ONYX BOOX MAX Carta Review: Uncompromising A4
When it comes to the ONYX Boox Max Carta reader, compromises are barely appropriate. A huge 13.3-inch E Ink Mobius Carta matrix with a flexible plastic base, powerful hardware filling for any working application and precise touch control with a stylus. And thousands and tens of thousands of A4 sheets that are always at hand. The best space for everyday work with any data and documents.
Externally, ONYX BOOX MAX Carta surprises and shockes unprepared viewers. Stereotypes have long been associated devices with E Ink displays with simple book readers. And MAX Carta is not like that. The new reader is essentially a full-fledged A4 virtual space created for viewing documentation and work files, instructions and tabs, as well as any information published on large-format paper. Here, indistinguishable from ordinary E Ink paper, the display allows you to abandon bulky stacks of paper without losing a single drop of comfort.
The 13.3-inch E Ink Mobius Carta matrix is a key feature of the ONYX BOOX MAX Carta. The display size is 270x203 mm at a resolution of 1650x2200 pixels, which gives a density of 207 pixels per inch, comparable to prints. Pearl HD ink filling technology delivers 16 gradations of gray and 10: 1 contrast. The matrix itself is made using a flexible plastic substrate, which reduces the likelihood of mechanical damage during impacts.
But dry numbers cannot convey the feeling of daily use of this screen. The huge work surface with detailed rendering of the image looks really amazing - especially when viewing working documents and tables, or PDF versions of materials laid out just for A4 format.
Despite the dimensions, the update speed does not exceed 0.8 seconds, an ONYX A2 proprietary mode with 50% fill is additionally available, which reduces the update time to three frames per second. While reading, you can adjust the contrast to see more midtones, or vice versa, tighten the depth of black. In addition, there is a SNOW Field mode in which the screen is only partially redrawn, which reduces the appearance of redraw artifacts.
The touch screen of the reader understands the touch of an electromagnetic induction stylus, familiar from graphic tablets. This control method allows you to work with the gadget in the same way as with paper documents, while ensuring maximum accuracy and naturalness of handwriting. For creativity, an ascetic graphic editor is preinstalled, allowing you to write by hand or draw a sketch.
The ONYX BOOX MAX Carta flagship reader comes in plain velvet black cardboard packaging. The device itself is neatly packed in a complete case-folder from felt, with an additional shock-absorbing pad to protect the screen. The kit comes with a universal microUSB cable and an electromagnetic stylus, carefully packaged in a separate box.
An A4 sheet best describes the dimensions of the metal case of the device. The surface of the display is slightly recessed into a small frame, and the reader is only 7.2 mm thick, making it convenient to hold it with one hand. The device weighs 560 grams - you can easily carry it every day with you in a bag or backpack.
In addition to the huge display, on the front side in the lower left corner there are 4 small control buttons. The leftmost one brings up the context menu, the right one - the return key, and the two middle ones are used to turn pages or adjust the volume.
All additional elements are placed on the lower end of the case, where the slot for microSDHC memory cards is adjacent to the power button, microUSB connector and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The hole on the right is a microphone, and to force a reboot, you need to hold down the power key for a few seconds.
On the right side of the gadget there is a smooth nylon tab for attaching the stylus, and on the back of the case the speaker holes are additionally made.
Specifications of ONYX BOOX MAX Carta
A gadget the size of an A4 folder and weighing a little more than half a kilogram is clearly not pocket-sized, but fits perfectly in a bag or backpack. The case protects the ONYX BOOX MAX Carta from contact with surrounding objects, adding about 150 grams to the device.
If necessary, the reader can be used on the go - but after 10-15 minutes it is still better to put it on a table or other work surface. In principle, everything is the same as with an A4 book.
The main control is with a stylus. Touching the tip of the pen is equivalent to traditional finger presses, and in book applications, the stylus allows you to use additional functions.
The button located almost under the thumb switches the stylus to the mode of adding handwritten notes, and an additional element on the upper end allows you to quickly erase the extra piece of the sketch. Everything is like in graphic tablets or when using pencil and paper.
When you turn on the ONYX Boox Max Carta, we are greeted by a classic home screen with information about the last open files, the top information bar with time and two useful icons: the ONYX A2 Mode quick draw mode activator and the forward and backward switch mode keys. The lower part of the screen is traditionally occupied by library shortcuts, file manager, Android application menu, browser and book settings. To call the context menu, you need to press the button under the screen or touch the virtual shortcut in the upper right corner with the stylus.
