Boox Go 10.3 review: An e-ink iPad alternative, designed for productivity

E-ink tablets are better for your eyes, have increased battery life, and are usually much lighter than their backlit counterparts. The Go checks off all these boxes and more.

Boox has been making e-readers and e-ink tech since 2009, the 10.3 being the newest in their Go line.

Boox Go 10.3 - Design

At barely 5 millimeters thick, the Boox Go 10.3 feels light in your hands and never takes up much space in a bag. The only port is USB-C for charging or audio.

In all, the Go is made for simplicity. The main menu's UI is split into your library for books, the store for buying books, notebooks, storage management, and apps.

You can download PDFs on the Go from your computer or other means, and the note section allows you to make folders and organize all your writings in one place. Like other e-readers, you can make highlights and customize your reading experience, from navigating to splitting the screen to taking notes next to your text.

The Go has 64GB, which is plenty of space for document files, which most are supported (PDF, MOBI, EPUB, DJVU, etc.). Since it runs Android 12, there's a lot of space for customization, such as importing fonts.

The Go also supports music, allowing you to store all your favorite playlists in .mp3 format or download the Spotify app from the Google Play Store. It comes preinstalled with essential apps like a calendar, calculator, and an RSS feed tool for your convenience.

Boox Go 10.3 - Specs

Boox Go 10.3 - Use

One of my favorite things about the Go 10.3 is that it is the same size as a notebook and almost gives the same sensory experience as using one. The pen magnetically attaches to the side and doesn't need to be charged, which adds to this analog feeling.

The stylus has a satisfying feel, and the notebook interface is quite similar to my go-to iPad note-taking app, Goodnotes. If you have a Boox account, you can use free cloud storage to move your files around for later access, or you can use it 100% offline if you want to use e-ink for minimalism.

Because the e-ink tablet doesn't have a backlight and reflects natural light, it does quite well under sunlight or bright lamps.

For its size and power, you do have to be patient when quickly navigating between texts or notes if you use the Go for productivity. It's not a slow tablet, but e-ink refreshes differently than traditional displays.

It helps if you set the refresh settings to "speed" in the settings.

For my personal use, I used Calibre to export all my PDFs and files for reading from my MacBook Pro onto the Go. I found that the Go is a wonderful way to bring all your textbooks with you for study purposes and reading for recreation.

There's no home button on the Go, but swiping up gets you back to the home page. There's a lot of gesture customization that you can choose from when you first set up the Go to optimize your use.

One thing I found peculiar was that the spread of AI hype had come to e-ink, too. While using the Go, I kept seeing "AI Assistant" pop up.

At first, it seemed useful for turning hand-written text into typed text in notebooks, but there's an actual AI Assistant app where you can use an LLM named Coze. I'm not sure if this is a simple ChatGPT wrapper or not, but you need the internet to use it.

It answers questions in different subjects pretty well, but you're limited and can only use up to around 30,000 tokens with it. Tokens are sub-units of text used in LLMs, where one token is around four characters.

It's not a bad feature, but I can't imagine using AI when I use e-ink for simple purposes like note-taking and reading.

Boox Go 10.3 - Strength in simplicity

Comparing this directly to an iPad is fair, but it's clear that e-ink tablets occupy a certain niche for people who value simplicity in their digital experiences.

The first Kindle came out well before the first iPad, and companies have had a lot of time to tinker with the balance between a simple reader and a full-fledged computing experience on a tablet since then. I see the Go 10.3 as a device that goes beyond the limitations of a notebook and e-reader, yet it avoids unnecessary complexity for the most part.

That being said, the M2 11-inch iPad Air is $599, and this is a $379 tablet. They offer two very different experiences, but I found myself reaching for the Go before the iPad regarding reading and deep work.

Boox Go 10.3 Pros

• Excellent reading and file transfer experience
• Great stylus and writing UI
• Access to Google Play store, but doesn't force you to sign up for anything

Boox Go 10.3 Cons

• Almost as expensive as an iPad
• Difficult to transition from Apple ecosystem

Rating: 4 out of 5

Where to buy the Boox Go 10.3

The Boox Go 10.3 is available on the BOOX store and Amazon for $379.99.