Hi!
I just bought the Go 7, and I absolutely love it—the screen is incredibly clear and crisp.
I’ve also ordered the Note Max and am currently waiting for it to arrive. However, I’m a bit concerned about the grayness or darkness of the screen that many people have mentioned. From what I understand, this darker appearance is caused by an additional film applied on top of the display. The purpose of this film is to reduce slipperiness and add more texture, improving the writing experience. However, this seems to come with a trade-off: reduced screen brightness and clarity. (I assume this may also explain the lack of a front light—to bring the writing surface closer to the pen by removing extra layers between the pen and the display.)
This leads me to a broader question: should e-ink devices move away from trying to excel at both reading and writing? It seems that optimizing one inevitably compromises the other.
Personally, if there were a Note Max with a pure glass screen offering perfect readability (including a front light), I would prefer that. For writing, I would rather use a separate, dedicated device. In my case, I prefer the reMarkable 2, as it feels more focused purely on writing, whereas Boox doesn’t seem to offer a device designed exclusively for that purpose.
Perhaps Boox could benefit from developing more single-purpose devices—one that provides a truly paper-like writing experience without compromise, and another that delivers an optimal reading experience without trade-offs. In that vein, I feel that color e-ink models should be reconsidered, as they currently seem to underperform overall.
I understand that many users are willing to accept imperfections in both reading and writing. However, in my case, even small compromises significantly reduce my motivation to use the device at all.
I hope the future direction of e-reader development will also cater to users like us. In fact, I believe that focusing on excellence in specific use cases may ultimately be a more successful long-term strategy for these companies.