What do you think!? If you've got one of these did they live up to your expectations? Share your experiences as it is really valuable to other people in the community! *Supernote A5X2 Manta* : supernote.com/products/supernote-a5-x2-manta?sca_ref=4915589.rferNaRlAM *A6X2 Nomad* : supernote.com/pages/supernote-lamy-special-set?sca_ref=4915589.rferNaRlAM For Supernote in AUS region: supernote-au.peachs.co/a/kit-betts-masters *Boox Note Max* : US and HK shop.boox.com/products/notemax?ref=0t1qqbSDWLMb EU & UK euroshop.boox.com/products/boox-note-max?ref=my_f5MKKrpQRge&variant=51671673110891 It's worth checking the price and availability of the tablet on Amazon, before you buy. Bear in mind that you may not get the same bundle, but you will be able to take advantage of the excellent Amazon returns policy if you have any issues! Here's the *Amazon Boox Store* amzn.to/3WB01h5 These are affiliate links which means that I may earn small commissions on sales made through them. There is no extra cost to you! Kind thanks for your support. :-)
I love your work. Thank you. There are way too many videos, with so many different details, and comparisons, I'm losing the big picture and ended up using way more time than necessary. I end up with more questions.
Two points no one is talking about. The Boox assistant app crashes if your notebook is more than one page long. The screen mirroring is really good on the Note MAX
Update on my experience with no front-light on the Note Max: Twice I have been in places where I couldn't read it and would've loved a front light, but to be honest, I couldn't have read paper either. Has it lived up to my expectations? After some real world use, yes and no. Carta 1300 on a 13.3" Boox at least is not as white as I expected, but it's still usable. Contrast and resolution is terrific for me. No pen latency that I can detect. I assumed that BSR wasn't applied in Normal mode, but that is just a guess on my part. Certainly a worthwhile upgrade over my much loved Tab-X. On the weight of the Note Max I have arthritis and can't hold heavy e-readers, or paper books for long periods, but I did hold the Note max by the wide bezel with one hand and walk along making notes, just for a few minutes. For me the ideal device is something close to A4 and in colour, so I have even looked at LCD tablets and went so far as to get Samsung's Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, but I could not find an app that would let me draw fine lines on PDFs. It looks like you been writing with a very wide marker, just like your Z-fold example. Also the writing feeling on the S10 was awful, not a patch on even a Boox. I would need a "paper like" screen protector.
@@alcampbell5831 Thanks for sharing, you are right there is something that is just right about e-ink screens for writing. Glad you are getting along with it. I'm taking my time and letting it grow on me. And I must say it is doing that. The S10 Ultra is a lovely piece of tech, but yeah, I agree, writing on it is just not right. The note taking experience is so central to what makes an e-ink tablet that they have spent a lot of time getting it right!
The first few days of owning my Note Max were a bit frustrating. First I was experiencing a lot of unresponsiveness. It often required 2 or 3 taps or swipes for it to respond. Even using the pen was glitchy. The other issue was with a Bluetooth keyboard I bought to use with it. The first day I used it I had no issues with it. It worked great but after that it never worked again. It would say it was connected but would never respond to any keys. I purchased a different brand keyboard and it has worked fine ever since day one. I was going to purchase the keyboard cover but the price after taxes and shipping put it around the $230 US mark and I just couldn't quite justify it. Not when I can place the external I bought on the front of the cover it came with and achieve the same effect. I might change my mind if I can get free shipping.
Yeah, I'm going through a similar process I think, a bit frustrating at first, but very much getting over that and seeing the positives. Has it become more responsive? Was it an update or did you just get used to it? Which keyboard worked and didn't work? Cheers!
@KitBetts-Masters The responsiveness issue did clear up after a few days. Perhaps there was something going on in the background with it indexing my library of books that I transferred over to it? It is way better. The Keyboard I had trouble with was a Rapoo and the one that works fine is a Qulose. I prefer the design of the Rapoo but at least I have one that works well. I probably should mention that I really wish Boox had kept all the refresh functionality that the Go 10.3 has, even if it meant keeping the 10.3 U.I. I don't understand why we're paying a lot more for a device that actually has fewer features in the Boox software? I do like the Note Max quite a lot, especially for PDFs where print is small. It's nice not having to pinch and zoom to read stuff.
