Onyx Boox + Obsidian Appreciation Theme

@EleanorKonik asked me to make a thread with images and videos that I shared on the Discord where I used onyx boox.

I have videos in discord, but can’t upload them here.

Images of me handwriting into my vault (boox pdf reader alongside obsidian)


Me using a text replacement app to easily create [[link to note]] → these get moved to zotero, exported as markdown and added to my vault

I customized my boox by getting a better pen and adding a magnet to the back

Everyone else feel free to share their boox stuff!

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This is very cool. I was going for a similar setup. I use a Boox Note 2, and my written text gets entered twice into the editor. Do you have this problem?

I suspect it’s related to this codemirror bug: Android (Boox): Autocorrect appends instead of replacing · Issue #467 · codemirror/codemirror.next · GitHub

Can you post the Discord links to the videos here?

How do you get around the dark UI being unreadable? I can’t really see anything on my Boox Note Air …

It’s worth trying the settings suggested here. I need dark themes usually, but they are impossible on the Boox afaics.
I’ve not cracked the font problem, but I’ve not really tried either.

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light theme works fine for me. I need to set the Boox mode to the fastest mode (with lowest graphic quality) which is still slow but at least manageable.

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How happy are you Boox users with …

  • the display quality of Obsidian on Boox (i.e. is it usable?)
  • Obsidian’s speed on a Boox?
  • working with a Boox in sunlight?

Has anyone of you tried if

  • Syncthing can be made to work on a Boox? (Essential for me, their Android client works good and I have all my other devices synced using that tool.)
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X-mode and then squint my way into light mode once I get Obsidian loaded.

Obsidian is definitely usable once you get past the initial startup screen (use X-mode). Obsidian’s speed is fine but the Boox takes kind of forever to start up / turn on so I don’t find myself reaching for it much. Syncthing works fine I’m pretty sure. The Boox works okay in sunlight but isn’t as good as the Oasis I think.

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Thanks for the info!

Lots of people talking about the takes forever to start thing. I think this is due to the very short default timeout for automatically turning it off completely. It’s perfectly fine to just put it to sleep, and it starts immediately.

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startup definitely takes awhile, but recommend turning off the “deep sleep” mode or whatever (or setting it for 3 days or a week if I remember the options right). I just use the screen off after 15m option.

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I finally found this setting and the one that makes the font less horribly bloopy and things are definitely better now on that end.

The codemirror bug is still annoying but the new plugin to clean up single breaks has made things a LOT nicer so I’ve started using my boox more.

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i get mine back from repair later this week so I’ll try to play around with some other ideas!

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I am currently considering the new Boox Air 2 and would love your honest views - is the Obsidian / Boox integration (e.g. using handwriting) good enough that you’d recommend it? The intention behind buying the device would be to:

  • Replace the Kindle
  • Take Obsidian on the road (i.e. being able to take phone calls while holding this device and scribbling down notes into my vault)

Smooth two way sync and plugin compatibility would be fairly essential to me. Curious to hear your thoughts!

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I also recently bought note air 2, and playing with it to get obsidian mobile working.

Any idea what is the best theme for e-ink screen?

I took my boox to Worldcon and it was … really awesome. I didn’t write directly into my vault, I wrote PDFs (because of speed) but I dropped the PDFs right into my vault where I was able to transcribe them easily once I got home.

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Ok, I need some real talk regarding the Boox devices.

I’m thinking about pulling the trigger on a Boox Nova Air C. I’m a heavy iPad user and deep into the Apple ecosystem, but I love the e-ink on my Kindle Oasis for reading and I’ve been keeping an eye on Boox devices as they intrigue me.

I’ve been looking for a device for ages that I can use casually in the evenings that isn’t as stimulating as the iPad or iPhone and is a bit kinder to the eyes and brain.

Coming from using an iPad for Obsidian, email, reading twitter, reddit, news, and articles I’ve saved for reading later. I’m wondering if I’ll find the Boox slow and frustrating.

I know it’s going to be useless for watching video, but I’m interested in hearing about how people use these e-ink devices aside from reading books which my Kindle has covered.

Very interested in reading about experiences with the device.

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Use it just like an Android tablet. Obsidian works well with it and you can change “modes” if you want it faster (with slightly less visual quality - I don’t notice it really) or normal high quality mode (which is slower than a tablet, but only a second or so).

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