The Bigme InkNote X Color is an absolute beast in the guise of an E Ink Android tablet. It has got the specs that leave the competition in the dust. That’s at least on paper, it must be said. Or, are things different in the real world? Let’s find out in this review.
Style and build
The InkNote X Color does not break any new ground with the way it looks and feels. There is the usual narrow bezelled body done up in black which contrasts nicely with the gunmetal finish for the left spine, something that seems to have been borrowed from Guoyue, Bigme’s affordable device segment. Build quality is par for the course. There is an array of quad mic systems on the top along with the Power button with an integrated fingerprint sensor on the top left. On the right edge lies the stylus charging point while at the bottom lies the USB-C port and the microSD card slot. On the left lies the dual speaker system. There is also the front cam for video calls while the AI-enabled camera on the rear will let you scan documents.
Software and User Interface
It should be familiar stuff for anyone who has used a Bigme device before. It basically is the same user interface and that’s always what it should be. Swipe down from the top and you have the usual set of options. Those include Bluetooth and Wireless while sitting below it is the bunch of keys. Those include E Ink center, Global handwriting, Split screen, Process management, Screenshots, Speed up, Record screen, Screen rotation, Airplane mode, Touch, Power management, and Settings.
Below it lies the cool and warm light settings though there also are a few presets such as Lights Out, Daytime, Night, Bedding, and Other. It is the latter that lets you have your custom light setting where you get to individually set the warm and cool light tones as per your preferences.
At the bottom lies the volume control.
The device runs Android 13 which is the best you can have on an e-note. Google Play comes pre-installed, which means you can always have the app that you need. There is no need to sideload any app. Another highlight of the device is that it comes integrated with ChatGPT. That way, you can get your queries answered or have stories, essays, and compositions written. It will also draw images using the prompts that you provide.
Bigme also offers the most extensive Settings options that you have on any E Ink device. It lets you have control of practically every aspect of the device. Special mention must be made about the gesture controls that the device will let you set up so that actions like swiping up or down and swiping from left or light will let you accomplish different actions. Needless to say, this adds to user convenience.
While most other options are self-descriptive, you might want to know specifically about the E Ink Center. It’s the one place from where the e-note derives its character from. There are a few pre-set options to choose from, those being Default, Magazine, Comic, Video, and Custom.
With the refresh mode, you can choose between HD256, Regal, Normal(fast), and Extreme. The latter should be akin to the Ludicrous mode – to borrow from the Tesla vocabulary. As you might have guessed already, these are what can be said speed modes ranging from the slowest to the fastest.
Thereafter, you have slider controls for Contrast, Vivid enhancement (which however is not applicable for fast and extreme modes), and Color brightness.
At the bottom is the control for Full Refresh Frequency.
Opting for any of the presets will make the controls to be set to their default settings. For instance, if you opt for the Video setting, the refresh rate is automatically set to Extreme and every other control except Full Refresh Frequency gets locked out. It is only after you select Custom that you can set the controls as per your wish.
Then there are also toggle switches for Auto Clean and Anti Shake. Of these, the Anti Shake feature is a nice new addition to the screen refresh scheme of things and is essentially an AI-assisted anti-ghosting feature. To put it differently, Bigme has introduced some AI bits in the operating system itself to ensure ghosting is reduced to the minimum, to the point that it is almost non-existent.
Performance
It is a powerhouse of a device, so much so that merely referring to it as an e-reader would be grossly undermining its capabilities. Rather, the tablet ventures out and also flourishes in a segment where most other E Ink tablets would simply fizzle out, that of video playback. It in fact comes with four speed modes and when set at the highest refresh rate, you have the smoothest and most stable video playback ever seen on any E Ink device. You might want to skip out on your regular tablet if you see how the InkNote X Color performs. Colors might be a little washed out as is normal with e-paper displays but beyond that, video playback on the InkNote X Color is easily the best. For those who’d prefer figures and facts, the device comes with a 2.4 GHz MediaTek Dimensity 900 octa-core processor coupled to 6 gigs of memory and 128 GB of storage, of which, 100 GB is available to the user.
Note-taking
As already stated, outright speed happens to be one of the biggest positives with the InkNote X Color. The same gets reflected with the pen input as well. Things are as accurate and precise as it can be. Almost every aspect of writing can be customized, be it the line width, line color, pen type, brush strokes, and whatnot.
Then there are plenty of features available that make note-taking both a wholesome and satisfying experience. There is the lasso tool available while you can also mark out an area on the display to erase things from that portion. You have canvas expansion options, templates, layers, and so on.
There are also share and export options too. You can share your files in PDF or PNG form while there also is the option to transfer your content to QR codes which the recipient can then scan to retrieve your files. You can also share things directly via apps such as Gmail and such which makes for another convenient sharing option.
Scanning documents
That is one of the primary reasons the rear AI camera is for. All you have to do is focus the camera on a document and select OCR. The device takes over from there. You have an excerpt of the document on your device which you can translate to the desired language. You can cut, copy, and paste the texts or share and export the same. You can also convert them to PDF or TXT files. There is also the option to write notes directly on the page as well.
Conclusion
It doesn’t seem to get any faster than this. The Bigme guys overseeing the InkNote X Color have implemented an overlaying AI algorithm to the operating system that refines the refresh constantly, based on how you’re using it. Not only that, they have anti-ghosting toggles, and anti-shake toggles, to make it the smoothest possible experience
Other than that, it’s much the same as the other units, except they are using GUOYUE colors (black on black) instead of Bigme colors (grey on black)
This is Bigme’s exact quoting for the selling points:
- CPU: MediaTek Dimensity 900 Octa-core 2.4GHz (Key point)
- Android 13 OS
- Storage : 6 GB + 128 GB
- Dual camera
- Bigme xRapid fast refresh technology, makes the ghosting minimum.
- Bigme xColor Color management algorithm, the display is clearer, the colors are enhanced and brighter, and the color contrast, brightness, and text blackness are comprehensively improved, making the experience more comfortable and enjoyable.
- Auto ghosting elimination
Other than the fact that this is $767, I would rate it pretty high honestly. It is wickedly fast and has Android 13.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
