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Onyx Boox Max2, Max2 Pro eReaders to Run Android 6.0, Feature HDMI Ports

Onyx has just announced a couple replacements for its under-powered and disappointing Boox Max ereader.

The Max2 and Max2 Pro ereaders will have 13.3″ Carta E-ink screens, and are scheduled to ship later this year.

Aside from one detail, the two devices are almost identical. The only important difference is that the specs for the Max2 Pro mention a capacitive touchscreen and an stylus touchscreen, while the Max 2 will only have the stylus.

Both devices are described as running Android 6.0 Marshmallow on a quad-core 1.6GHz CPU with 2GB RAM. They will have both a speaker & microphone, 32GB or 64GB internal storage, Wifi, and Bluetooth.

Weighing in at 550 grams, the Max2 measures 7.8mm thick, more than enough for a 4.1Ah battery.

Like the Onyx Boox Max, both of the new models will have a flexible Carta e-ink screen, with a screen resolution of 2200 x 1650. They won’t have frontlights, but the Max 2 Pro will have both an electromagnetic stylus and a capacitive touchscreen.

That is great news because it fixes one of the more annoying problems on the Onyx Boox Max. It is limited to only working with a stylus (no fingers) and that has been a real pin in the a**. The other problem with the Onyx Boox Max is that it is crippled by its single-core CPU. I can’t tell you how much I regret buying it.

I wish I had waited until the Max2 Pro was available – that is the model you should buy, both for its faster CPU and for the addition of the HDMI port. That is a feature that Onyx first showed off in April 2017, and it means that you will be able to use the Max2 Pro as a monitor.

The Max2 Pro might not have software as good as the Dasung Paperlike Pro, but its ereader features and portability means it will have far more uses than the Paperlike Pro.

You can find more information on the Onyx website (in Chinese) and an ongoing discussion on MobileRead.

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Comments


A October 13, 2017 um 4:05 pm

What makes you believe the software wont be as good though ?

Nate Hoffelder October 13, 2017 um 4:10 pm

The Paperlike Pro has a display mode called Floyd which is a major improvement on everything released to date. Onyx will have to either copy it or invent their own version if they want to equal the Paperlike Pro.


A October 13, 2017 um 5:52 pm

Then I wonder why they didnt do it already in the first place. So for people who want a decent monitor device, would say it’d be a good idea to wait until Onyx adds a similar option to their Max2 ?

Nate Hoffelder October 15, 2017 um 1:01 pm

Dasung thought of it first because they started shipping a device with an HDMI port a couple years ago. The Paprlike needed it.

Onyx, on the other hand, was still making straight ereaders until recently.


Grg October 13, 2017 um 8:36 pm

I was excited to hear that their new 10.3 device, the Note, will apparently also have an HDMI output (there’s a side-remark to that effect in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtYHWEh7ERk). Considering older prototypes of the Note were presented with USB-C output, I was surprised to see that the Max2 seems to come with Micro-USB. Makes me wonder if they’ll have Micro-USB on the Note as well, after all, or if they have USB-C and you can use an adapter to get HDMI output…?
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any more information on the Note yet, hope some videos will turn up as well.
On videos from a few months ago the Note was still advertised as having the same old single core CPU and Android 4.0 or 4.4, so it would be great if it actually turns out to have a quadcore and Android 6.0 as well.

Unfortunately, neither the Note nor the Max2 seem to have Micro-SD cards anymore. At least the Max2 seems to come with larger storage sizes, hopefully the Note has 32 at least as well. I’d still prefer to also have a Micro-SD slot, but maybe I’m a minority there…


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