Onyx Boox Tab X review - E-Ink tablet for big tasks?

If you are looking for a really large e-ink tablet with pen input, you should take a look at the Onyx Boox Tab X: With its 13.3-inch screen, it is one of the largest e-readers on the market. At 950 euros, the device is not exactly cheap, but there is hardly any other tablet that offers so much space for reading and taking notes.

The housing is made of an aluminum-magnesium material and weighs 570 grams. This is actually fine considering the size of the tablet, but it is still noticeably heavier than handier e-readers. The edges around the screen are just over a centimeter wide, only the bottom is 2.5 centimeters wide so that you can hold the Tab X comfortably without constantly accidentally operating the touchscreen.

With such a huge tablet, there is of course always the question of stability: The Onyx Boox Tab X can be twisted and then creaks noticeably; our test even revealed a hairline crack on the side. The tablet should therefore be handled with care. There is no IP certification for the chassis, so you should also refrain from submerging it in the bathtub or using it in dusty environments.

With 128 GB of mass storage and 6 GB of RAM, the memory configuration is adequate. However, the UFS 2.1 flash installed here could be faster in this price range.

External devices can be connected via a USB-C port and Bluetooth. However, there is no microSD port for memory expansion.

WiFi 5 is the fastest Wi-Fi standard that the Tab X can use. It therefore achieves reasonable speeds and quite stable transmission. However, a gigabit Internet connection cannot really be utilized. This is a shame, especially considering the high price level. The Huawei MatePad Paper or the Onyx Boox Tab Ultra C Pro show how it can be done better.

You have to do without mobile internet, as there is no SIM slot. The tablet can determine an approximate position even without satellite support via Google's Wi-Fi database, but this is rather inaccurate when moving and in areas with few Wi-Fi networks.

The operating system used is Android 11, which has a less modified interface than other e-readers: You can find widgets and icons on the home screen and place additional apps on new pages. Everything can be moved or combined into groups. The security patches date from June 2023 and are therefore over six months old at the time of testing. The manufacturer does not specify how often new updates will be available.

The touchscreen works reliably, but the low frame rate of the e-ink display means you have to get used to slight delays in the system's response. The stylus can be used to take notes and draw, although only the 16 shades of gray on the screen are available. Of course, you can also use creativity apps from the Google Play Store.

What strikes us: The large e-ink tablet has hardly any physical buttons. There is only the standby button on the top edge but no scroll buttons or volume control. You therefore have to control these things via the touchscreen.

A password can be set for data security. However, the device cannot be unlocked biometrically, for example using fingerprints.

The pre-installed Neo Reader is very versatile and can also be used in split-screen mode with other apps, for example, to take notes. You can activate automatic page turning after a set time or have texts read aloud using text-to-speech. In terms of voice quality, this is of course more of a makeshift solution than a real audio book, but at least it works.

A big advantage of the Android system is that you can also download other reader apps such as Tolino or Amazon Kindle, and use them without any problems.

With the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 onyx Boox has only opted for a mid-range SoC for its Tab X, despite the high device price, which was also released 5 years ago. Compared to conventional e-readers without app support, the tablet still offers good performance. However, the in-house competition, such as the Tab Ultra C Pro, achieves results that are sometimes twice or even three times as high in the benchmarks.

The Tab X's performance is sufficient for everyday use; if you mainly read books and take notes, you will get a reasonably smooth experience. However, the UFS 2.1 flash used is also relatively slow. When surfing the Internet, you sometimes have to wait longer for websites to load, and images, in particular, take a long time to scroll.

Due to the tablet's large surface area, the SoC has no problem dissipating waste heat. As a result, the casing hardly heats up even after prolonged load: We measured a maximum of 29.2 °C. Even longer load hardly reduces the performance: The SoC delivers similar values in the 3DMark burnout test towards the end as at the beginning.

The speakers are located on the back of the device. Since there are two of them, stereo effects are possible, but they are not very noticeable due to the close placement. The speakers are not particularly loud, and the sound is very treble-heavy. Voices are reproduced clearly but sound less present and not very warm.

External speakers or headphones can be connected via Bluetooth or the USB-C port, which works without any problems and delivers a much better sound.

The battery has a capacity of 6300 mAh. This makes it significantly more powerful than most other e-readers and also gives the Tab X very good runtimes: With minimum screen lighting and in reading mode, the tablet manages 24:46 hours.

The tablet can be charged with up to 10 watts, which leads to very long charging times of up to 5 hours due to the large battery. Furthermore, you have to get a charger since it is not included in the package.

The Onyx Boox Tab X is available in stores. At the time of review, Amazon US lists the device for just under $900.