Android apps define minimal requirements to install them. This is usually the Android version. The reason for this is that an app depends on Android APIs which vary depending on the version. Newer apps rely on newer APIs, so unless the Android version can be upgraded increasingly you will not be able to install Android apps. This is the same situation with older Android phones no longer receiving updates.
Thanks for this, so your thinking is it's an android 13 thing? .... Hold up, just checked on the ViWoods it's also android 13 and Chat GPT installs just fine! Weird.
Great video Kit! We are a 2 device family A5X and Nomad love them both. But I'm beginning to think about maybe a boox device as well. But I wonder about transferability of notes between different manufacturers. How have you found it with all your different devices?
@@paulwright4765 I think what you'd be best to do would be to export them as PDFs and save them. Although, I did think, there's nothing to stop you having the supernote partner app on a Boox device and so you could see your notes on there. Also both devices can upload to google drive so you could have a live sync there, I suspect it would take a bit of setting up though. One thing that I am thinking as I use the Manta though is that there are real benefits to using one platform for the very long term. For instance I am annotating on my teaching PDF on the Manta, and thinking it will be great to have these notes if I teach the same section next year. Sticking to one ecosystem would make this possible! But alas as a reviewer I am constantly chopping and changing! Woe is me! Hehehe. ;-)
If we ever get an A4X from Supernote, I’ll be able to die happy. Love the size of the max, but foregoing Supernote isn’t something I think I’m emotionally ready to handle yet.
@@jeffreybarker357 Yeah, I certainly agree with that, I think even if they shoved out an A4 quickly with either the design choices made on the Manta or the Nomad it would be an absolute winner. :-)
I tried the max and it was not for me. I loved the new design; did not find the screen nor the ghosting a big issue. The size was just too big for me. It did not hit that sweet spot for a device to use on a desk and carry around. I wish they would do a similar device at 10.7 size exactly with this design (squared edges and same back panel). A Mobious screen would be a plus too. Maybe in the future 🤞🏽🤞🏽
Thanks for the video kit! You mentioned trying to install chatgpt as apk, can you please let us know if you succeed? I’m pretty new to android so not familiar, i tried installing it but could only find “xapk” files instead of normal apk, i tried installing but couldn’t until i learned xapk needs a third party app so i installed apkpure but still couldn’t get it to install, i would be happy to know if there’s a way, currently installed deepseek and copilot and was happy to see openai model in the ai assistant but would like the full chatgpt app if possible
I'm interested to see how well the Note Max performs as a _'Second Monitor',_ *with a reference* to the _'Accessibility functions'_ offered by, in my case, the Macintosh and with others the Windows PC. With regards to my Lumi2, I have tried increasing the size of the curser and other tools the Mac offers under _'System Accessibilities'_ ... but it just doesn't have the horsepower. The main issues with using e-ink as a second monitor for writers are the curser when moving, insertion point and scrolling. I write in Scrivener and try as I might... my Lumi2 simply doesn't lend itself to writing as a second monitor but the Note Max just might. Unlike many, I don't just sit and then grind my way from the top of the page onwards... I'm forever looking up references, scrolling, writing, deleting and rearranging paragraphs and chapters. I'd really appreciate a video that challenges the Note Max on this issue with a reference to the accessibility tools offered by the relevant computer. Congratulations on another concise informative video.
@@KitBetts-Masters Thats great news and I look forward to seeing you put the Note Max through the course, I hear its pretty good on the flat but struggles with the jumps! :)
I am really intrigued by the Note Max. I have had RM2 for a few years. but just switched to Viwood AI. It is everything I wanted the RM2 to be and I find it really simple and intuitive - and bright! I love switching around in Daily, a real second brain. Supernote - I find has a system approach to note taking that either works for you, or it doesn't. It's almost too complex for me - thats just my use case of course. But the Note Max..... so tempted to try it to replace my MacBook...but....aarrgghhh!!