Books are available in the shared library, where all supported files are displayed (including TXT, Epub, DJVu, PDF), or are opened through the file manager. Swipes and scrolling are carried out with the usual gestures using the stylus.
For traditional book formats, a proprietary OReader application is provided, about the capabilities of which we described in detail in previous reviews of our e-books . We only note that the screen allows you to vary the font size in a huge range, if desired, accommodating up to 4000 characters at a time.
A4 format is indispensable when it comes to professional literature, working documents, catalogs and graphic works in which every centimeter of space is spent as efficiently as possible - on graphics and explanatory illustrations for the text. Most often, these materials are digitized in PDF and DJVu formats, and a pocket e-book screen is too small to view them. ONYX BOOX MAX Carta with a 13.3-inch screen allows you to calmly view all the details of the illustrations in the original size.
To view DJVu and PDF files, the familiar NEO Reader is used, which allows you to adjust the contrast in the range of 200 gradations and, if necessary, finely adjust the thickness of the digitized fonts.
The advantage of the ONYX BOOX MAX Carta is its flexible operation with an electromagnetic stylus with an extra thumb button. In the normal mode, touching the edges of the screen turns the pages, and touching the central area displays a context menu.
With the side key pressed, the stylus turns into a neat pencil, with which you can quickly emphasize the desired area, write a note on the field or highlight the edit, then return to the workplace and make adjustments to the file. Line thickness is set in the menu. The eraser tool allows you to erase part of the lines or the entire picture if necessary. Touching the stylus with a cap deletes the image in “blocks”.
In addition, among the pre-installed applications there is a drawing utility that allows the owner of the book to reveal creative skills and outline a sketch during heated discussions at work. A pencil and marker are available to choose from, several degrees of depression are recognized and the thickness of the strokes is adjustable. But the main thing: a picture made by an electromagnetic induction stylus instantly appears on the screen, without lags and drawing delays, as is the case with most tablets.
The ONYX BOOX MAX Carta Reader is not just a device for comfortable viewing of specialized literature, but also a working Android tablet. The hardware configuration includes a dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 processor, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage, expandable with microSDXC memory cards.
The device is running an Android 4.0.4 operating system with the ONYX proprietary shell mentioned above and a slightly modified menu design.
Icons in the application menu are arranged in a 6x6 grid, with the ability to copy a shortcut to the reader’s home screen, as well as sort by name and type. Android settings are traditional, and a music player and voice recorder are added to the list of preinstalled applications. The latter is useful in work, for recording lectures and speeches, and the music player can be launched in the background while reading documentation, by connecting headphones, or by limiting itself to a built-in speaker with clear sound and average volume indicators.
To communicate with the outside world, ONYX BOOX MAX Carta provides wireless modules Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.0. You can manage connections in the Android settings or through the notification curtain, and the usual solution on the WEB Kit is used as a browser.
The presence of the Google Play application store allows you to install on ONYX BOOX MAX Carta not only a third-party browser and news aggregator applications, but also an additional office suite for working with documents, plus a special reader for comics in CBR format. Due to the large diagonal of the screen, the owner of the book will be able to plunge into the worlds of drawn characters for a long time and comfortably, simultaneously comparing the original with the film adaptations in the cinema.
The 4100 mAh battery meets the needs of a high-resolution display with advanced hardware. There is a minimum of energy consumers, because the system takes up only 200 MB of RAM, and the screen only works when updating the picture. Charges MAX from any USB-output, including a laptop, or charging a smartphone.
The charge lasts for a week of active use, with a couple of hundreds of pages viewed per day and periodically turning on Wi-Fi to access the network. Total four hours a day, and so all week without worrying about connecting to the network. The reader is charged for about five hours from a regular smartphone charge.
ONYX BOOX MAX Carta is unique and indispensable in situations where it is important to keep at hand a large amount of information in A4 format. The reader is safe for the eyes and allows you to work with it even in bright sunlight. Combining the screen size of a laptop, the accuracy of touch control at the level of a graphic tablet and the weight of an iPad, this product is in demand in many industries.
The gadget is suitable for those who work in the field of education, engaged in professional engineering, is a representative of the field of art and entertainment. In general, a great solution for professionals who are tired of compromises and paperwork.
All operational data at hand
Externally, ONYX BOOX MAX Carta surprises and shockes unprepared viewers. Stereotypes have long been associated devices with E Ink displays with simple book readers. And MAX Carta is not like that. The new reader is essentially a full-fledged A4 virtual space created for viewing documentation and work files, instructions and tabs, as well as any information published on large-format paper. Here, indistinguishable from ordinary E Ink paper, the display allows you to abandon bulky stacks of paper without losing a single drop of comfort.
