The Sony Digital Paper and Onyx Boox Max are two 13.3 inch e-readers that are geared towards professionals who need an E-Ink device that can read and edit PDF files and also take notes. They both offer different value propositions depending on your needs.
The Max Carta features a 13.3 inch E-Ink Carta display with a 2220×1650 and 207 PPI. The screen is not flush with the bezel like the Sony Digital Paper DPT-RP1, but has a sunken one. It is only compatible with the stylus and does not have a touchscreen. Luckily, it has manual page turn buttons that are compatible with the stock e-reader apps that are pre-installed. Underneath the hood is a Freescale IMX6 1GHZ processor, 16GB of internal storage, SD support for up to an additional 32GB and 1GB of RAM. It has WIFI, Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack and a mono speaker on the back.
The DPT-RP1 features a 13.3 inch E-Ink Carta screen with a resolution of 2200 x 1650 and 207 PPI. The screen is completely flush with the bezel and not only does this make the device have a premium feel, it also provides a ton of benefits. You can easily employ the stylus to take notes from one edge of the screen to the other, whereas the original Digital Paper had a sunken screen and was more challenging to do this.
Underneath the hood is a Marvell IAP140 64-bit Quad-core IoT Applications Processor and ARM Cortex-A53 CPU, up to 1.2GHz, and has a separate power low-power Cortex M3. It has 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory, but when you power it on the first time, there is 11 GB. The rest is reserved for the Google Android operating system and some of the stock PDF templates that are available.
Primary Differences
- The Digital Paper has a touchscreen and stylus support, the Onyx just has a stylus layer.
- The Digital Paper Stylus has a highlight and erase button, the Onyx just has an eraser.
- The Sony has graphite pen nibs and plastic ones, the Onyx just has one.
- The Onyx has a full Android experience with Google Play, the Sony has a custom Android ROM.
- Sony provides a better note taking experience than the Onyx.
- Onyx has a better e-reading experience, it supports more formats than just PDF. It has physical page turn buttons.
- The Sony is overall more robust, but has limited functionality compared to the Onyx.
- Onyx has a 3.5mm headphone jack and a mono speaker, Sony has no audio support.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
