BOOX Note Air5 C: Specs, Features, Pros & Cons
BOOX kept the Note Air5 C on sale after the Note Air6 C arrived in September 2026, at a lower list price. The two share a screen, a pen, a battery and a body. What the older model keeps is Android 15, Bluetooth 5.1 and the octa-core processor BOOX shipped with it in October 2025.
It is a 10.3-inch color E Ink notebook with Google Play, so reading apps from Kindle, Kobo and Libby install next to BOOX's NeoReader and note software. Most of those apps were drawn for screens that redraw many times a second. BOOX's refresh modes run from a sharp HD setting to faster, rougher ones, and you pick one for each app.
Color comes from a Kaleido 3 filter over a monochrome panel. BOOX lists text at 300 ppi and color at 150 ppi, so a highlight or a chart is drawn on a grid half as fine as the type beside it. The front light shifts between warm and cold, and the power button reads a fingerprint. Two speakers and a microphone are built in, and headphones go into the USB-C port, which doubles as the audio jack.
The hardware is arranged around the Pen3 that comes in the standard box. Flat glass covers the panel, the pen registers 4,096 pressure levels, and a split screen puts a document beside a notebook page for annotation. Notes sync to a free 10 GB Onyx cloud account that BOOX gives every owner. A magnetic keyboard cover attaches through the contact pins on the back and is sold separately, in the same version BOOX sells for the Note Air6 C.
Category strengths
Where the BOOX Note Air5 C beats the median
- Much more RAM ?6 GB vs 4 GB (median)
- A higher android version ?15 vs 12 (median)
Where the BOOX Note Air5 C trails the median
- A slightly heavier build ?440 g vs 430 g (median)
How this VS Score was computed
Score 65: each known spec is measured against the median of E Ink note e ink tablets (13 products), then weighted. 54% of the scoreable weight could be used. See how we score
| Specification | This product | Cohort median | Score weight | Points moved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front light | Yes | 69% of the class have it | 1 | +50.0 |
| Color display | Yes | 54% of the class have it | 0.7 | +35.0 |
| Adjustable warm light | Yes | 69% of the class have it | 0.7 | +35.0 |
| RAM | 6 | 4 | 1 | +25.0 |
| Expandable storage (microSD) | Yes | 58% of the class have it | 0.5 | +25.0 |
| Biometric unlock | Yes | 75% of the class have it | 0.2 | +10.0 |
| Android version | 15 | 12 | 0.5 | +6.5 |
| Weight | 440 | 430 | 1.5 | −1.5 |
| Screen size | 10.3 | 10.3 | 1.5 | +0.0 |
| Pixel density | 300 | 300 | 1.5 | +0.0 |
| Pen pressure levels | 4,096 | 4,096 | 0.7 | +0.0 |
| Internal storage | 64 | 64 | 0.7 | +0.0 |
| Battery capacity | 3,700 | 3,700 | 1.5 | +0.0 |
| Thickness | 5.8 | 5.8 | 0.7 | +0.0 |
Not scored: Resolution (one resolution dimension is not a sharpness measure; pixel density is scored instead); Fast refresh modes (standard for the class (100% have it)); Stylus included (standard for the class (92% have it)); Pen latency (unknown: not scored); Palm rejection (unknown: not scored); Handwriting recognition (unknown: not scored); Pen eraser (unknown: not scored); App store (standard for the class (100% have it)); Cloud sync (standard for the class (100% have it)); Subscription required (unknown: not scored); Screen mirroring (unknown: not scored); Split-screen (standard for the class (100% have it)); Battery life (weeks) (unknown: not scored); Charge time (unknown: not scored); USB-C (standard for the class (100% have it)); Bluetooth (standard for the class (100% have it)); 5 GHz Wi-Fi support (unknown: not scored); Keyboard support (standard for the class (100% have it)); Speakers (standard for the class (100% have it)); Microphone (standard for the class (100% have it)); Rear camera (unknown: not scored).
Editor’s note
Kobo's Libra Colour is the cheaper way into color E Ink with a pen, and it shows what the extra money here pays for. The Kobo has a 7-inch screen, Kobo's store and notebooks, and a stylus sold separately. The Note Air5 C adds a page large enough for a PDF, the pen in the box and the whole Play Store.
Viwoods' AiPaper is the closer Android rival, with Google Play and a pen in the box as well. It drops color and the front light entirely, which keeps it lighter at 370 g and confines it to daylight and a desk lamp.
Every app from the Play Store needs its refresh mode chosen, and an app that scrolls or animates looks rough in the faster modes. I'd rather have that choice than a locked device, but it is an evening of configuration that a Kobo or a reMarkable never asks for.
The cell has to run Android, the front light and Wi-Fi, and BOOX gives no runtime for this model. Kobo rates the Libra Colour at up to 40 days with half an hour of reading a day, a promise nothing in BOOX's paperwork matches.
BOOX's comparison table puts the Note Air5 C at about 440 g, more than twice the Kobo's weight. That matters most to the reader it suits least, someone who wanted a color screen for novels in bed and now holds a 10-inch tablet over the pillow.
Specifications
Display
Writing
Software
Performance
Battery
Connectivity
Design
Sources and verification
Where the specifications come from
- Official product pageshop.boox.com
Verification
- First published
- Specifications last checked
- Sheet completeness
- 28 of 41 specifications verified; the rest show as Unknown and are never estimated or scored
- Page type
- Product specification page — Compiled from the manufacturer’s published specifications and the cited sources; this is not a hands-on test.
- Basis
- Research-based: specifications and editorial text were compiled from the documents listed here and the manufacturer’s published data. We have not tested this unit ourselves; where independent measurements are mentioned they belong to the linked publication.
E Ink Tablets with similar specs to the BOOX Note Air5 C
Ratings & reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to share your experience.
The bottom line
The BOOX Note Air5 C earns a VS Score of 65, above the median of the 13 E Ink note e ink tablets it is measured against (a score of 50 is level with that median).
- Who it’s for
- Students and professionals who annotate as they read (long PDFs, papers, contracts) and want the marked-up copy and the reading copy on one device, at less than the Note Air6 C costs.
- Who should look elsewhere
- Anyone who mainly reads novels, and anyone who wants a closed, distraction-free writing slate like the reMarkable Paper Pro. This is a large Android tablet that expects you to set it up.
- The trade-off that matters
- The lower price buys the older Android version and an update promise that ends sooner. BOOX commits to more than three years of firmware from launch, which runs to October 2028 here, eleven months before the Note Air6 C's.
- The main alternative
- BOOX Note Air6 C: the same screen, pen and battery with Android 16 and a newer processor, for a higher list price.
This page was created with the help of AI. How we work
