nd gen with Apple Pencil, and Paperlike screen protector installed) and Onyx Boox Max 2 Pro (4 GB RAM, Boox screen protector installed, official wacom passive pen).
I read a lot of pdf and online materials on my Max 2 Pro e-reader. One of the problems you may have is the ability to annotate on the browser. It is possible on the ipad of course, but on the Max 2's browser its not an option. Its fine as long as I am ONLY reading the file in the browser and don't want to annotate it. One of the shortcomings of Onyx is we can't have two apps side by side open, let's say browser in one and a notepad/word document in the other. I have requested this feature so many times from Onyx but no joy so far. On the Ipad no problems you can sideload notes etc alongside the browser.
The workaround I have for working on the Onyx e-reader is to save the web page as a pdf or epub (on my Macbook) and then transfer it to Onyx and use the side notes option.
The application of Paperlike screen protector on the Ipad makes the writing experience a lot better and I also use several digital painting and drawing apps on it. Its reliable and its big. I use Night Shift to cut out the blue light and it makes it a bit easier to work on the Ipad.
I prefer the Max 2 Pro for taking notes and reading. I write over 20 pages a day and work on my novel writing etc. Its not easy to write code on, but I am a beginner (lack of colour coding). Ipad Pro (12.9) is still a good option. I suffer from eyestrain so I find the Onyx e-reader help me a lot. But obviously the capabilities of the Ipad are impressive. I find that the battery on my Ipad drains fast as its power hungry. While Onyx Max 2 Pro the battery lasts a lot longer and it charges more rapidly than my ipad.
In my opinion both Ipad Pro and Max 2 e-reader have their strengths and weaknesses. The writing experience is somewhat down to personal taste, some people prefer the heavier Apple pen to write with while some prefer the texture and feeling on the Max 2. For writing I find Max 2 Pro a nicer experience. I am also fairly content watching youtube/videos in VLC etc on my e-reader, I primarily use Ipad only when I need to work with colour (art work, tutorials which rely on colour highlighting, some art/science books with colour illustrations). In terms of productivity, surprisingly its Max 2 Pro again, and I get double the amount of work done as there are fewer distractions.Perhaps not having the ability to open 2 apps side by side on the Max 2 is a blessing in disguise.
Most people want front light on the e-readers, I don't. I find my eyestrain is worse with front-lit e-readers. So I am holding on to my Max 2 Pro for a very long time as unfortunately most e-reader companies are being forced to develop front-lit ereaders. The research undertaken showed that the benefits of unlit e-readers (which means you would require ample ambient light) surpass that of front-lit e-readers. Yes, sure front light is more convenient but it also comes with a cost. I had to return my frontlit e-reader to Amazon few months back as my eyestrain worsened. In the future, I hope Onyx will release analogous models without and without front light, so we have more choice. Rather than being forced to follow the choice of the majority of the customers.
I would recommend getting a reading light if you would go for the Max 2 Pro option. It helps a lot and also to fine tune the contrast and DPI of 3rd party apps to suit your preference. It takes some weeks to experiment with the e-reader and I do use it as my primary device.

[avinatbezeq]

Thank you both for your great answers. I've decided to wait till the year's end to see if Amazon releases a 13" reader. If they don't, I'll buy the Boox Max2's successor.

[whopper]

Originally Posted by avinatbezeq

Thank you both for your great answers. I've decided to wait till the year's end to see if Amazon releases a 13" reader. If they don't, I'll buy the Boox Max2's successor.

Don't count on it. Amazon is in the business of selling commercial books, not hardware, so they don't have any reason to sell a 13" device that will mostly will be used for pdf's, studies, etc, that are not for sale on kindle store

They had time ago a 10" ereader and they ditched it. chances of amazon releasing a 13" ereader are 0%

[avinatbezeq]

If so, I'll buy the Boox Max2's successor (as the Max2 is from Nov 2017, I assume a new one will soon appear)

[Faeryink]

Well, there are two versions of Max 2:

1. Version with 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB storage released in 2017
2. Version with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB storage released in late 2018 (10th anniversary edition)

I have the version with the 4 GB of RAM purchased in early Nov 2018. Onyx have released the second version in black and its available on Amazon (germany). I am not sure if there will be a newer 13 inch model, maybe you can contact Onyx directly and ask them.

