3 causes I am not giving up my Kobo for this Android E Ink pill

Now that I’ve coated the issues I like about Boox’s Go Color 7 E Ink pill, it is time to dive into the stuff I’ve borderline hated concerning the e-reader.

Do not get me improper, the Go Colour 7 is a strong, very succesful system that appears and feels higher than any e-reader I’ve used, however when it comes really utilizing it as a studying system, I’ve realized that I do not want an E Ink pill that may do all of it. So long as my e-reader rapidly accesses my chosen library of books, provides strong battery life, and feels nice, I am offered — typically single-use tech gadgets really are higher.

With this in thoughts, over the previous few weeks, I’ve observed that the Go Colour 7 has plenty of notable shortcomings that I do not see talked about fairly often, together with how difficult the E Ink pill is, its boot time, and the truth that its helpful app optimization options do not work with the Kobo app, the platform I primarily use for studying books.

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In terms of an e-reader, I do not want Android

It is simply too difficult

Whereas I initially appreciated the truth that the Go Colour 7 is Android-based, after forcing myself to check numerous apps (largely Google Preserve), I’ve discovered I favor the purpose-built design of Kobo’s Libra Color. Certain, I am unable to use Google Preserve or Gmail on my Libra Color, however I need not.

After I choose up an e-reader, I solely wish to learn and do nothing else. I’ve an iPhone 16 Pro and various iPads floating around for utilizing extra conventional apps. After all, some folks may favor their E Ink e-reader to be powered by Android as a result of they wish to do extra than simply learn books or saved articles on it, however that is not me. Over the course of a number of weeks of testing the Go Colour 7, I’ve grown bored with how janky apps may be on the E Ink pill and finally stopped utilizing them altogether. Certain, that lag created a barrier that prevented me from doomscrolling, however that additionally resulted in me reaching for my Libra Color as a substitute

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It takes too lengthy to get into really studying

It could typically take a couple of minutes to really open a ebook

Considered one of my largest points with Boox’s Go Colour 7 is that it may well typically take as much as a minute or extra to get the E Ink pill out of sleep mode and truly into studying a ebook, whereas my Kobo boots out of sleep mode in only a few seconds (I’ve had an analogous expertise with Kindle gadgets, too).

This may sound like a minor grievance, however once I solely wish to learn for a couple of minutes to kill a short time period, that minute-long boot-up course of seems like a irritating eternity. In a single state of affairs, I simply picked up my Libra Color as a substitute to learn whereas the Go Colour 7 booted up and by no means bothered going again to Boox’s system. Critically, it actually takes a very long time to rise up and operating, even from its low-power state, after which after that, I’ve to place in a passcode (you may’t flip the function off) and boot the Kobo or Pocket (RIP) app, which provides much more time.

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The Kobo app cannot be optimized

That is extra on Kobo, but it surely’s nonetheless irritating

Certain, this could be a “me” difficulty, however the truth that the Go Colour 7 works with the Kobo Android app is each a blessing and irritating. It offers me quick access to the identical library of books I’ve used for years (that is one thing you may’t simply do with Amazon’s Kindle library), however the app feels extremely restricted.

First off, you may’t eradicate the huge spacing within the margins of the pages, which is irritating, given I am used to adjusting that on my Libra Color. That stated, I respect you may nonetheless regulate the textual content dimension and choose from a number of completely different fonts. Nonetheless, pages look odd with textual content cramped within the center, particularly when the font is a bit bigger.

Moreover, most of the finest app-specific Boox options are incompatible with the Kobo app, together with the flexibility to customise the Go Colour 7’s buttons, which do not seem to operate appropriately. Should you long-press on an app icon and choose Optimize, you are given a collection of choices. Subsequent, flip over to Others, and you will see Customized Facet Buttons, together with Web page-turn, Quantity, and Scrolling. Despite the fact that I’ve Web page-turn chosen, the Boox Colour 7’s facet buttons nonetheless management the pill’s quantity, sadly.

I like Boox’s Go Colour 7, however I’ve realized I do not want the flexibility it provides in relation to an e-reader. Different folks will discover these Android-powered options helpful, however I’ve a number of different gadgets that fill that function for me, together with my smartphone — all I need is an E Ink system that is designed only for studying.

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