BOOX Go Color 7 (Gen II) After 2 Years of Use | All My Reading, Done on This One Device

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My reading is mostly manga and novels. As I began buying more and more ebooks, I ran into a problem: my books ended up scattered across multiple bookstores. Books I had snapped up in sales were sitting in one app or another, and I would catch myself thinking, "Where did I buy that book again?" The device that almost completely solved this problem is the color E Ink reader, the "BOOX Go Color 7 (Gen II)". It has been about two years since I started using it, and by now all of my reading is done on this one device alone — I carry it with me all the time.

Why "everything on this one device" works

BOOX E Ink readers run Android, so you can install each bookstore's app and use it as-is. I use several bookstores — I am a heavy user of ebookjapan in particular, and I also use Kindle. A store's dedicated reader can normally only read that store's books, but with this device, every book you have bought can be gathered here, regardless of store. Having "one single place where your reading lives" may sound like a modest thing, but it is the point that has worked best for me across two years of continued use.

The basics

The BOOX Go Color 7 (Gen II) is a reading device with a 7-inch color E Ink display. The one I use is the color version; I chose it because I read both manga and novels. Detailed specifications and prices change depending on the timing and the retailer, so please check the latest information on the sales page.

The color "mutedness," and how to live with it

The first point that bothered me is the muted look of the color display. Other users often say the same thing: by its very nature, color E Ink tends to make colors look a little dull. Set beside a monochrome-only model, the monochrome one is sharper in the crispness of text and images, and there are moments when I feel that, for the act of "reading" alone, I might prefer monochrome.

Even so, I am glad I chose the color version, because things like the color pages in manga magazines can be read in color, just as they are. It would honestly feel a bit sad if covers and opening color pages were reduced to black and white. The colors are muted, but the value of "being able to tell the colors" is large, and for me — someone who reads both manga and novels — the balance of the color version was right. If you expect vividness on a par with a smartphone or tablet, you will be let down, so an expectation level along the lines of "readable is enough — and on top of that, I get to enjoy color too" is just right, I think.

The fun of tweaking settings — and the effort

With this device, you can adjust the optimal display settings for each app. For example, manga and novels each read better with different refresh (screen redraw) settings, so you can build the best state app by app. This process of "tuning it to fit your own way of reading" is an enjoyable time for a gadget lover. And since changing the settings themselves is easy, I personally have not found it a burden.

That said, the flip side is that this is not a device that is "in its best state straight out of the box, without any thinking." There must be people who find fiddling with settings for each app a hassle, and that is where it divides people. For those who do not mind tweaking settings, it becomes a companion you can stay with for a long time.

Carrying it around, and reading at night

It is so light and thin that I carry it with me all the time. It slips into my bag so completely that I forget it is there, which naturally creates the state of "it is at hand whenever I want to read." The page-turn buttons respond well, too, and there is no tap lag to break the rhythm of reading.

Another situation where it gets a lot of use is reading after lights-out. Thanks to the light, I can read in a pitch-dark bedroom without worrying about the people around me. Reading on a smartphone tires my eyes and feels like it might affect the quality of my sleep, but an E Ink screen is calm to read on, so a few dozen minutes of reading before sleep has become a habit.

On durability

It has been about two years since I started using it, with a carry-it-everywhere style of use, and durability has not been a problem. With electronic devices, it is hardly unusual for "some sort of fault to appear after two years of use," so this is a point I can appreciate straightforwardly.

Conclusion

The BOOX Go Color 7 (Gen II) was a device that fit my way of reading perfectly: "read all the manga and novels I bought across multiple stores, on a single device." Light and thin, comfortable buttons, usable after lights-out, and still unbroken after two years. It does have the weaknesses of the muted color display and the extra step of fine-tuning settings, but even after accounting for those, the peace of mind of "all my reading is done on this one device" wins out. If your ebooks are scattered across several places, this is a device I would like you to consider first.

* Prices and stock change. Please check the latest information on the linked page before purchasing.