This is not a tablet or an e-reader.

Maybe you’re one of those people who likes to highlight text or take notes while reading. Or, more simply, you need manual consultations or books for academic purposes and those notes. If so, and you want to do it digitally, then neither a tablet is worth it—their screens aren’t the best for reading, as they emit light and your eyes end up getting very tired—nor an e-reader—they usually don’t allow note-taking—you need a device halfway between the two. And while they’re not well-known, there are options.

Big screen

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the chance to test one of them, the BOOX Note Air 3 C, a 10.3-inch device that, right out of the box, reminded me a lot of the Kindle Scribe: it looks like a great thin and light e-reader that comes with a note-taking stylus attached to one side of it.

That said, it has a very thin design and a screen surrounded by a large frame on one side to hold it in your hand. It also has e-ink technology (Kaleido 3 color e-paper) that is completely eye-friendly and allows for perfect outdoor reading. But it is capable of displaying content in color. Be careful, it is still e-ink and therefore the screen does not emit light, so the colors are dull, nothing like a tablet or smartphone.

With Android

In my opinion, the key point of this product is that it works with the full version of the Android 12 operating system; for example, I was able to use your browser to browse the Internet and downloaded several applications from Google Play. Again, we must take into account the screen technology and cannot expect a clear and smooth image. That is, downloading YouTube and watching videos from BOOX Note Air 3 C is technically possible, but the quality will be very low compared to other devices.

However, the text applications work fine. And although you can download some note-taking options, the standard package includes one that I find very complete and easy to use, with which you can write or draw as if you were doing it in a “normal” notepad. Then it digitizes everything: letters, shapes, underlines… In addition, it has a large variety of templates. The battery has a very long autonomy (almost a month), and there are speakers, although the sound quality is very poor.

Would I recommend it as a tablet? The answer is a resounding no. Even if it had Android, apps, and a color screen, I would never use it for viewing multimedia content. Do you like the e-reader? Absolutely: the texts are crisp and clear, and it’s a joy to read. I also found it great for browsing the web (like reading articles) and, of course, for taking notes.