Boox Tab X Review

Regular readers will find that my review of the Boox Tab X is shorter and less detailed than my other reviews.

This is because I bought my Tab X when I first started taking this website (eWritable) seriously, and sadly had to sell it a few months later to cover the costs of more tablets to review. It was a choice between selling the Tab X or the Tab Ultra, and I chose the Tab X because I could get more money for it and I also had another 13″ Boox tablet (the Max Lumi2). In hindsight, I should have perhaps sold the Lumi2 instead.

As well as a lack of depth in this article, due to my lack of experience there are also no photos and no performance/battery tests.

Design & Build

The Boox Tab X has a large 13.3″ screen (around A4-sized) and, as such, has a larger footprint than more widely available 10.3″ (A5-sized) tablets.

The Boox Tab X is a 13.3″ (A4-sized) e-ink tablet and is arguably the best of only a handful of e-ink tablets with this screen size.

The Boox Tab X has a metal casing and plastic screen (with a very thin layer of glass over the top). There is some slight flexibility to the tablet which is quite reassuring because you feel that if it is put under any strain, it is likely to bend rather than break (in comparison to some ‘stiffer‘ e-ink tablets like the remarkable 2).

The metal is quite cold to the touch, but the edges and corners have been rounded, and the weight seems to have been distributed more toward the bottom of the device, so it feels quite comfortable to hold.

Because of the larger screen, the footprint of the tablet is bigger than the more popular 10.3″ screen size, so it does take up significantly more space. It is also quite weighty at 560g, but this is to be expected from a larger e-ink tablet.

On the top-right edge is the power button and the USB-C port is located just to the left-of-centre on the bottom edge. At the bottom of the rear panel are the dual speaker grilles.

Other than the power button, there are no other physical buttons, which comes as a relief because I was forever accidentally leaning on the Home button on the Max Lumi2 (located on the lower bezel).

It is difficult to pick any fault with the design and build of the Boox Tab X. It is comfortable to hold, even though it is a bit heavy (but the weight is reasonable for the screen size). It’s flexibility makes it feel very durable and unlikely to break very easily (although, of course, that does not mean it can be handled roughly).

Hardware Specs

The Boox Tab X boasts some pretty decent hardware specs.

It has a 1.8GHz octa-core CPU with 6Gb of memory and a whopping 128GB of storage space. This should easily cater for most user’s e-book libraries and notebooks.

In addition, there’s a graphics processor (GPU), which is used to run Boox’s proprietary Super Refresh technology (BSR). Essentially, this means that third-party apps can be configured to run at faster refresh rates than e-ink screens were originally designed for, which can make tasks like web browsing on e-ink a more pleasant experience.

Using the Geekbench 6 CPU benchmarking app, the Tab X scored 328 in the single-core test and 1169 in the multi-core test. When it was first released in 2023, the Tab X was one of the top performers (and is still exceedingly good), however, since this time, it has been overtaken by other products.

Overall, the Tab X has a lot of power capabilities and will perform well for most tasks asked of it (of course, this is within the context of e-ink tablets, which do not have the same level of performance as tablets with conventional LCD/LED screens).

Screen

The screen is monochrome Mobius Carta 1250. The ‘Mobius‘ part of the name indicates that the e-ink screen has a plastic backplane, as opposed to the more traditional glass build. This means that it is more flexible (as I pointed out in the Design & Build section above) and so has a bit more of a tolerance to physical strain (such as bending) before it breaks.

The screen size is 13.3″, and it has a resolution of 1650 x 2200. Because of the larger screen, the pixel density is slightly lower (207PPI) than 10.3″ tablets (usually 227PPI but newer tablets have 300PPI). For me, this density reduction is noticeable, but just barely – with nothing to compare it to, I don’t think it would be an issue for most people.

A NOTE ABOUT 13.3″ E-INK SCREENS: Whilst 13.3″ (approx A4-sized) e-ink tablets are much less popular (primarily because they are much more expensive than their 10.3″ counterparts), they do have a distinct advantage for those the read a lot of PDFs (such as research papers and technical manuals). This is because many PDFs are designed with an A4 sheet of paper in mind, so squishing them onto an A5 screen can reduce the size of the font and make them difficult to read comfortable. It is possible to read PDFs on smaller screens, but you may find that you are having to zoom in and out a lot or configure the reading software to display half a page at a time. Other advantages of 13.3″ screens are that you have a bigger canvas for taking notes and can display two documents side-by-side in split-screen mode.

Around the screen are three thin bezels, with a thicker bezel on the bottom. Incidentally, the Tab X has a G-Sensor, which rotates the screen based on its physical orientation, so you can turn it upside-down and have the thicker bezel at the top, if you prefer. The screen is flush with the bezels.

In addition, the Tab X has a frontlight with temperature adjustment (to give it a reddish hue which can be more comfortable for night-time reading).

I will cover the tactile writing feel below, but I should mention here that there is no textured film on the screen that gives a paper-like scratchy writing experience. There is some resistance (it is not as slippery as the Boox Tab Ultra C Pro, for instance) but it is still quite smooth and there is no grainy texture.

There’s a Wacom EMR layer (the industry standard for digital writing), which means you can use any Wacom-compatible stylus. And it is also capacitive (touchscreen), so you can navigate around the system without the stylus.

Writing Feel

As stated earlier, the Tab X does not have the paper-like screen protector that is fitted to some of Boox’s other products, which means that the writing feel is smoother and has less friction. For me, this results in a less-satisfying writing experience because there is less resistance and I don’t get the scratchy, raspy audible feedback that I really enjoy.

I had no issues with lag latency, but there is a tiny gap between where you write on the screen and where the strokes appear, almost as if you are writing a millimetre or so under the screen rather than on the surface. This is a drawback of e-ink tablets that have a frontlight layer but will not be an issue for everybody. It did lessen the pleasure of writing for me because I felt that my writing was not as precise as I wanted it to be.

