The Onyx Boox Go 6 ($149.99) replaces the Boox Poke 5 in Onyx's lineup with a small and light design that's easy to carry with you. It is a black-and-white ereader that comes with the advantage of the Google Play Store, which gives you access to a host of third-party apps, including Amazon’s Kindle app. On the downside, it is not waterproof like some competing models, and its performance is sometimes underwhelming. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite ($149.99) is similar in size, waterproof, and has better overall performance, so it remains our Editors' Choice for small ereaders. 

Design: Downright Tiny

The Onyx Boox Go comes in a sleek, compact design. At 5.8 by 4.3 by 0.27 inches (HWD) and 5.15 ounces, it’s compact enough to stick in a purse or even some pants pockets. It is lighter than just about any other ereader, including Boox’s own phone-sized Palma (6.3 by 3.1 by 0.3 inches, 6 ounces) and the Kindle Paperwhite (6.86 by 4.91 by 0.32 inches, 7.23 ounces). It is almost identical in size and weight to the Poke 5 (5.83 by 4.25 by 0.27 inches, 5.64 ounces). 

(Credit: Sarah Lord)

The front of the ereader shares its basic design with the Poke 5 and could be the Paperwhite’s smaller sibling. Like the Paperwhite, the Go 6 has thin black bezels around the top and sides, with a slightly larger bezel on the bottom. It has the same 1,448-by-1,072-pixel resolution display as the Poke 5, with a density of 300 pixels per inch (ppi). The only difference between the two is that the Boox Go 6 uses an E Ink HD Carta 1300 display, while the Poke 5 uses an older version of the HD Carta screen. While the Paperwhite also has a 6-inch 300ppi display, the company doesn’t specify the manufacturer.

(Credit: Sarah Lord)

The Boox Go 6 has a USB-C port on the bottom for charging and transferring content, as well as a microSD card slot for additional storage, though the company doesn’t specify how much you can add. The power button is at the top right corner of the device and makes a satisfying clicking sound when pressed. 

(Credit: Sarah Lord)

Like the Poke 5, the Go 6 comes with a front light that you can adjust between warm and cool tones. I found the lighting to be much more even on the Go 6 than on the Poke 5. I was able to get a consistent, paper-like color over the entirety of the screen, though some of the lights at the bottom were slightly warmer than those at the top. It didn’t bother me, but I still prefer the front light on the Kindle Paperwhite, which is a little more consistent overall. 

Many ereaders, like the Paperwhite and the Kobo Libra Colour ($219.99), offer full IPX8 waterproof ratings, but the Go 6 doesn’t. This is particularly disappointing, given the price and the fact that this is often a standard feature on readers. It means the Go 6 isn't safe near the pool or the tub.

The Go 6 comes with a USB-C cable in the box, but you’ll need to provide your own power adapter. If you purchase the device from Boox, it comes packaged with a thin magnetic case. 

Performance: Could Be Faster

The Go 6 has a 2.0GHz octa-core processor and 2GB of RAM, which is double the cores in the Poke 5. It has the same amount of storage at 32GB.

In testing, I found the additional cores do seem to help the Go 6 function better than the Poke 5. When reading, I was able to turn pages and navigate between apps fairly quickly, though it takes longer for third-party apps to load. At first, I found page-turning in the Kindle app to be a little slow, though it seemed to speed up after reading for a while. I found the Poke 5 to be too slow for reading in third-party apps, but that is not the case with the Go 6. I happily read in the Kindle app for long periods without feeling like it was a diminished experience. Boox’s own NeoReader app is still the fastest way to read on the Go 6, where page turns happen instantaneously. 

(Credit: Sarah Lord)

Navigating the user interface is a little slow. Opening apps and making adjustments to the device takes a fraction of a second longer than I’d like. That said, the device is still usable and I noticed the lagging less over time.

The Boox Go 6 doesn’t come with a 3.5mm headphone jack, so you’ll need a pair of Bluetooth headphones if you want to listen to anything on your device. It comes with Bluetooth 5.0.

Like the Poke 5, the Go 6 has a 1,500mAh battery that should last weeks on a single charge. The battery was charged to 70% out of the box, and after more than a week of regular use, it only depleted to 44%. 

Software: A Streamlined OS

The Boox Go 6 is based on a customized version of Android 11 and Boox has done a good job making its software easier to use than it was on the Poke 5. 

There’s a row of apps at the bottom of the screen that includes your Library, where it shows all of your books; the Store, which houses a small collection of free classics; Storage, which shows how much room you have left on the device; Apps, which shows all of the apps on the Boox and is where you go to access the Google Play Store; and Settings, which includes a bunch of system-wide settings like networks, power, and firmware updates. 

(Credit: Sarah Lord)

Accessing the Google Play Store is much easier on the Go 6 than on the Poke 5. Under the Apps section, there’s an app for it preloaded on the device. All you have to do is tap and sign into your Google account. 

(Credit: Sarah Lord)

You can load books by either going to the Google Play Store and downloading your preferred bookstore, such as the Amazon Kindle app or Libby the library app, or you can download books that are free of digital rights management (DRM) software directly. The easiest way to do this is through the BooxDrop app, which allows you to connect the ereader to your computer through a secure account as long as both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. The company provides up to 10GB of free cloud storage. 

(Credit: Sarah Lord)

Reading a book downloaded this way will automatically bring up Boox’s own NeoReader app. Here, you can change just about any setting you’d like in order to get your preferred reading experience. You can change fonts, increase the line spacing, bold the letters, change the margins, and more.

Unfortunately, even Boox has boarded the AI train. The company has added a useless AI assistant to the reader app. It acts as a generic chatbot, but it couldn’t even provide a summary of the book I was reading. 

(Credit: Sarah Lord)

Swiping down from the top left of the display brings up the Control Center, where you can easily access Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, volume, front-light controls, and the E Ink center, which allows you to change the E Ink refresh modes. I never had to alter this from the default Normal refresh rate, though you might want to speed things up if you’re flipping through a lot of pages at once. 

Unfortunately, this ereader will not get an upgrade to Android 12.

Verdict: An Average Ereader

The Boox Go 6 can fit just about anywhere and is easy to carry around. We like its adjustable display, and its direct access to the Google Play Store means it is compatible with multiple reading apps and formats. This gives it a broader appeal than ereaders limited to a single store. We wish it was a little faster and waterproof. Because it offers snappier performance in a waterproof design for the same price, the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite remains our Editors' Choice.