Screen
The 13.3-inch E Ink Mobius Carta matrix is a key feature of the ONYX BOOX MAX Carta. The display size is 270x203 mm at a resolution of 1650x2200 pixels, which gives a density of 207 pixels per inch, comparable to prints. Pearl HD ink filling technology delivers 16 gradations of gray and 10: 1 contrast. The matrix itself is made using a flexible plastic substrate, which reduces the likelihood of mechanical damage during impacts.
But dry numbers cannot convey the feeling of daily use of this screen. The huge work surface with detailed rendering of the image looks really amazing - especially when viewing working documents and tables, or PDF versions of materials laid out just for A4 format.
Despite the dimensions, the update speed does not exceed 0.8 seconds, an ONYX A2 proprietary mode with 50% fill is additionally available, which reduces the update time to three frames per second. While reading, you can adjust the contrast to see more midtones, or vice versa, tighten the depth of black. In addition, there is a SNOW Field mode in which the screen is only partially redrawn, which reduces the appearance of redraw artifacts.
The touch screen of the reader understands the touch of an electromagnetic induction stylus, familiar from graphic tablets. This control method allows you to work with the gadget in the same way as with paper documents, while ensuring maximum accuracy and naturalness of handwriting. For creativity, an ascetic graphic editor is preinstalled, allowing you to write by hand or draw a sketch.
Contents of delivery
The ONYX BOOX MAX Carta flagship reader comes in plain velvet black cardboard packaging. The device itself is neatly packed in a complete case-folder from felt, with an additional shock-absorbing pad to protect the screen. The kit comes with a universal microUSB cable and an electromagnetic stylus, carefully packaged in a separate box.
Appearance
An A4 sheet best describes the dimensions of the metal case of the device. The surface of the display is slightly recessed into a small frame, and the reader is only 7.2 mm thick, making it convenient to hold it with one hand. The device weighs 560 grams - you can easily carry it every day with you in a bag or backpack.
In addition to the huge display, on the front side in the lower left corner there are 4 small control buttons. The leftmost one brings up the context menu, the right one - the return key, and the two middle ones are used to turn pages or adjust the volume.
All additional elements are placed on the lower end of the case, where the slot for microSDHC memory cards is adjacent to the power button, microUSB connector and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The hole on the right is a microphone, and to force a reboot, you need to hold down the power key for a few seconds.
On the right side of the gadget there is a smooth nylon tab for attaching the stylus, and on the back of the case the speaker holes are additionally made.
Specifications of ONYX BOOX MAX Carta
| Display | 13.3 ", E Ink Mobius Carta, 16 shades of gray, 10: 1 contrast ratio, 1650x2200 pixels, touch (electromagnetic stylus) |
| Supported Formats | Text: TXT, HTML, RTF, FB2, FB2.zip, DOC, DOCX, PRC, MOBI, CHM, PDB, DOC, EPUB, PDF, DjVu Graphic: JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP Audio: MP3 In addition, you can install software for Support for other formats: XLSX, PPTX, etc. |
| operating system | Android 4.0.4 |
| CPU and RAM | 2x1 GHz, 1024 MB |
| Storage and Extensions | 16 GB + microSDHC |
| Communications | Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.0 |
| Audio | 3.5 mm, speaker, microphone |
| Dimensions and Weight | 325 x 237 x 7.2 mm, 560 g |
Management and ergonomics
A gadget the size of an A4 folder and weighing a little more than half a kilogram is clearly not pocket-sized, but fits perfectly in a bag or backpack. The case protects the ONYX BOOX MAX Carta from contact with surrounding objects, adding about 150 grams to the device.
If necessary, the reader can be used on the go - but after 10-15 minutes it is still better to put it on a table or other work surface. In principle, everything is the same as with an A4 book.
The main control is with a stylus. Touching the tip of the pen is equivalent to traditional finger presses, and in book applications, the stylus allows you to use additional functions.
The button located almost under the thumb switches the stylus to the mode of adding handwritten notes, and an additional element on the upper end allows you to quickly erase the extra piece of the sketch. Everything is like in graphic tablets or when using pencil and paper.
Book interface
When you turn on the ONYX Boox Max Carta, we are greeted by a classic home screen with information about the last open files, the top information bar with time and two useful icons: the ONYX A2 Mode quick draw mode activator and the forward and backward switch mode keys. The lower part of the screen is traditionally occupied by library shortcuts, file manager, Android application menu, browser and book settings. To call the context menu, you need to press the button under the screen or touch the virtual shortcut in the upper right corner with the stylus.
