3 causes I am not giving up my Kobo for this Android E Ink pill

Now that I’ve coated the issues I like about Boox’s Go Color 7 E Ink pill, it is time to dive into the stuff I’ve borderline hated in regards to the e-reader.

Do not get me flawed, the Go Shade 7 is a strong, very succesful system that appears and feels higher than any e-reader I’ve used, however when it comes truly utilizing it as a studying system, I’ve realized that I do not want an E Ink pill that may do all of it. So long as my e-reader shortly accesses my chosen library of books, presents strong battery life, and feels nice, I am offered — generally single-use tech gadgets really are higher.

With this in thoughts, over the previous few weeks, I’ve seen that the Go Shade 7 has various notable shortcomings that I do not see talked about fairly often, together with how sophisticated the E Ink pill is, its boot time, and the truth that its helpful app optimization options do not work with the Kobo app, the platform I primarily use for studying books.

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With regards to an e-reader, I do not want Android

It is simply too sophisticated

Whereas I initially appreciated the truth that the Go Shade 7 is Android-based, after forcing myself to check varied apps (principally Google Maintain), I’ve discovered I favor the purpose-built design of Kobo’s Libra Color. Positive, I am unable to use Google Maintain or Gmail on my Libra Color, however I needn’t.

After I decide up an e-reader, I solely need to learn and do nothing else. I’ve an iPhone 16 Pro and various iPads floating around for utilizing extra conventional apps. After all, some individuals would possibly favor their E Ink e-reader to be powered by Android as a result of they need to do extra than simply learn books or saved articles on it, however that is not me. Over the course of a number of weeks of testing the Go Shade 7, I’ve grown bored with how janky apps will be on the E Ink pill and finally stopped utilizing them altogether. Positive, that lag created a barrier that prevented me from doomscrolling, however that additionally resulted in me reaching for my Libra Color as a substitute

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It takes too lengthy to get into truly studying

It may possibly generally take a couple of minutes to truly open a e book

Considered one of my largest points with Boox’s Go Shade 7 is that it will probably generally take as much as a minute or extra to get the E Ink pill out of sleep mode and truly into studying a e book, whereas my Kobo boots out of sleep mode in only a few seconds (I’ve had an identical expertise with Kindle gadgets, too).

This would possibly sound like a minor criticism, however once I solely need to learn for a couple of minutes to kill a quick time frame, that minute-long boot-up course of looks like a irritating eternity. In a single scenario, I simply picked up my Libra Color as a substitute to learn whereas the Go Shade 7 booted up and by no means bothered going again to Boox’s system. Critically, it actually takes a very long time to stand up and working, even from its low-power state, after which after that, I’ve to place in a passcode (you may’t flip the characteristic off) and boot the Kobo or Pocket (RIP) app, which provides much more time.

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The Kobo app cannot be optimized

That is extra on Kobo, but it surely’s nonetheless irritating

Positive, this may be a “me” challenge, however the truth that the Go Shade 7 works with the Kobo Android app is each a blessing and irritating. It offers me quick access to the identical library of books I’ve used for years (that is one thing you may’t simply do with Amazon’s Kindle library), however the app feels extremely restricted.

First off, you may’t remove the large spacing within the margins of the pages, which is irritating, given I am used to adjusting that on my Libra Color. That stated, I respect you may nonetheless modify the textual content measurement and choose from a number of completely different fonts. Nonetheless, pages look odd with textual content cramped within the center, particularly when the font is a bit bigger.

Moreover, most of the finest app-specific Boox options are incompatible with the Kobo app, together with the power to customise the Go Shade 7’s buttons, which do not seem to operate appropriately. Should you long-press on an app icon and choose Optimize, you are given a set of choices. Subsequent, flip over to Others, and you may see Customized Facet Buttons, together with Web page-turn, Quantity, and Scrolling. Despite the fact that I’ve Web page-turn chosen, the Boox Shade 7’s aspect buttons nonetheless management the pill’s quantity, sadly.

I like Boox’s Go Shade 7, however I’ve realized I do not want the flexibility it presents with regards to an e-reader. Different individuals will discover these Android-powered options helpful, however I’ve a number of different gadgets that fill that function for me, together with my smartphone — all I would like is an E Ink system that is designed only for studying.

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