While they will never have the name recognition of the Amazon Kindle, e-ink devices from Chinese tech company Onyx International—sold under the slightly silly “Boox” brand name—are gaining a cult following in the U.S. I’ve reviewed three of its e-readers and digital notebooks over the past year, and I’m a huge fan. And if you’re reading this article, you probably are too (or soon will be).
I love Boox devices not only because they’re well built and full-featured (though if you want more of my thoughts there, check out my assessments of the Boox Palma, Note Max, and Note Air 4C). I also can’t get enough of their customizability. Nothing makes me crazier than trying to do something simple with a device, only to be stymied due to locked down software that doesn’t want to let me. From side-loading books onto a Kindle to doing—well, basically anything unsanctioned on an iPad, big companies seem determined to only let me do with my devices what they want me to do.
Boox devices are different: They run on an open version of Android that lets you do pretty much whatever you want. You can download any app in the Google Play Store, so you aren’t tied to one e-reading platform. If you want to sideload apps, feel free: Plug the device into your laptop and it will mount right to the desktop. If you’re truly ambitious, you can even install your own launcher to completely change things up.
While all this freedom is nice, it also means Boox devices have a bit more of a learning curve than, say, a plug-and-read Kindle. So if you are the new owner of one of these fantastic devices—whether an e-reader or a full-fledged digital notebook—here are four settings you should change right away to get the most out of it.
Set a one-touch refresh
Like any e-ink tablet, Boox devices suffer from occasional “ghosting,” or visible afterimages once you’ve turned a page. While the device will automatically refresh itself after a certain number of taps (touching the screen, basically), I like to set up a one-touch refresh that I can trigger whenever I want to. Depending on your device, there are a few ways to do this: a button or a gesture.
Setting a manual refresh on a Boox device with buttons
Credit: Screenshot by Joel Cunningham
If you’ve got a Boox Palma or another device with page turn/volume buttons, you can map one of them to a screen refresh. For the Palma, it makes the most sense to use the Smart Button for this—that’s the button on the left hand side of the device, which can do different things based on whether you press it once, twice, or hold it down. On my own device, I’ve mapped a manual refresh to a single Smart Button press, as it’s the thing I find myself doing most often (that, or returning to the home screen, which is another of the many options you can choose). That said, you can also map a refresh to the volume buttons if you like (though I prefer to use those for page turns).
To remap your Smart Button, open the settings app and tap Smart Button. Tap your preferred option (Short-press Function, Double-click Function, or Long-press Function) and select Full-refresh.
Setting a manual refresh with a gesture
Credit: Screenshot by Joel Cunningham
Not all Boox devices have buttons, so if yours doesn’t, you’ll need to map a manual refresh to a gesture. (Though you can also do this on the Palma, if you like.)
To get started, open Settings and scroll down to System Navigation. Under Bottom Navigation, tap More Settings. Choose the area of the screen you’d like to map the refresh to by swiping between the left, center, or right side options. Tap Custom and then choose Full-refresh from your list of options.
Choose your cloud storage option
Boox devices tend to have generous onboard storage, but you’ll get more out of them by linking your preferred cloud storage service on the system level. This will let you move files on and off the device without the need to plug it in to your computer.
To start, open Settings, then Accounts. Tap Move to Cloud Storage in Library, then select your preferred option from the list. You have a bunch of choices, including Dropbox and Google Drive. Tap the one you want, then log in.
Manage your sleep settings (if you listen to audiobooks)
Credit: Screenshot by Joel Cunningham
In an effort to use my phone less, I’ve moved my audiobooks over to my Palma as well (the 128GB of storage comes in handy here). However, I was frustrated with the device as an audio player at first because I use a protective cover, and every time I closed it, it would go to sleep, turning off my audio. I found myself awkwardly trying to slip it into a pocket with the cover folded over, without accidentally touching the screen.
Then I discovered there’s a setting to fix this. Open settings, scroll down to Display, and ten turn off the toggle for Sleep or wake up the device using protective cover. Now your audio will keep playing even after you close the cover and stick it in your pocket. Yay!
While you’re at it, you might also want to turn off the automatic sleep option, as I find the device doesn’t always does seem to know if you are playing audio in the background and will turn itself off if you haven’t touched it in a while. Open Settings and tap Power, then Auto Sleep. You can choose options between 3 minutes to one hour. (If you choose “Never” the OS will warn you that this will reduce battery life, but unless you’re using wifi or Bluetooth and have the front light cranked up, it won’t really make that much difference, as e-ink screens only use power when they refresh.)
Change your lock screen image and screensaver
Credit: Screenshot by Joel Cunningham
Boox devices have some handsome preset lock screen images, but if you want to make the device your own, you can set your own screensaver and wallpaper. This one is pretty straightforward: Choose Desktop & Screensaver in the Settings app—but if you want a custom image, you’ll first have to get it saved to the right spot.
The easiest way to do this is to find an image you like while browsing the internet using your Boox device. Long press on it and choose Download, which will save it to your downloads folder (naturally). Next, open up the Gallery app, tap your Download folder, and then tap the image you want. In the lower right, tap More and then Set as. You can choose to set it as the Screensaver, the Wallpaper, or the Power-Off image.
Alternately, you can plug the device into a computer and manually add the images to your Pictures folder. From there, you can change your wallpaper as described above, or just long press on the home screen and select the Wallpaper icon on the lower right; tap Local to find images saved to your Pictures folder. (And here’s another helpful hint: If you want to create your own wallpaper image in Photoshop or Canva, the dimensions are 824×1648 for the Boox Palma. For the Note Max or Note Air 4C, 1404 x 1872 should serve you well.)