Love your videos. I am traveling a lot which means i need the front light. Would like to buy the go 10 but will get the note 4c. What would be to perfect e ink tablet if you could be part of developing one? Thanks
Ooh, that's a hard one! Check our end of year stream with me Voja and Brandon, as we go through our wishlists there! (Mine is probably a colour laptop style thing to be honest.)
Honestly I bought the supernote nomad and it's a cool device that's well built but for me the software was a huge letdown. I just feel that boox is more flexible and - weirdly enough - more intuitive. So much so that I'm not considering the manta. Doesn't mean it can't be the best device for other people of course.
Yeah, I go through the specs normally in the unboxing and first thoughts video, then I tend to just give my opinions in real world use, as this is more valuable. Cheers!
it's funny because to me the Note Max actually does blow the Manta away in nearly every metric 😂 the performance is really incredible on it compared to what I think is a relatively underpowered Manta, and the ghosting largely doesn't bother me when I leave it on A2; I think BSR is more active on A2 than it is on Normal. still unclear why there are only two, sometimes three modes on it, but day to day I don't have much of an issue with it. writing on the Max is also just a joy. different strokes etc. I suppose. the one issue I have that seems to be persistent is a double-strike issue that sometimes crops up on the space bar of the keyboard case; Jeffrey Moss also saw this on his and I have gotten two keyboard cases now with the same issue (although the second one has it much less than the first, not sure what to make of that). Onyx are investigating the problem.
Yeah, I saw that in his video. That could get very annoying, very fast. What are your thoughts on the rest of the keyboard case. I wondered about the BSR doing more on A2 mode, but I spent a bit of time testing it across a range of apps and it's not consistent! Weird!
@@KitBetts-Masters it's not REMOTELY consistent which gives me hope that it's an odd software issue they can patch out eventually. I did a comparison video on here where I found that "Refresh" via Control Center left ghosts of buttons but "Refresh" via the navbar or gestures was perfect. as for the case, it's got a very nice typing feel. I've written pretty long emails on it with no issues (other than needing to Find>Replace double spaces). once the spacebar issue is fixed I think it's a strong recommend.
@ I'm sure you saw by now -- Voja had the exact same problem. I'm not worried as much as he is about the closing impact/rubbing against the screen but the spacebar thing is really bad.
You explain all details of Note Max and the problems it has but when you come to Supernote you just repeat "It is exactly it has to be"! Supernote is just a note taking device [just writing] you cannot even add a photo to your notes. I don't know how you call it the best Eink tablet and how you bring it up to the level of sofesticated devices like Note Max and Go 10.3
I love those devices also, pretty well documented, but when you look at just the main uses of eink tablets the supernote is pure class. Lots more content on the Boox devices to come.
@@KitBetts-Masters That is what I don't understand "pure class"! The look? You said in one of your videos that it doesn't look like an expensive device. The functionality? I couldn't find anything in it that couldn't be done in most of other devices. On the other hand, it lacks many capabilities in other devices. Just think that you cannot even type a sentence in your notes. What is the use of text recognition when you can copy it into your note? Based on videos on youtube I purchased Manta [Best Eink Device] but after two weeks of working with it still I couldn't get what they are talking about. I thought there might be a learning curve but as I go on I am more disappointed
What do you think!? If you've got one of these did they live up to your expectations?
Share your experiences as it is really valuable to other people in the community!