Overall, I would describe the writing experience as ‘okay’ – there are plenty of tablets that are better in this regard (Supernote, reMarkable, Kindle, and even other Boox’s), but there are also plenty that are worse (Kobo, Meebook etc.).

Hardware Features

There are also dual speakers (they’re not amazing quality but are good enough) and a microphone (for recording voice notes). You can connect your own Bluetooth speakers (similarly, you can connect to other Bluetooth devices, such as headphones, keyboard and mouse). There’s also Wi-fi support (2.4GHz + 5GHz) and Bluetooth. And, as previously mentioned, there’s a G-Sensor (for auto-orientation).

In summary, the Tab X is a very capable e-ink tablet and (at the time of writing) it is the most powerful and versatile 13.3″ e-ink tablet on the market.

Battery

The Tab X has a 6300mAh battery.

Although this is higher capacity than most e-ink tablets, it must be remembered that it has a lot of work to do. The larger screen means more LEDs for the frontlight and it has a powerful processor, which will both draw more power. But the big battery-drainer is the dedicated GPU/BSR. Whilst this provides much faster refresh rates for third-party apps, it is very power-hungry.

I haven’t conducted battery life tests with the Boox Tab X (and no longer have a unit to do the test), but I estimate it would last 2-3 days before needing a recharge.

Stylus/Pen

The Wacom-compatible stylus that ships with the Tab X is the Boox Pen2 Pro. This is Boox’s premium Pen, which only ships with their premium products.

It is made of plastic and is almost cylindrical, apart from a single flat edge where it magnetically snaps to the tablet. The magnetic connection holds the stylus fairly well but it will fall off with a shake – the magnetic flap on the cover is designed to keep it in place more securely when transporting.

It is quite smooth, but the plastic material that has been used does provide a pretty decent grip. There are no customizable buttons on the shaft.

The nibs wear down over time but can be replaced by simply pulling them out and inserting a new one – a box of five replacement tips and a removal tool are provided with the tablet. How often you will need to replace the nibs depends on usage, but typically you will get several months of writing before swapping them out. Frayed nibs can also be sandpapered down to get a little more life out of them.

Overall, it functions really well as a stylus. It is lightweight and is comfortable to hold and write with for long periods. It feels a bit cheap but it performs its core function perfectly. It’s not the best stylus, but it’s certainly not the worst, either.

Software

My review of this tablet should be read in conjunction with my review of the current firmware (see table below), which includes aspects such as the Operating System, User Interface, and Native Apps.

The hardware and software reviews have been separated because the firmware used at the time that this review was written may not be the same firmware being used currently. This could result in the review quickly becoming outdated. Also, as several tablets may use the same firmware, this would mean going back and updating every single tablet review from a particular manufacturer to account for the new firmware. By splitting them up, if there is a firmware update, I am able to make the updates on a single page.

Current versions of this brand’s firmware are shown in the table below, along with the tablets running them.

My rating	Firmware version	Tablets using this firmware
	4.1 (current version) Aug 2025	Boox Go 10.3 Boox Note Air5 C Boox Palma 2 Pro Boox Note Air3 Boox Note Air4 C Boox Note Air3 C Boox Go 7 Boox Go Color 7
	4.0 (current version) Oct 2024	Boox Note Max Boox Tab Ultra C Pro Boox Tab X Boox Tab X C Boox Tab Mini C Boox Tab Ultra Boox Max Lumi 2 Boox Tab Ultra C Boox Note Air2 Plus Boox Note 5
Older Boox firmware versions may be found here

Brand

For some people, it is also worth considering the brand as a whole, including aspects like customer service, ecosystem, values, and criticisms.

My full overview of the Boox brand can be found here, but I have provided a summary below.

Final Verdict

If you are looking for a 13.3″ e-ink tablet, there are not a lot of choices available, however, the Boox Tab X is a really good choice (and – in my view – the only realistic choice). Other options include the Fujitsu Quaderno A4 (which does not have a frontlight and both hardware and software are far less capable) and an older second-hand Boox (such as the Max Lumi2, Max Lumi, or Max3).

But even though choices are limited, the Tab X is still a thoroughly decent e-ink tablet. It is not the best by default in the 13.3″ category just because there isn’t really any competition – it is a great e-ink tablet across all categories. The larger screen, powerful CPU and GPU, RAM and storage capacity, Boox Super Refresh, frontlight, Android (with Google Play Store), and Boox’s fantastic native reading and note-taking software all contribute to a very competent e-ink tablet, which would probably be much more competitive with smaller-screened products if it weren’t for it’s high price and bigger footprint.

At over $800, it is very expensive, and will not fit into many users’ budgets (which is why the 10.3″ category is much more popular). I would recommend only buying the Tab X if you can justify the additional cost of the larger screen. If you are working with a lot of PDFs that are designed to be read in A4 or need a larger canvas for your notes, then the Tab X is a great choice, but remember that you can do everything the Boox Tab X can do (and sometimes even more) on a smaller 10.3″ Boox tablet.

For example, the Boox Note Air3 is 50% cheaper and runs pretty much the same software, whilst also having support for MicroSD and a paper-like screen protector for a better writing feel. It doesn’t have an onboard GPU and Boox Super Refresh, but for $100 more, the Note Air4 C does (and it also has a colour screen).

The bottom line is that whilst the Tab X is a fantastic device, it is also very pricey. The larger screen makes a massive difference to reading PDFs (or viewing other documents/apps at an A4 size) but if you are unlikely to use this functionality frequently, a smaller (more affordable) 10.3″ tablet would probably be a smarter choice.

Boox Tab X Specs