BOOX BOOX 13.3" Note Max E-Ink Tablet Review

The BOOX Note Max is a big, beautiful e-ink tablet that's trying to do a lot more than just show you books. With a 13.3-inch screen and Android 13 under the hood, it's positioned as a digital notebook, a PDF reader, and even a web browser, all on that easy-on-the-eyes e-paper display. It's a niche device, but for the right person, it could be a game-changer.

This thing is for the academic, the lawyer, or the writer who spends hours annotating PDFs and needs a screen that doesn't cause eye strain. It's also for the dedicated e-book reader who's always wanted a Kindle the size of a legal pad. If you're looking for a general-purpose tablet to watch Netflix or edit photos, you're in the wrong place. This is a specialist tool.

What makes it interesting is the sheer size and clarity of that screen. At 300 pixels per inch, text is razor sharp, and the 13.3-inch canvas gives you room to view full-page documents without constant zooming. It runs full Android, which means you can install your favorite reading apps like Kindle, Libby, or even Google Play Books, but it asks the question: how well can a device built for static text handle a dynamic operating system?

Let's talk about the numbers. The performance benchmarks tell a clear story: this is a device built for its screen, not for speed. The CPU lands in the 34th percentile, which means it's on the slower side compared to other tablets. In practical terms, that translates to noticeable lag when loading complex PDFs, a bit of stutter scrolling through web pages, and waiting a beat for apps to open. It's not unusably slow, but you feel it.

The real-world implication is that you need to manage your expectations. This isn't an iPad Pro. The 6GB of RAM and the Samsung processor are there to serve the core function: displaying crisp, static text and handling basic note-taking. Its performance scores are weakest in productivity (28.7/100), which makes sense. Trying to do heavy multitasking or run demanding apps will be a frustrating experience. But for reading and annotating? The 89th percentile screen score is the only number that really matters, and it delivers.

Priced around $630, the BOOX Note Max sits in a weird spot. It's more expensive than every mainstream e-reader on the market, but it's also offering a much larger screen and full Android functionality. You're paying a premium for that big e-ink canvas.

Compared to a base model iPad, you're getting a worse experience in almost every way except eye comfort. But if your primary need is reading and annotating text-based documents for hours, the value is in the specialized screen. It's a tool for a specific job, and if that's your job, the price might be justified. If you just want a tablet, there are far better values.

The most direct competitor isn't another Android tablet, it's the reMarkable 2. The reMarkable is a more focused digital notebook with a better writing feel but a smaller screen and a locked-down OS. The BOOX wins on screen size, app flexibility, and storage, but the reMarkable might win on pure writing experience and simplicity.

Then you have the Apple iPad Pro or Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. These are in a different league for performance, media consumption, and general productivity. Their screens are brilliant but are standard LCD/OLED, which can cause eye strain during long reading sessions. If you need one device for everything, get an iPad. If you need a device specifically for long-form reading and writing, the BOOX's e-ink screen is its killer feature. The Lenovo Legion Go and Panasonic Toughbook are for completely different use cases (gaming and rugged fieldwork), so they're not really in the same conversation.

If you are a student, researcher, or professional who spends most of your day reading and annotating dense PDFs, academic papers, or legal documents, the BOOX Note Max is a compelling, if expensive, tool. The big, beautiful e-ink screen is a legitimate relief for your eyes, and that benefit is hard to overstate.

For everyone else, it's a tough sell. If you read mostly novels and want a tablet for other things, get a standard iPad or Android tablet. If you want a digital notebook above all else, consider the more focused reMarkable. The BOOX Note Max is a fantastic specialist, but a pretty poor generalist.