Onyx BOOX i63ML Maxwell e-book review

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    Today we are testing an e-book with the Android operating system - Onyx BOOX Maxwell. It made some changes compared to the Kepler model, which we wrote about earlier , namely: a Wifi-module was added, the amount of permanent memory was doubled and now amounts to 8 Gigabytes, and the screen began to support touch input.

    ► Specifications


    imageScreen: 6 "E-Ink Pearl HD (1024 × 758) with backlight, 16 shades of gray
    imageProcessor: Rockchip 2906 (Cortex-A8, 1 GHz, single core)
    imageOperating system: Android 2.3.1
    imageRAM: 512 MB
    imageUser memory: 8 GB + MicroSD slot with support for cards up to 32 GB
    imageCommunication: Wi-Fi (802.11 b / g / n)
    imageBook formats: PDF, EPUB, FB2, DOCX, TXT, DJVU, EPUB (and others, depending on the installed software)
    imageFormats images: JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP (and others, depending on the installed software)
    imageBattery: 1600 mAh
    imageDimensions: 171 × 124.8 × 10.9 mm
    imageWeight: 238 gram

    ► Appearance and equipment


    The e-book is delivered in a compact box:
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    At the back are the main features of the device, as well as a brief description of the characteristics:
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    A charger, a USB cable and a manual with a warranty card are
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    included in the standard package: Good quality branded case is included in the kit:
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    Rubberized back wall:
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    Massive corners of the case , the book will be reliably protected and, in theory, is not afraid of falls from a small height.
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    The cover is attached with a small strap on the magnet. On the inside of the cover is a velvety material that quickly collects a lot of dust on itself.
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    ONYX BOOX Maxwell is very compact in size, the back panel is made of plastic soft-touch, thanks to which the book does not slip in the hands.
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    The “BOOX” logo is located on the top:
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    Brief information about the manufacturer is indicated on the back, as well as the Reset button:
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    To the left of the screen are the “Back” and “Menu”
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    buttons : To the right are the scrolling buttons: from the top - “back”, from the bottom - “forward”. Unlike the ONYX Kepler, there is no way to reconfigure the behavior of these buttons.
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    In front is a five-way joystick:
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    It does not always work out clearly, but with a touch screen it is not too critical for controlling a book.

    Below is a microSD card slot, miniUSB input and a power button.
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    As you can see, there is a stub in place of the proposed headphone input.

    ► Screen


    Onyx Maxwell has a 6-inch E-Ink Pearl HD screen with a 12: 1 contrast ratio and a resolution of 758 x 1024 pixels.
    The screen is anti-reflective.
    There is a continuously adjustable backlight MOON Light, which is turned on by clamping the joystick, or by selecting the appropriate item from the menu.
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    The backlight has a wide range of brightness control and everyone can choose the maximum level of illumination that is most pleasing to the eye.
    Touch screen with multi-touch support for 2 simultaneous touches.
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    By tapping the screen, you can turn pages, scale text, make notes in the text and navigate in the Android OS. The touchscreen responds well to keystrokes, but due to the peculiarity of the E-Ink screen, updating on the screen during the input operation occurs with a significant delay.
    The screen turning speed is good, it is possible to switch to A2 mode, when instead of 16 gradations of gray, only 2 colors are drawn - black and white. A2 mode allows you to speed up the process of updating the screen by 8 times, but this affects the quality - the text becomes less clear.

    ► Software

    Preinstalled Android 2.3.1.
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    Wifi settings, managing applications and data in the storage are carried out both in and in any other device on the Android OS:
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    Of the pre-installed applications, there is a market, gallery, dictionary, browser and calendar.
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    Additional applications can be downloaded and installed from the market, but not all of them will be launched.
    You can install games, for example, simple card games, tic-tac-toe, chess and checkers are launched and playable in a wave:
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    The QuickDic dictionary with Russian-English and English-Russian dictionaries is preinstalled.
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    Books are located in the "Library" section:
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    You can search, as well as configure sorting by various parameters: alphabetically, type, size, creation time, title, author.

    When you click on the screen or the "Menu" button in an open book, a panel with additional options opens: search by text, setting the screen refresh.
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    Image scale (line spacing for recognized text), quick transition to the table of contents, bookmarks, annotations, font size selection:
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    As well as image rotation and QuickDic dictionary call.

    Most popular book formats are supported. And even if there is a format that cannot be opened by default, you can certainly find a third-party application that will help you with this.
    It also supports viewing images in various formats.
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    In general, the ONYX Launcher control shell looks very thoughtful and intuitive.

    ► working hours

    The ONYX Maxwell has a 1600mAh battery, which is quite a lot for an e-book. In reading mode with the backlight on, the device will work for about 8-9 hours, with it off - about 19 hours. But if you actively use Wifi to browse web pages or install applications, then you can use up all the battery power much faster.

    ► Advantages and disadvantages

    imageE-Ink Pearl HD display with high resolution
    imageBright backlight MOON Light
    imageTouch screen
    imageBuilt-in Wifi module
    imageSupport for additional formats using third-party programs
    imageNo audio output
    imageJoystick control is not always clear

    ► Conclusions

    At a cost of 7,000 rubles, we get a very interesting device: on the one hand, this is a classic e-book with backlight, and on the other, it’s almost a tablet with a preinstalled Android OS and the ability to connect to the Internet via Wifi. But you probably won’t get much pleasure from using the book as a tablet. The list of programs that will be launched is very limited, and working with social network applications and browsing sites on the E Ink screen is not very convenient. If you just need an e-book, then it is probably better to pay attention to the Onyx BOOX Kepler model.

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