Onyx Boox Tab Ultra

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€ 495,21

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Last updated on 2. September 2025 at 16:40. All statements without guarantee.

Video Review

Onyx Boox Tab Ultra: At a Glance

With the Boox Tab Ultra, Chinese manufacturer Onyx is launching a fourth-generation 10.3-inch E-Ink tablet. With the Note Air series already well established in this size category, the Tab Ultra is designed to put an even stronger focus on productivity alongside handwritten note-taking.

To that end, the Onyx Boox Tab Ultra is designed for use with a keyboard cover that connects directly to the E-Ink tablet via a smart connector and is powered through it. However, it’s not included in the box and has to be purchased separately for over 100 euros.

New, old display technology

As with the Note Air models, the display uses E-Ink Carta with a pixel density of 227 ppi.

Although that means there’s no change to the E-Ink screen itself, not everything has stayed the same: the display material is now aluminosilicate glass. You’ll know it from smartphones and other tablets. It’s said to offer better light transmission and thus improve readability.

According to Onyx, the touchscreen layer has also been made thinner—by a full 50 percent. This brings the text even closer to the surface, which not only improves the reading experience but should also make writing feel even more paper-like.

Another key focus of the Boox Tab Ultra is the improved responsiveness of the E-Ink screen. Thanks to a dedicated graphics chip, the display can now refresh more quickly, which, in the right display mode, even lets you watch videos with relatively little fuss.

Tablet focus with Android 11

A change currently exclusive to the Onyx Boox Tab Ultra concerns the user interface. Onyx is once again relying on the familiar E-Ink-specific optimizations that make Android 11 usable even in apps that aren’t optimized. However, the home screen has been completely redesigned and now closely resembles a typical Android tablet.

That not only looks tidier but also more modern, and the standard widget functionality offers greater flexibility.

Privacy concerns

The Google Play Store is available as well, so installing Android apps is straightforward without any workarounds.

Some observers view the privacy situation as problematic. On first setup, as is typical for Android devices, you have to agree to the privacy policy. Onyx points out that they comply with the GDPR, which is fundamentally welcome.

However, various sources now and then criticize the fact that Onyx devices repeatedly connect to Chinese servers even when no cloud services are being used. Whether that’s strictly necessary for operation remains questionable.

Tech-savvy users can generally address this by using an Android firewall (with or without root access).

E-Ink with a camera

A special feature of the Onyx Boox Tab Ultra, seen in only a few other E-Ink devices to date, is the 16 MP rear camera.

It’s intended to let you capture and convert documents. Aside from the fact that the OCR function only works with an active internet connection, I personally question the usefulness of this feature. OCR has the same problem as PDF reflow: formatting is usually ignored entirely, which leads to unsatisfactory results for most fixed-layout PDFs.

So I consider the camera more of a gimmick, and it even has a drawback, even if you don’t use it: because the camera module sticks out a few millimeters from the back, the Boox Tab Ultra wobbles when you lay it flat on a table without a case. Fortunately, the matching case compensates for this.

A spec monster with hefty weight and price

The Onyx Boox Tab Ultra also features a fingerprint sensor built into the power button, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, stereo speakers, stereo microphones, and microSD storage expansion. That lets you add to the already generous 128 GB of internal storage (about 107 GB available).

The huge 6,300 mAh battery ensures suitably long runtimes. It’s mainly needed because of the faster refresh cycles: every screen update consumes power on an E-Ink display. The faster the sequence, the higher the power draw. The keyboard cover may also contribute a bit to the increased appetite for power.

All of that comes at a cost: at 480 grams (without a case), the Onyx Boox Tab Ultra is a heavyweight. You notice it in use: holding the tablet in one hand and writing on it with the other works without support only for a short time. By comparison, the Huawei MatePad Paper weighs just 360 grams with the same display size and is therefore much more comfortable to handle.

And then there’s the price itself: the tablet is available on Amazon for around 650 euros. That’s a hefty price, as a number of regular high-end tablets sit in that range. You’d have to forgo the E-Ink display there, but you wouldn’t have to accept the usual E-Ink compromises in other areas.

All in all, the Boox Tab Ultra is a highly interesting device, but with its lavish spec sheet and high price it’s aimed less at home users and more at professional use. For that, there’s probably no better E-Ink tablet at the moment.

Onyx Boox Tab Ultra: Technical Specifications

All information provided without guarantee.