*Supernote A5X2 Manta* : supernote.com/products/supernote-a5-x2-manta?sca_ref=4915589.rferNaRlAM
*A6X2 Nomad* : supernote.com/pages/supernote-lamy-special-set?sca_ref=4915589.rferNaRlAM
For Supernote in AUS region: supernote-au.peachs.co/a/kit-betts-masters
*Boox Note Max* :
US and HK shop.boox.com/products/notemax?ref=0t1qqbSDWLMb
EU & UK euroshop.boox.com/products/boox-note-max?ref=my_f5MKKrpQRge&variant=51671673110891
It's worth checking the price and availability of the tablet on Amazon, before you buy. Bear in mind that you may not get the same bundle, but you will be able to take advantage of the excellent Amazon returns policy if you have any issues!
Here's the *Amazon Boox Store* amzn.to/3WB01h5
These are affiliate links which means that I may earn small commissions on sales made through them. There is no extra cost to you!
Kind thanks for your support. :-)
I love your work. Thank you. There are way too many videos, with so many different details, and comparisons, I'm losing the big picture and ended up using way more time than necessary. I end up with more questions.
Two points no one is talking about. The Boox assistant app crashes if your notebook is more than one page long. The screen mirroring is really good on the Note MAX
Thanks for that. I simply don't use the Boox assistant, but I will try that one out.
Update on my experience with no front-light on the Note Max: Twice I have been in places where I couldn't read it and would've loved a front light, but to be honest, I couldn't have read paper either.
Has it lived up to my expectations? After some real world use, yes and no. Carta 1300 on a 13.3" Boox at least is not as white as I expected, but it's still usable. Contrast and resolution is terrific for me. No pen latency that I can detect. I assumed that BSR wasn't applied in Normal mode, but that is just a guess on my part. Certainly a worthwhile upgrade over my much loved Tab-X.
On the weight of the Note Max I have arthritis and can't hold heavy e-readers, or paper books for long periods, but I did hold the Note max by the wide bezel with one hand and walk along making notes, just for a few minutes.
For me the ideal device is something close to A4 and in colour, so I have even looked at LCD tablets and went so far as to get Samsung's Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, but I could not find an app that would let me draw fine lines on PDFs. It looks like you been writing with a very wide marker, just like your Z-fold example. Also the writing feeling on the S10 was awful, not a patch on even a Boox. I would need a "paper like" screen protector.
@@alcampbell5831 Thanks for sharing, you are right there is something that is just right about e-ink screens for writing. Glad you are getting along with it. I'm taking my time and letting it grow on me. And I must say it is doing that. The S10 Ultra is a lovely piece of tech, but yeah, I agree, writing on it is just not right. The note taking experience is so central to what makes an e-ink tablet that they have spent a lot of time getting it right!
The first few days of owning my Note Max were a bit frustrating. First I was experiencing a lot of unresponsiveness. It often required 2 or 3 taps or swipes for it to respond. Even using the pen was glitchy. The other issue was with a Bluetooth keyboard I bought to use with it. The first day I used it I had no issues with it. It worked great but after that it never worked again. It would say it was connected but would never respond to any keys. I purchased a different brand keyboard and it has worked fine ever since day one. I was going to purchase the keyboard cover but the price after taxes and shipping put it around the $230 US mark and I just couldn't quite justify it. Not when I can place the external I bought on the front of the cover it came with and achieve the same effect. I might change my mind if I can get free shipping.
Yeah, I'm going through a similar process I think, a bit frustrating at first, but very much getting over that and seeing the positives. Has it become more responsive? Was it an update or did you just get used to it? Which keyboard worked and didn't work? Cheers!
@KitBetts-Masters The responsiveness issue did clear up after a few days. Perhaps there was something going on in the background with it indexing my library of books that I transferred over to it? It is way better. The Keyboard I had trouble with was a Rapoo and the one that works fine is a Qulose. I prefer the design of the Rapoo but at least I have one that works well.
I probably should mention that I really wish Boox had kept all the refresh functionality that the Go 10.3 has, even if it meant keeping the 10.3 U.I. I don't understand why we're paying a lot more for a device that actually has fewer features in the Boox software? I do like the Note Max quite a lot, especially for PDFs where print is small. It's nice not having to pinch and zoom to read stuff.
