Remarkable Paper Pro vs. Boox Note Air 4C: Detailed Comparison of Build, Display, and Performance

[@howtotechstuff]

If you had to choose, would you go for simplicity or more features? reMarkable or Boox?

[@JR-lg7fd]

Boox for my application. but I'm glad they both exist. Progress in eink tech will benefit from companies like these as they focus their efforts to improve it.

[@ukaszukasz7059]

Both devices have something the other doesn't have. It's best to have both. But it's an expensive game. Remarkable looks more premium, the system may be minimalist but visually it looks perfect. It's perfect for taking notes and reading with text highlighting in colors. Boox, on the other hand, has more possibilities, it is more advanced in terms of editing documents and books. You can install applications from the Google store, listen to music, audiobooks, browse websites, KZbin, record voice notes. The voice reads the book itself, etc. But the system/interface looks less friendly, seriously rather toy-like. The writing experience is also worse. I had Remarkable Pro in my hand for 30 minutes and my handwriting looked even nice, but on Boox I write ugly as always :)

[@NigraXXL]

Interestingly enough, everyone seems to gravitate towards larger and larger screens. For me I am waiting for a refresh of the tab mini with better battery life than what the current one has and a contrastier display than what kaleido 3 can offer... alas, the contrast from gallery 3 doesn't seem excellent either

[@JR-lg7fd]

@@NigraXXL agree

[@DerComputerist]

Boox all the way. I’m hoping to get mine before the end of month. 😃

[@FawadBilgrami]

I bought both but returned Remarkable mainly due to flashing, reading contrast, and lack of versatility. Using their own cloud was limited. Their return process was superb. I also think yellows were better. I also found the size was a bit bigger than my needs and practicality.

[@TheRealAfroRick]

I went Boox Note Air 4C. While I desire a distraction free environment, there are times when I will need things that I can't depend on a vendor to prioritize or provide so I want that flexibility and versatility for futureproofing.

[@tron3entertainment]

I have spent quite a bit time on the reMarkable Paper Pro page. I found out that the company plans on 5 years of further firmware updates after it comes OFF the market and they no longer sell it. I see it being on the market for at least 2 more years while the company plays catchup with Boox. A tablet with support up to 2032 is a pretty compelling reason to go with reMarkable.

[@EH-dx8mr]

i had a tab ultra C and i was really happy with it. Then i bought rhe remarkable paper pro and it was a game changer. Bigger screen (big enough to read french comics) and better colors. TUC looked like b&w aside rpp... So i sold the TUC and i keep RPP. Main issue was the compatibility (no CBR or CBZ) and i had to convert a lot of comics (around 10k) to pdf (with ACBR)

[@bonanzabrandon6877]

For my use case of almost exclusively content consumption and not note taking/writing, the Boox seems to be clearly superior with access to apps.

[@ellybrouwers8738]

Can you also demonstrate the writing recognition capabilities for both, which one is better for just note taking?

[@Adyisekk]

How does browsing through your written notes feel? Is there any search function? Thanks.

[@ulkigmeme2703]

i just wish there was a white boox note air 4c

I'm kind of confused by the comics comparison - the Boox looses a lot of detail, it looks like the contrast is turned way up. Is that really the display at its best? And the "several options to adjust the display" on the Boox just come off as multiple ways to make a comic look bad. If this is the best the Boox can do, then the RMPP seems like the obvious choice for anyone interested in reading colour comics on their device.

[@AHBdV]

Seems like he had the Boox on Vivid mode for the comics... Maybe even contrast enhanced... It was not the correct setting to compare them. In most cases, you should simply choose the standard setting, and not Vivid. The color chart shows that the Boox shows far more color tones than the RMPP.

[@tomg.6904]

got both and returned remaekable,which is just too dark

[@andysharpei]

Agree it’s a bit dark. But 10.3 is just too small. I wish even rmpp could be full a4. The rmpp pdf handling and sync is the worst fault for me; no layers. And inability to move pages in and out of pdf docs.

