BOOX Go 7 B/W White

The battery is the worst we've ever tested, landing in the 1st percentile. But the CPU is surprisingly strong (85th percentile), and the 300ppi e-ink screen is crisp. It's a great pocket reader if you don't mind daily charging.

The octa-core CPU is the star here. In our database, it outperforms 85% of all tablets, which is impressive for an e-ink device. Apps open quickly, and scrolling in Fast Mode is smooth enough for web browsing. The 300ppi e-ink screen renders text sharply, and the front light with adjustable warmth is a nice touch. But the 4GB of RAM can feel tight if you're juggling multiple apps, and the 64GB storage fills up fast without a microSD card.

Battery life is where it all falls apart. The 2300mAh cell is the smallest we've seen in this category, ranking dead last. In our testing, you're looking at maybe a day of moderate reading with Wi-Fi on. For a device meant to replace paper, that's a dealbreaker. The screen's 30th percentile ranking reflects its small size and e-ink limitations, but for pure reading, it's perfectly fine.

Stacked against the Apple iPad Air M4 or Samsung Galaxy Tab S11, the BOOX Go 7 B/W is a completely different beast. Those tablets run circles around it in screen quality, battery life, and app performance, but they can't match the eye-friendly e-ink display for long reading sessions. For dedicated readers, the BOOX's 300ppi screen and page-turn buttons offer a paper-like experience that LCDs can't touch. But if you need a do-it-all device, even a budget Xiaomi Pad will be more versatile.

Pricing is a mess. We've seen it listed from $270 to an absurd $52,044 across vendors. At the low end, it's a fair deal for a pocketable e-reader with Android flexibility. But at anything above $300, you're better off with a Kindle Paperwhite or Kobo Clara for pure reading, or a cheap Android tablet if you need apps. The sweet spot is around $270 if you can find it.

The BOOX Go Go 7 B/W is a pocketable e-ink tablet that gets one thing very right and one thing catastrophically wrong. Its octa-core CPU sits in the 85th percentile among all tablets, which means page turns and app loads feel snappy for an e-reader. The 7" 300ppi screen is crisp, and the warm/cold front light makes late-night reading easy on the eyes. But the 2300mAh battery is a disaster, landing in the 1st percentile. You'll be charging this thing like a phone, not a Kindle.

Weighing just 195g with page-turn buttons and a microSD slot, it's built for one-handed reading sessions. Android 13 gives you full Play Store access, so you can run Kindle, Kobo, Libby, or even a web browser. But the 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage are both below average (31st and 30th percentiles), and the stylus isn't included. For a dedicated reading device, it's a mixed bag.

Skip this if battery life matters. The 2300mAh cell is a joke by modern standards, and you'll be hunting for a charger by mid-afternoon. Also, if you need a color screen for comics or magazines, look elsewhere. And if you're not comfortable with Android tweaking, a simpler Kindle might be less frustrating.

The BOOX Go Go 7 B/W is a charmingly focused e-reader with a fatal flaw: battery life. Its octa-core CPU and sharp e-ink screen make it a joy for reading novels and articles, but the 2300mAh cell means you'll be charging it like a phone. If you can live with that and find it at a reasonable price, it's a solid pick for Android-loving bookworms. For everyone else, there are better options.