Android apps define minimal requirements to install them. This is usually the Android version. The reason for this is that an app depends on Android APIs which vary depending on the version. Newer apps rely on newer APIs, so unless the Android version can be upgraded increasingly you will not be able to install Android apps. This is the same situation with older Android phones no longer receiving updates.
Thanks for this, so your thinking is it's an android 13 thing? .... Hold up, just checked on the ViWoods it's also android 13 and Chat GPT installs just fine! Weird.
@@KitBetts-Masters Android version is one major cause, but there may be other other conditions. These are defined by the app developer.
Great video Kit! We are a 2 device family A5X and Nomad love them both. But I'm beginning to think about maybe a boox device as well. But I wonder about transferability of notes between different manufacturers. How have you found it with all your different devices?
@@paulwright4765 I think what you'd be best to do would be to export them as PDFs and save them. Although, I did think, there's nothing to stop you having the supernote partner app on a Boox device and so you could see your notes on there.
Also both devices can upload to google drive so you could have a live sync there, I suspect it would take a bit of setting up though.
One thing that I am thinking as I use the Manta though is that there are real benefits to using one platform for the very long term. For instance I am annotating on my teaching PDF on the Manta, and thinking it will be great to have these notes if I teach the same section next year. Sticking to one ecosystem would make this possible! But alas as a reviewer I am constantly chopping and changing! Woe is me! Hehehe. ;-)
If we ever get an A4X from Supernote, I’ll be able to die happy. Love the size of the max, but foregoing Supernote isn’t something I think I’m emotionally ready to handle yet.
@@jeffreybarker357 Yeah, I certainly agree with that, I think even if they shoved out an A4 quickly with either the design choices made on the Manta or the Nomad it would be an absolute winner. :-)
I tried the max and it was not for me. I loved the new design; did not find the screen nor the ghosting a big issue. The size was just too big for me. It did not hit that sweet spot for a device to use on a desk and carry around. I wish they would do a similar device at 10.7 size exactly with this design (squared edges and same back panel). A Mobious screen would be a plus too. Maybe in the future 🤞🏽🤞🏽
Thanks for the video kit! You mentioned trying to install chatgpt as apk, can you please let us know if you succeed? I’m pretty new to android so not familiar, i tried installing it but could only find “xapk” files instead of normal apk, i tried installing but couldn’t until i learned xapk needs a third party app so i installed apkpure but still couldn’t get it to install, i would be happy to know if there’s a way, currently installed deepseek and copilot and was happy to see openai model in the ai assistant but would like the full chatgpt app if possible
Is the Note Max compatible (by default) with Google Gemini?
yep; just installed it, works fine.
@0xKruzr Good to know, thanks. That's the only AI chatbot that I actually use.
I'm interested to see how well the Note Max performs as a _'Second Monitor',_ *with a reference* to the _'Accessibility functions'_ offered by, in my case, the Macintosh and with others the Windows PC. With regards to my Lumi2, I have tried increasing the size of the curser and other tools the Mac offers under _'System Accessibilities'_ ... but it just doesn't have the horsepower.
The main issues with using e-ink as a second monitor for writers are the curser when moving, insertion point and scrolling. I write in Scrivener and try as I might... my Lumi2 simply doesn't lend itself to writing as a second monitor but the Note Max just might. Unlike many, I don't just sit and then grind my way from the top of the page onwards... I'm forever looking up references, scrolling, writing, deleting and rearranging paragraphs and chapters. I'd really appreciate a video that challenges the Note Max on this issue with a reference to the accessibility tools offered by the relevant computer.
Congratulations on another concise informative video.
Thanks! You'll be very pleased. Guess what is just exporting on my PC as I write.... (And yeah, you've predicted some of my conclusions there!)
@@KitBetts-Masters Thats great news and I look forward to seeing you put the Note Max through the course, I hear its pretty good on the flat but struggles with the jumps! :)
I am really intrigued by the Note Max. I have had RM2 for a few years. but just switched to Viwood AI. It is everything I wanted the RM2 to be and I find it really simple and intuitive - and bright! I love switching around in Daily, a real second brain. Supernote - I find has a system approach to note taking that either works for you, or it doesn't. It's almost too complex for me - thats just my use case of course. But the Note Max..... so tempted to try it to replace my MacBook...but....aarrgghhh!!