[@tanzhonghui]

There's a hack to boost the front light power, but this is not officially supported.

[@lte6983]

the brightness hack makes it much better. Still darker than competition

[@bernardbrincat5450]

What about battery life?

[@taniaabimikhael332]

Can please tell us about battery life

[@Jelitek13]

Good video. Shame you did not compare writing latency and feel. I wait for supernote to see if its any alternative to both.

[@AprilisAlbuquerquensis]

Hello! Is it possible to connect the Note Air 4C to an overhead projector via HDMI and adapter? Has anybody tried this?

[@5idi]

I seem to recall they've disabled the wired display connection because people used their tablets as monitors and complained it messed up the battery (shocker.) You can cast/ mirror the tablet screen wirelessly, but I don't know how it works with a projector.

[@TitusRex]

​@@5idiyou'd need a Chromecast hdmi dongle for the projector or use miracast (some projectors have it)

[@AprilisAlbuquerquensis]

@@5idi Thanks for your reply! So there used to be a version or model that did this? Do you know of another brand that will connect??

[@5idi]

@@AprilisAlbuquerquensis No, sorry, I don't remember hearing of other brands enabling it. Maybe there are; you can check their sites and specs for USB display port. Boox used to have it a few years back on some devices - the Max line for sure - but I also recall the USB connectivity was picky and some users couldn't get certain devices to connect, so... good luck, I guess. Might be easier to get your projector to connect wirelessly somehow.

[@bzzzogm]

What you say is totally different with the footage, on all comic footage Remarkable seems much better than Boox.

[@StefaanHimpe]

Since you showed some music scores, maybe you will have some thoughts on this. Would one of the two be better for doing traditional music notation? By that I mean, using some self-made pdf template containing e.g. staves, and using the pen to draw (correct, reorganize, ...) notes, slurs and dynamics (no automatic conversion to digital notation required). And related: are these tablets suitable for replacing paper scores during rehearsal (want to markup scores with notes and colors) and during concerts?

[@tanzhonghui]

I don't have either device, but I've used an older boox device for music sheets before, and have done a fair bit of research on Remarkable. Both do annotations/ writing pretty well. Boox has proper support for copying over custom templates. Remarkable on the other hand, to my knowledge, requires a bit of work around to load custom templates, and I'm not sure if they are preserved over firmware updates. Custom PDF files have no issue. An area for consideration would be the screen size. The boox is effectively A5, which is quite small for sheet music depending on your eyesight. The Remarkable is bigger but not by much. Another thing is the touch screen sensitivity. On boox it works, but it's not quite as sensitive or precise as a normal smartphone touch screen. No experience with Remarkable, but you can sometimes catch unregistered taps in videos. I haven't encountered any major issues, but I only use my boox for sheet music when playing casually, and when performing I've only used it for chord sheets, so I can't vouch for how it'll do if you need to flip through many pages quickly and consistently. Boox is android though so you can probably use it with a Bluetooth pedal for flipping pages. Hope this helps!

[@7offman]

What do you think about the Boox Note Max comparing to the Boox Note Air 4C ?

[@statusoftheart]

You did miss the price comparision…😊

[@malthe351]

As a student where i does most of my work on a pc (research, writing Papers making calculations) but really would like to be able to write in my hand when attending lectures preferred on the PowerPoint from the lecture as I see it is Boox not the best choice for that? And as a ad on questions how is its build in hand writing to machine letter (am dyslexic so my hand written notes isn't really that usable to me unless I translate the to machine letters instead) nice review and great video over all

[@RPGenieUS]

My issue with Boox is the size and it seems like everything is either a shade of red, black, and blue only. I was torn but ultimately went with Remarkable for those reasons. I feel like now I can't go back to a 10.3 inch screen. its painful to spend so much for such a simple device though. I would love to at least have the Kindle app on it like Supernote does. Great video thanks!