Good luck!!

[Bookchin]

Don't e-readers with a front light have an option to turn it off?

[Bob Willis]

Originally Posted by Bookchin

Don't e-readers with a front light have an option to turn it off?

Yes, you could easily turn off the front light if you do not need. You could only choose to turn on the front light when you need to read at bed.

[Faeryink]

@Bookchin & @ Bob Willis

sure there is a way of turning the front light off on the e-reader. However, I find the additional layer of LEDS presumably makes the screen duller and greyer. It also requires an additional glass layer like on Nova Pro.
I had pretty bad eye strain from Nova Pro (with the front light) and returned it. So its a bit rare but there are people who are rather sensitive to front lights. I stick to my Max 2 (4 GB RAM, 13.3 inch no front light). In the future it is unlikely that there will be ereaders for me as the future is "front lit". Turning the front light off is not a solution. I hope that ereader manufacturers would release models with and without front light so people can choose. Front light is not a feature for me, it is a headache and a way to exclude a minority of users with eye issues.

[Bookchin]

If you have the front light off, how does it make the screen duller and greyer?? I don't understand.

[Faeryink]

@Bookchin
In my experience, the additional layer makes the screen look greyer in comparison to the e-reader that doesn't have the front light built in. I also dislike the the surface of the nova pro and note pro to write on and its fairly reflective. So I ended up returning them.

The point is that there are people with varying degrees of sensitivities and may have eye health issues. I am glad to know that you don't get a headache with the front-lit e-readers but it has not worked for me and a few others. My eye strain is pretty bad after using nova pro or note pro. So I am sticking to my Max 2 Pro (4 GB RAM, no front light, big screen). But I will never buy a front-lit e-reader, as I may as well use an Ipad instead. It doesn't help me at all.

I will continue protesting against the lack of non-front lit e-readers (newer models). The best way would be to release models with and without built-in front lights, with the non-front lit e-reader cheaper ideally. So people can choose. That's the point I was trying to make and hope I clarified this.

[plusz]

Originally Posted by Faeryink

In my experience, the additional layer makes the screen look greyer in comparison to the e-reader that doesn't have the front light built in. I also dislike the the surface of the nova pro and note pro to write on and its fairly reflective. So I ended up returning them.

Looks like Onyx doesn't have transparent glue then. I did the same complaint about Max vs Max2. The latter has grayish screen compared to the Max. It's not that bad, just a little tint but I was wandering what's the heck, concluding in the end that it is caused by the additional touch layer glued on top of the screen. Perhaps another layer, for the light, glued on top makes the screen even grayer

By the way, I highly recommend the Onyx screen protector. It stops the reflections much better than the original screen surface.

[Faeryink]

@plusz
I think you may have misunderstood my comments. The comments were made in response to Bookchin comparing e-readers with integrated front light Nova Pro (front light integrated) vs Max 2 Pro. In my experience the addition of the front light in e-readers gave me eye strain even turning the light off.

I didnt like the "change in" refraction (as if the text is enclosed in a glass cabinet) with Nova Pro even when the front light was turned off and I prefer the my e-reader without front light and the surface on Max 2 Pro is better. Sticking the Boox protective cover on Nova Pro yes did cut out the reflection, but I still felt like reading text through glass. And the greyness of Nova Pro (not Max 2) compared to Max 2 Pro is significant.

Yes of course, I have always used my Max 2 Pro with a Boox protective cover as I use it for drawing as well (12 months now). I owned both max 2 (2 gb ram) and max 2 Pro (4 gb ram), and I find that Max 2 Pro runs the 3rd party drawing apps faster than max 2. With Max 2 (2 gb RAM) most of my 3rd party apps wouldn't even run (mind you this was about a year ago).

[tracey1]

Here's a question. I found an offer for a new Max 2 for less than half of the original price .

Is it really possible for this to not be a scam or have a hidden twist ? Or could the drop in price have to do something with the Max 3 just recently being announced ?