I've been a Kindle reader for years. I love how sharp text looks on e-ink — it's the closest thing to paper that a screen can be. So when I started looking for a way to improve how I study, an e-ink tablet was an obvious direction. I picked up the Boox Tab C and have been using it daily for a little over a week.
This is a short review of what I wanted, what I got, and whether it was worth the price.
What I Was Looking For
I had two requirements going in:
- Sharp, paper-like text. The whole reason to buy an e-ink device over a regular tablet.
- Split-screen. Study material on one side, handwritten notes on the other. This is the workflow I wanted to build my studying around.
That's it. I didn't need a powerful tablet. I needed something that would make reading and writing feel good enough that I'd actually stick with it.
What the Tab C Gets Right
Text is sharp. Reading on it feels the way reading on a Kindle feels — easy on the eyes, no glare, no fatigue after a long session.
Writing is the part that surprised me. The stylus has a small amount of friction against the screen when the tip makes contact, and that tiny resistance does something to the experience that I didn't expect. It feels closer to pen on paper than to glass. After a week I'm faster and more comfortable writing on it than I thought I'd be.
Split-screen works the way I wanted: PDF or book on the left, blank note page on the right. That's the entire workflow.
It runs Android, so I installed the apps I already use from the Play Store. 128 GB of storage and 6 GB of RAM — not a powerful tablet, but it doesn't need to be. There's also a cloud sync feature where you can drop study materials in from another device and they show up on the tablet.
What It Doesn't Do Well
The screen is not very bright. I usually prefer bright screens, and this took some adjustment. To be fair, this is true of every e-ink tablet I've looked at — it's the tradeoff for the paper-like display, not a flaw specific to the Tab C. But if you're coming from a regular tablet, expect to notice it.
It's not a tablet you'd use for video, games, or anything fast-moving. That's by design. You're paying for the e-ink display and the writing experience, not raw performance.
How I'm Using It
I'm using it to run a Zettelkasten-style note system. During the week, I handwrite notes directly on the tablet as I study. At the end of the week, I go through what I wrote and transfer the notes worth keeping into Obsidian as permanent notes.
The handwriting step is the important part for me. Writing notes by hand helps me retain material in a way that typing doesn't, and the weekly review step forces me to revisit everything before deciding what's worth keeping. The tablet sits in the middle of that loop — capture by hand, review, then promote into the digital system.
A week in, this has been the most consistent studying habit I've had in a while.
Would I Recommend It?
Probably not — at least not to most people.
It's $900. That's a lot of money for a device that only does two things well: read and write. If you already know you want an e-ink tablet, if you've used one before and understand the tradeoffs, and if handwritten notes are central to how you work, then it's a solid pick. The display is sharp, the writing feel is genuinely good, and the split-screen workflow does what it advertises.
But it's a niche device for a specific use case. If you're not sure that's you, it isn't.
For me, it's earning its keep. The studying habit is sticking, and that's what I bought it for.