[@TheKiwiMarty]

Which one is the easier to learn to use? Any manual’s available?

[@tomkemp1276]

I have neither, but everyone says the remarkable is the more simple device to learn to use.

[@5idi]

It depends on your use case. Remarkable is much easier if you just need a notebook, but starts being complicated or limited once you want more, like to connect anything (even file transfer was weird last time I checked, and you can't connect a keyboard that isn't their folio.) Boox has a much more complicated interface because there's a lot in a bit of a mess, but has the manual for download in settings. I think you should ask what functionality you need because the devices are very different. There are guides and reviews for both platforms online.

[@FawadBilgrami]

Is it possible to share the colour sheet you used? It would be handy to adjust one's screen on the Note 4C.

[@shining235]

search for color card pdf

[@alonsoyanez]

I was very confused by your comparison. I have the RMPP and the previous version of the Boox, the Note Air 3c. When you say that when viewing comics, the Boox shines, that's when you see how the NA4C loses a lot of detail, which are clearly visible on the RMPP. The colors look much better on the Remarkable and without the need to have the front light on. There is a clear dissonance between what you say and what is shown in the images. At least in the comics images

[@tanzhonghui]

Yeah, it looks like the contrast settings were boosted on the boox, making it pop a lot more than the Remarkable, but losing most of the actual image details. Perhaps for future comparisons it would be good to adjust the settings so the display quality is more comparable between devices.

[@John-gh2lz]

Really don't get the backlight "issue" on the RMPP. Its really not an issue . I used it in a dark room to read and the soft backlight is perfect . Don't really see how is been an "issue" with all these reviews . Weird trend going on with that

[@rickyellard8297]

It can be increased according to a few KZbins. 20 to 30% in settings somehow. I didn't look into the full detail. Perhaps Remarkable will offer that in the future.

[@John-gh2lz]

@rickyellard8297 it really doesn't need it . If I wanted something bright to look at u can just use a tablet or phone .

[@MrZizaro]

@@John-gh2lz But we don't want a tablet or a phone.

[@antoniojperezcastro5013]

it seems to me that you are comparing them wrong because the screen in the boox has the front light on all the time. I'd like to see both with the front light off. Is not a fair comparison

[@howtotechstuff]

Good point. I release a full review of BOOX Note Air 4C today where I compare it with reMarkable Paper Pro and specifically test it with and without frontlight. Hope it is going to be useful. All the best!

[@MrMallack]

@@howtotechstuff

[@HoaPham-vf5uq]

You should also compare both of them without fontlight. I dont see the point of using eink and using so much front light to lit it up (what is the different with lcd then when using too much light to support it, lcd even has better speed performance). People want paperlike experience not lcd-like for the eink tablet .No frontlight should be showed to see whether it looks good outdoor or under normal environmental light

[@XZ_94]

No, you are completely wrong. In fact, even when the front light is turned to its brightest setting, the luminance might only be a few dozen lumens-possibly just a tenth of a regular LCD screen. Such light is not glaring and poses very low blue light hazards, which is precisely the significance of e-ink devices.

[@HoaPham-vf5uq]

Stil, most of people want to use eink caus they want paperlike experience when reading it during the day or under the reflection of environmental light. To much frontlight also makes the screen has more transparent layers above the eink panel and looks more glass-like instead of paper-like

[@XZ_94]

@@HoaPham-vf5uq Yes, from personal experience, all current color e-ink screens are very dim. Without the front light or good ambient lighting indoors, they are quite difficult to read. Technically speaking, current color e-ink screens do not provide a good paper-like experience. I also don’t think any company would launch a color e-ink product without a front light (although it seems there are a few), but the significance is limited, and the practicality is low. For a truly paper-like experience, it can only be achieved with black-and-white e-ink screens for now. I find the viewing experience of some black-and-white e-ink screens without a front light to still be excellent.

[@5idi]

Yep, that's why I don't buy Boox color devices. They're dark. Have their black and white and love it, use about 15% front light at night, but otherwise it's off.

