Never in history have so many books been written and never has the access to books been so great.

I’m a book lover yet I seldom buy a physical book anymore.

Instead, I read them on one of those simple e-readers that have come on the market in the last two decades.
The likes of Kindle, Kobo, and Nook.

And now ONYX, who make the BOOX series, is trying to switch me to using colour and a stylus by sending their latest (and one of their smallest) e-reader, the Go Color 7 (Gen II).

And I think that just might work…

 

tl;dr

The ONYX BOOX Go Color 7 (Gen II) is a compact, full-colour e-reader with stylus support, Android OS, and strong note-taking features. Ideal for readers who want colour graphics, students, and digital creatives, though the battery life and pale colour rendering may not suit everyone. Still, it’s a feature-rich, well-priced device in a very portable package.

 

The BOOX Background

Onyx started on the e-reader path way back in 2011 or so.
Since that time that have brought to the market dozens of their products in different formats.

So, they know what works and what doesn’t.

All the readers use E-Ink technology which has developed into about half a dozen iterations over the years.

The latest is E Ink’s Kaleido – a good name for a colour-capable display.

This is the technology used in our review unit, the ONYX BOOX Go Color 7 (Gen II).

Can we please refer to this mouthful just as the “unit” in this article?

I know, all the bits in the naming are there for a reason: Go means it’s highly portable.
Color is pretty obvious why that is mentioned.
7 is the size in inches and Gen II means it should be a better version than the Gen I (which was never named as such).

But I digress…

 

BOOX Unboxing

The shipment consisted of the unit itself, plus a USB-C cable, together with the optional cover and stylus.

My daily reader is an 8” Kobo so it came as a bit of a shock to see how tiny this 7” unit really is.

Was that going to be a lot of page turning for me as I like my fonts to be reasonably legible?

I hate it when I can’t read the ingredients on a shampoo bottle…

The unit is very well constructed: a smooth matte black front with just 2 page turning buttons on the right and a power button on the bottom edge.

Speakers and a microSD slot are situated on the right edge.

The back is a textured matte black with a nice grippiness (yep, a real word but I had to look that up to make sure).

The screen in its off-state displays what looks like an unfinished sketch of a globe in a few of the mellow colours.

So far so good, let’s look at the optional items next.

 

The CASE for a CASE

I like all my small electronics to come with a case.
Extra protection and extra grippiness (yep, there is that word again!)

And sometimes extra functionality.
When I shut my Kobo or phone case, the screen goes off.
Pleased to see this is the case with this case as well.

It is clear from the indentations (to accommodate the buttons), how the unit should be placed.

You can feel the satisfying pull of the hidden magnetic strip that securely holds the unit in place.

The case has a velvety feel with that anti-scratch microfiber lining on the inside and a faux leather outside.
Two colours available: beige or grey.
The beige case has a pen loop for the stylus.

The cases add a bit of bulk to the unit but only about 100g of additional weight.

 

The InkSense Stylus

For note taking and creating sketches when inspiration hits you, this stylus pen is a valuable addition.

The pen has some serious capabilities: over 4000 levels of pressure sensitivity and a Multi-Function Side Button.

It’s solidly carried by the pen loop on the case, easily held in the hand and only 12 grams.

There’s a teeny Li-ON battery on board – just 65mAh – which can be charged with the same USB-C cable.

The side button can be used for switching between tools or as an eraser.

 

Using the BOOX Go Color 7 (Gen II)

After a quick recharge (the unit arrived with battery nearly full), a firmware update and loading a few books, the fun began.

How to navigate?
How to adjust the display brightness?
And where can I choose from different fonts?

The normal stuff, but, because there was no useful Manual with the unit, it was trial and error.

Finally found a web page with some pointers but I would suggest either a clear printer leaflet on the basics or a Manual that pops right up as the first book.

There are some manuals under the Settings tab, but none are specific to the Go Color 7 (Gen II).

Still useful in the main.

The page turning buttons can be reversed but also used for a host of different functions by a long press.

The BOOX Book Store has some out-of-copyright classics to start off with.

One of these is Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”.

Well, that doesn’t apply to the Go Color 7 (Gen II).

There’s a lot of functionality in there, some useful, some fancy, some in the “glad I found that in the manual” category.

Such as AI Read which can summarise a whole book for you to see if you really want to read it.
And Translate if you come across some words you don’t recognise.

Being an Android device, you have all the goodies from that platform, and you can download other apps to your heart’s content.

However, you gotta remember that the E-Ink screen is optimised for reading text, not for videos or web browsing.

Did I mention yet that all the document formats in the world are supported?
Well, at least about 20 of the main ones plus all the main image formats!

You can adjust the refresh rate for the occasional browsing or watching but it’s not optimal.

Same with the colour rendering.
BOOX likes to call them mellow, which sounds better than calling them pale.

Still, they can be functional in illustrations or with highlighting.

 

Let’s Play with the Stylus InkSense

The Go Color 7 (Gen II) has something which makes it much more than just another e-reader: an impressive suite of notetaking and graphical capabilities.

And this stylus knows how to make good use of them.

Currently, only the BOOX Go series are compatible with this particular InkSense stylus.

There is a slew of templates to choose from if you want to take notes and the ability to organise them into folders.

There’s also a function called AI Smart Scribe which lets you draw perfectly straight lines or perfectly round circles.

If you compare the ease of pen and paper with the writing on glass with a metal tipped stylus, it’s not the same experience.

The stylus has an ever so slight delay which you can get used too very quickly.

Having finished the Discovery Phase, I adjusted the cool front light to a warmer luminescence and increased the font size somewhat and started reading…

Two Hours Later….

And then two weeks later it became time to summarise my findings.

 

To Read or Not to Read?

Just another title of ShakesBeard?
No, but to read on the Go Color 7 (Gen II)?
That’s the question.

It’s very personal.

If you have a need for some colour in your reading, like magazines or graphical novels, sure.
Otherwise, the monochrome Go 7 would be the better and slightly cheaper option.

If you are an avid note taker or student or a budding graphical artist, the optional stylus is a great addition.

Battery life is not as good compared to a unit that only is used for reading and where the hardware requirements are not as high spec as with this unit.

Let’s talk money.

The ONYX BOOX Go Color 7 (Gen II) sits right in the sweet spot for these devices in the 7” format.
The unit costs $439 and the optional InkSense Stylus is $69. The cases are just 45 bucks.

All in all, the BOOX Go Color 7 (Gen II) is indeed a Mighty Little E-Reader!

You can find all the info about this unit and buy it here.

They currently have a 50% discount on any accessories that you bundle with any BOOX reader. Use coupon code 50_BOOX_ACC.

There’s also the Amazon option for the same price, but which helps support our website.