Yeah, that's a good tip, I'm looking forward to getting back into the ViWoods for a re-review really soon don't they've had a few updates!
Love your videos. I am traveling a lot which means i need the front light. Would like to buy the go 10 but will get the note 4c.
What would be to perfect e ink tablet if you could be part of developing one?
Thanks
Ooh, that's a hard one! Check our end of year stream with me Voja and Brandon, as we go through our wishlists there!
(Mine is probably a colour laptop style thing to be honest.)
Honestly I bought the supernote nomad and it's a cool device that's well built but for me the software was a huge letdown. I just feel that boox is more flexible and - weirdly enough - more intuitive. So much so that I'm not considering the manta. Doesn't mean it can't be the best device for other people of course.
U never share technical specification of device .
RAM, storage , processor, OS, future proof (nothing like) mention in your video
Yeah, I go through the specs normally in the unboxing and first thoughts video, then I tend to just give my opinions in real world use, as this is more valuable. Cheers!
it's funny because to me the Note Max actually does blow the Manta away in nearly every metric 😂 the performance is really incredible on it compared to what I think is a relatively underpowered Manta, and the ghosting largely doesn't bother me when I leave it on A2; I think BSR is more active on A2 than it is on Normal. still unclear why there are only two, sometimes three modes on it, but day to day I don't have much of an issue with it. writing on the Max is also just a joy. different strokes etc. I suppose. the one issue I have that seems to be persistent is a double-strike issue that sometimes crops up on the space bar of the keyboard case; Jeffrey Moss also saw this on his and I have gotten two keyboard cases now with the same issue (although the second one has it much less than the first, not sure what to make of that). Onyx are investigating the problem.
Yeah, I saw that in his video. That could get very annoying, very fast. What are your thoughts on the rest of the keyboard case.
I wondered about the BSR doing more on A2 mode, but I spent a bit of time testing it across a range of apps and it's not consistent! Weird!
@@KitBetts-Masters it's not REMOTELY consistent which gives me hope that it's an odd software issue they can patch out eventually. I did a comparison video on here where I found that "Refresh" via Control Center left ghosts of buttons but "Refresh" via the navbar or gestures was perfect.
as for the case, it's got a very nice typing feel. I've written pretty long emails on it with no issues (other than needing to Find>Replace double spaces). once the spacebar issue is fixed I think it's a strong recommend.
@ I'm sure you saw by now -- Voja had the exact same problem. I'm not worried as much as he is about the closing impact/rubbing against the screen but the spacebar thing is really bad.
I just want a Supernote with colour eInk and A4 size. Am I asking too much?? (Yes)
Lols, yeah, maybe one day.
Love my Manta
It's the real deal right!? What was the main thing which made you go with that over the other options?
You explain all details of Note Max and the problems it has but when you come to Supernote you just repeat "It is exactly it has to be"! Supernote is just a note taking device [just writing] you cannot even add a photo to your notes. I don't know how you call it the best Eink tablet and how you bring it up to the level of sofesticated devices like Note Max and Go 10.3
I love those devices also, pretty well documented, but when you look at just the main uses of eink tablets the supernote is pure class. Lots more content on the Boox devices to come.
@@KitBetts-Masters That is what I don't understand "pure class"! The look? You said in one of your videos that it doesn't look like an expensive device. The functionality? I couldn't find anything in it that couldn't be done in most of other devices. On the other hand, it lacks many capabilities in other devices. Just think that you cannot even type a sentence in your notes. What is the use of text recognition when you can copy it into your note?
Based on videos on youtube I purchased Manta [Best Eink Device] but after two weeks of working with it still I couldn't get what they are talking about. I thought there might be a learning curve but as I go on I am more disappointed