[@whytheory3251]

I have boox and a 4k tablet and the screen is not the same. Boox even with backlight looks and feels much better than lcd...also no need for the light during out door reading.

[@MsDenver2]

I think the note 4c because my studies involve a lot of information and downloads.

[@--chris--]

I wish you had some footage of less than max brightness on the Boox. The struggle on the Boox is to get the brightness right in different lighting conditions. On max brightness it is practically unusable because it is too bright. But on lower brightness settings the white background to text gets even darker than on the Paper Pro. I could never get thefrontlight on the Boox to look just right; it's always had the effect like I am looking at a screen. Contrastingly, on the Paper Pro it feels like I'm looking at paper even on max brightness (with the light hack installed).

[@Belsteak]

My first ereader was the sony prt1, this device had nearly no ghosting or flashing effects when turning the pages... When I see both of the readers, I see that the book has better refresh and doesn't blink when using colors. That is very annoying... I would say that I need an ereader with the size of the remarkable and use of pen and the functionalities, colors,... of the book. So too bad for me, I can't really choose. But if I really need to choose, then I would chose the book because I don't see the screen flash. That is the most annoying thing that I can have in a reader...

[@VedantaAcademy]

I have been using remarkable for six years now in total and i guess these two products cannot be compared totally. Remarkable is just a substitute for people who want to read and write in a device that feels really like paper all the way. I use it in the university and for working with notes and pdfs. Of course it is very limited in technology because their OS is propietary and limited. it is a closed ecosystem. You can export notes and pdfs but it is limited. that is the limitation. on the other hand these devices that comes with an Android ecosystem is really open and it give much more flexibility but in terms of writing and reading, i guess they are far away from remarkable because the materials used in the fabrication and because it is a reflected medium which it also has an impact in the eyes, i am not sure how much but if it is like crystal and similar, then it has its limitations. Personally i don't need a complete OS like android, i need it for notes and reading and working with text, other wise why shall i not use an regular tablet or ipad? just because of the e-ink feature? I am not sure how good it is and if it can replace paper like remarkable does.

[@ronsiegel1084]

Does each one allow alphabetizing tags?

[@howtotechstuff]

Based on my testing, none of these 2 devices allow for sorting tags alphabetically. I'm still learning Boox device so you may be better off asking this on reedit to get a more accurate answer. All the best!

[@olva]

Thank you

[@houmankamali5617]

Loved the technical details and comparison, thanks! p.s. Random question: how did you end up with those Farsi title at kzbin.info/www/bejne/q525hXtsrs-HfJosi=yhv3XXPgHNN4Bmpd&t=52 ? Fascinated, cause two particular were recommended by a (now temporarily freed) political prisoner in Iran, Farhad Meysami while he was in prison

[@wanted_d8203]

Boox Note Air 4C seems very good, but it's very expensive as I only want to read comics. Should I buy it or just a normal tablet for comics?

[@AHBdV]

I think you should buy a normal tablet. I also have comic reading as one of my use cases. If you look at something like the Samsung S9 FE, you get a fantastic screen, and still something like 14 to 20 hours of battery life. (Because of a huge battery). That's a enough to last a weeks, even when reading 2 hours per day.

[@tomaszkowal7658]

👍

[@user-xc3eh4nm2f2K]

why are you comparing how comics look like on both of these devices if their main purpose is not to read comics but write, make notes... anything but read comics

[@IamERAMOS]

Watching this video on my tab s7+ while taking notes about note taking hardware. What a shame I have all this color and freedom on my tablet.

[@rush48192]

if you need more features then buy an iPad or Samsung, eink is and never will be that type of tablet, should think of it as a paper replacement device and nothing more, boox's is trying too hard to compete with an iPad, RM pro is a great writing and PDF device plus if you also have a RM2 the sync even PDF files 100% no other eink platform does this

[@r0ver11]

150ppi is trash