Boox, the maker of a number of the greatest ereaders and E Ink writing tablets, has simply introduced its first ever shade PC monitor. Known as the Boox Mira Professional, it makes use of a 25.3-inch E Ink Kaleido 3 show that emulates the look of paper – a display know-how that’s already in use in a number of widespread ereaders, together with the Kindle Colorsoft and the Kobo Libra Color.
Like ereaders, the Mira Professional is entrance lit relatively than having backlighting like on LCD screens, with the flexibility to regulate each brightness and the sunshine temperature (heat or chilly). There’s additionally a devoted refresh button to reduce ghosting which generally is a main drawback on e-paper shows. This paper-like panel may even cut back reflections and glare.
To bolster its monitor credentials, the Mira Professional additionally contains a pair of built-in audio system and 5 ports, together with USB-C, HDMI, mini HDMI and DisplayPort. You can too get a Mira Professional model to help the working system you utilize, whether or not that’s Home windows, Mac or Linux.
That’s about it for the Mira Professional’s most important credentials, which is basically a shade model of the black-and-white Boox Mira that was launched in 2023.
A simple learn
I’m an enormous proponent of ereaders due to the E Ink screens they use, whether or not in grayscale or shade. For avid readers like me, they’re ‘easy on the eyes’, permitting you to learn proper till bedtime. So wouldn’t it’s good if there was a succesful E Ink PC monitor that didn’t pressure the eyes as a lot for the roughly eight hours I spend working?
As a photographer, I wouldn’t use an E Ink display to edit my photographs as the colours could be too mushy and unsaturated, however I can completely see it becoming into my workflow within the workplace, which is predominantly as an editor of articles for TechRadar. It could exchange the getting old 24-inch Dell monitor I at the moment have arrange within the vertical orientation particularly for enhancing articles as a result of it has main viewing-angle points.
Checking drafts written in a Google Doc by one of many writers on my crew could be unbelievable on an E Ink show. I’ve already tried doing so on an E Ink display, albeit on the 10-inch one on the Boox Go 10.3 because it permits me to log into my Google Drive account. Nevertheless, it’s not the best system to sort on (and I can’t write on Google Docs on it), so a devoted monitor that seamlessly connects with my MacBook and different peripherals could be good certainly.
Received any spare change?
It’s the restricted use of an E Ink show that has me questioning its launch worth of $1,899.99 / AU$2, 499 (about £1,400). I’m additionally a little bit involved with how nicely the E Ink Kaleido 3 show on the Mira Professional may need been optimized to show the 4,096 colours in its palette.
Whereas shade Boox ereaders are good – and I’ve examined lots of them – I feel Kobo has executed a greater job of creating full use of the Kaleido 3 tech. So whereas the Mira Professional could be simply sufficient for my particular use case, I believe different customers would discover it missing.
Furthermore, primarily based on my earlier expertise with Boox ereaders (shade or monochrome), the corporate hasn’t at all times been in a position to decrease ghosting – besides on the Boox Palma – regardless of providing a number of refresh charges that may be utilized on a per-application foundation. Would the refresh button be any higher? Properly, I can’t say for certain as I’ve not tried both the Mira or the Mira Professional.
As excessive as the worth may appear, notably considering the constraints of such a display, it does appear to be kinda, sorta on par with ereader costs. For instance, 10-inch monochrome E Ink writing tablets just like the 2024 Kindle Scribe and the reMarkable 2 promote for upwards of $400 / £370 / AU$600, whereas the colour reMarkable Paper Professional (which makes use of a customized model of the newer E Ink Gallery 3 know-how) will set you again $579 / £559 / AU$929 with the fundamental Marker. Extrapolate these costs for a 25-inch show and throw in the price of the stand and I can see why it’s priced so excessive.
And clients within the US might want to additionally take into accounts any potential tariffs, so anticipate to pay greater than the listed launch worth.
Regardless of the excessive worth, I’d be very excited to have one thing like that on my desk.