Reading
Books are available in the shared library, where all supported files are displayed (including TXT, Epub, DJVu, PDF), or are opened through the file manager. Swipes and scrolling are carried out with the usual gestures using the stylus.
For traditional book formats, a proprietary OReader application is provided, about the capabilities of which we described in detail in previous reviews of our e-books . We only note that the screen allows you to vary the font size in a huge range, if desired, accommodating up to 4000 characters at a time.
DJVu and PDF
A4 format is indispensable when it comes to professional literature, working documents, catalogs and graphic works in which every centimeter of space is spent as efficiently as possible - on graphics and explanatory illustrations for the text. Most often, these materials are digitized in PDF and DJVu formats, and a pocket e-book screen is too small to view them. ONYX BOOX MAX Carta with a 13.3-inch screen allows you to calmly view all the details of the illustrations in the original size.
To view DJVu and PDF files, the familiar NEO Reader is used, which allows you to adjust the contrast in the range of 200 gradations and, if necessary, finely adjust the thickness of the digitized fonts.
Editing and Editing Features
The advantage of the ONYX BOOX MAX Carta is its flexible operation with an electromagnetic stylus with an extra thumb button. In the normal mode, touching the edges of the screen turns the pages, and touching the central area displays a context menu.
With the side key pressed, the stylus turns into a neat pencil, with which you can quickly emphasize the desired area, write a note on the field or highlight the edit, then return to the workplace and make adjustments to the file. Line thickness is set in the menu. The eraser tool allows you to erase part of the lines or the entire picture if necessary. Touching the stylus with a cap deletes the image in “blocks”.
In addition, among the pre-installed applications there is a drawing utility that allows the owner of the book to reveal creative skills and outline a sketch during heated discussions at work. A pencil and marker are available to choose from, several degrees of depression are recognized and the thickness of the strokes is adjustable. But the main thing: a picture made by an electromagnetic induction stylus instantly appears on the screen, without lags and drawing delays, as is the case with most tablets.
Android and third-party applications
The ONYX BOOX MAX Carta Reader is not just a device for comfortable viewing of specialized literature, but also a working Android tablet. The hardware configuration includes a dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 processor, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage, expandable with microSDXC memory cards.
The device is running an Android 4.0.4 operating system with the ONYX proprietary shell mentioned above and a slightly modified menu design.
Icons in the application menu are arranged in a 6x6 grid, with the ability to copy a shortcut to the reader’s home screen, as well as sort by name and type. Android settings are traditional, and a music player and voice recorder are added to the list of preinstalled applications. The latter is useful in work, for recording lectures and speeches, and the music player can be launched in the background while reading documentation, by connecting headphones, or by limiting itself to a built-in speaker with clear sound and average volume indicators.
To communicate with the outside world, ONYX BOOX MAX Carta provides wireless modules Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.0. You can manage connections in the Android settings or through the notification curtain, and the usual solution on the WEB Kit is used as a browser.
The presence of the Google Play application store allows you to install on ONYX BOOX MAX Carta not only a third-party browser and news aggregator applications, but also an additional office suite for working with documents, plus a special reader for comics in CBR format. Due to the large diagonal of the screen, the owner of the book will be able to plunge into the worlds of drawn characters for a long time and comfortably, simultaneously comparing the original with the film adaptations in the cinema.
Nutrition
The 4100 mAh battery meets the needs of a high-resolution display with advanced hardware. There is a minimum of energy consumers, because the system takes up only 200 MB of RAM, and the screen only works when updating the picture. Charges MAX from any USB-output, including a laptop, or charging a smartphone.
The charge lasts for a week of active use, with a couple of hundreds of pages viewed per day and periodically turning on Wi-Fi to access the network. Total four hours a day, and so all week without worrying about connecting to the network. The reader is charged for about five hours from a regular smartphone charge.
Summary
ONYX BOOX MAX Carta is unique and indispensable in situations where it is important to keep at hand a large amount of information in A4 format. The reader is safe for the eyes and allows you to work with it even in bright sunlight. Combining the screen size of a laptop, the accuracy of touch control at the level of a graphic tablet and the weight of an iPad, this product is in demand in many industries.
The gadget is suitable for those who work in the field of education, engaged in professional engineering, is a representative of the field of art and entertainment. In general, a great solution for professionals who are tired of compromises and paperwork.