Onyx Boox Leaf

Onyx Boox Leaf: At a Glance

Even if the name doesn’t make it immediately obvious, the Onyx Boox Leaf positions itself between the Boox Poke3 (6 inches) and Boox Nova Air (7.8 inches).

Like the other two e-readers, it’s a very well-equipped device aimed at discerning E Ink fans. In other words: if you know the two models mentioned, there are only a few surprises.

Solid display configuration

For the screen, Onyx also relies on the familiar high-contrast E Ink Carta technology with the Boox Leaf. As already mentioned, the display measures 7 inches diagonally. With a resolution of 1680×1264 pixels, that yields a crisp 300 ppi—often called “retina resolution.”

Operation, as with the Boox Poke3, is via a capacitive touchscreen. Unlike the Boox Nova Air, the Boox Leaf does not have an inductive, Wacom-compatible touchscreen.

Thanks to the built-in front light, the e-reader can be used effortlessly at any time of day or night. A color temperature adjustment is also available.

Android with ample processing power

The Onyx Boox Leaf’s main selling point is its open Android operating system. It comes with Android 10, allowing you to install the vast majority of modern Android apps.

To keep those running smoothly, the Boox Leaf uses an octa-core processor and 2 GB of RAM. Naturally, the E Ink display is, as usual, the biggest limitation here, since few apps are tailored to this screen technology. In practice, this means (fast) animations only play properly if you switch the display mode, which in turn comes at the expense of image quality and battery life.

As a bonus over the Boox Poke3, the Boox Leaf has a built-in speaker. So you’re not limited to audio output over compatible Bluetooth hardware. That said, the Boox Leaf also supports Bluetooth. WiFi is included as well.

The 2,000 mAh battery is slightly larger than in most competing non-Android 7-inch models and should, overall, deliver sufficiently good battery life. Relatively speaking, the roughly 20 percent increase in capacity is modest (PocketBook Era: 1,700 mAh), so you shouldn’t expect miracles given the Android underpinnings. Charging is via a USB-C port.

Very slim and lightweight body

Cover with page-turn buttons

The weight is a surprisingly low 170 grams. That makes the Onyx Boox Leaf one of the lightest devices in the 7-inch segment despite the speaker and slightly larger battery. At under 6 millimeters thick, it’s also among the thinnest devices on the market. Both traits have a positive effect on overall handling.

There’s also a matching cover that adds only 100 grams, so the overall weight doesn’t increase too much. It’s noteworthy because it has two page-turn buttons. The hardware buttons were omitted from the device itself for reasons of space, weight, and cost, and moved to the cover.

However, with the cover the regular price comes to a fairly hefty 310 euros. Even with the sleeve case, it still comes to almost 290 euros. Most other 7-inch models come in significantly lower, in the 170 to 230 euro range. Only the Kindle Oasis, with free 4G connectivity for buying eBooks, is in a similar price bracket at around 320 euros. So despite the good feature set, opting for the Onyx Boox Leaf should be a well-considered choice.

Onyx Boox Leaf: Technical Specifications

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