Which Is Better: Boox Note Air 4C vs. Boox Note Max

The Note Air 4C and Note Max are both great e-ink notebooks

First, let me get the similarities out of the way: These are both functionally excellent digital notebooks, with similar specs and more or less identical features.

As I noted in my reviews, these devices make great e-readers thanks to their crisp, responsive screens and Google Play Store access, which allows you to download any reading app you like—no more being locked into buying your books from Amazon or Barnes & Noble based on who made your tablet. Both devices are also a good choice for reading black-and-white comics.

But if you just want an e-reader, either choice will be overkill, because the Note Air 4C and Note Max can do a hell of a lot more.

Both devices feature advanced e-ink screens with variable refresh rates that you can set on a per-app basis. This flexibility means you can bump up the resolution for text and image-based reading apps, and lower it for apps that require more motion, like internet browsers, games, and even YouTube or Netflix (though the experience of watching videos on an e-ink screen is never going to be anywhere close to doing so on an iPad or other LCD or OLED tablet).

And most importantly, both devices run the same native note-taking software, which allows you to write directly on the screen with an included stylus, mark up PDFs, annotate your notes with links to the internet, voice recordings, or other documents. Both directly connect to a host of cloud services, including Google Drive and Dropbox, that make synching your work across devices easy.

The devices have similar under-the-hood specs:

• CPU: Qualcomm Octacore processor

• RAM: 6GB

• Storage: 64GB (Note Air 4C); 128GB (Note Max)

• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 5 (2.4/5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0

• Operating system: Android 13

• Battery/charging: 3,700mAh via USB-C

If price is a factor

Look, both these devices are expensive. The Note Air 4C is $500, which gets you a stylus and a charger. The Note Max is even pricier, though, at $650. A 30% increase is not small, especially at these dollar amounts.

Choose your preferred size and screen

Because the Note Air 4C and Note Max are so similar operationally, the choice between them comes down to two factors: the size and the screen.

The Note Air 4C's size is adequate; the Note Max is expansive

The Note Air 4C has a 10.3-inch display, which is about the same as your standard iPad. It's a great form factor for reading and running more apps, but if you like to work in split screen mode—say, with a PDF open on the left and a page of notes on the right—it can feel a little small.

Meanwhile, the Note Max is a true beast with a 13.3" display that feels a lot larger. If anything, it's too big and heavy—615g, or nearly a pound and a half—for reading, unless you're sitting at a table. This beefiness is great when using the notebook features, as you'll have more than enough room to sketch out your ideas, whether in full screen or split screen.

Different screen tech

The Note Air 4C placed on top of the Note Max. Credit: Joel Cunningham

Aside from the size, the biggest difference you'll notice when looking at the two devices is the look of their screens.

The Note Air 4C has a Kaleido 3 screen that offers 2480 x 1860 resolution at 300 pixels per inch (for black and white content), and 1240 x 930 resolution at 150ppi (for color content). Adding color requires placing an extra layer of material between the display and the outer glass, which makes it look a bit darker and grayer than the typical black-and-white e-ink display.

The Note Max has a HD E Ink Carta 1300 screen with a resolution of 3,200 x 2,400 pixels (300ppi). While still more gray-ish than crisp white to my eyes, the large screen is much brighter than the Note Air 4C when viewed in direct light.

The Note Max offers a better writing experience

"This isn't paper! It's some kind of metal!" Credit: Joel Cunningham

If replicating the experience of writing on paper is of paramount importance to you, the Note Max would be my top choice. That's not to say the Note Air 4C performs poorly in this area—before I'd tried the Note Max, I thought it was great, with almost no lag between moving the stylus around and writing appearing onscreen.

But the lack of that extra color layer means the Note Max's display is that much closer to the outer glass, and that much more responsive to pressure from the stylus. The difference is too noticeable to be called subtle: Writing on the Note Max screen just feels better—much more like writing on paper with a really good pen.

Does color matter?

Credit: Joel Cunningham

This is a pretty straightforward distinction: The Note Air 4C has a color e-ink display, and the Note Max does not. If you've gotten a chance to play around with a color e-ink device, you'll know that color is more of a novelty than a game changer: Colors look muddy and don't exactly match the source material, the color resolution is half that of the black-and-white resolution, and, as noted above, the extra color layer makes the screen darker in general.

A front light could be the deciding factor

Credit: Joel Cunningham

The most critical difference between the two devices is the lack of a front light on the Note Max. Like most e-ink readers released since the Kindle Paperwhite more than a decade ago, the Note Air 4C has a temperature-adjustable front light that makes it comfortable to read under any lighting conditions (though to be honest, the darker display requires me to keep it cranked to 100% brightness at all times).

The Note Max, meanwhile, has no front light at all. Onyx actually touts this as an advantage, as, like the lack of a color layer, the lack of space for lighting brings the display even closer to the glass screen, which accounts for that super smooth writing experience discussed above. But this also means you'll have trouble using it unless you're working in direct lighting, especially if you've got aging eyes (not that I do, I have no idea what you're talking about).

Other small differences

Aside from the big screen differences discussed above, there are some other factors worth noting.

Storage

The Note Air 4C has only 64GB of storage, while the Note Max has 128GB. (This difference is less important when you consider that both easily connect to cloud storage.)

If onboard storage is a big issue for you, only the Note Air 4C has an SD card slot, which can give you up to an extra 2TB of room.

Accessories

While Onyx sells nearly identical magnetic covers for both devices, only the Note Max can easily be fitted into a case with a full keyboard that was made for it. As noted in my review of that device, I wasn't exactly enamored with the $170 keyboard case's performance, but if laptop-like functionality is important to you, it's worth noting. (You can use the Note Air 4C with Android-compatible Bluetooth keyboards, but the experience likely won't be as smooth.)