• 2 min read
Boox Go 10.3 Gen II Lumi adds a light, loses its edge
Boox’s latest 10.3-inch e-paper tablet fixes two big flaws with a frontlight and better battery life, but the new stylus hurts its core writing experience.
Image: TechRadar
A frontlight makes the Onyx Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi much easier to live with, and battery life is notably better than on the original Go 10.3. That alone turns it into a more credible Kindle Scribe rival. But according to TechRadar, Boox undercuts the upgrade by swapping in a worse pen — a serious problem for a device built around handwriting.
The 10.3-inch e-paper tablet runs Android 15, includes access to the Google Play Store, and ships with 64GB of non-expandable storage. TechRadar says the screen contrast is excellent, especially with the new warm and cold frontlight, though the display still feels slower than rivals such as the 2024 and 2025 Kindle Scribes. Waking the device can trigger multiple refreshes marked “Rendering” before a page settles.
Announced in March 2026, the Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi costs $449.99 / £429.99 / AU$729 and is sold through the Boox Shop and third-party retailers. A version without the frontlight is also available for $419.99 / £399.99 / AU$689. Both include the InkSense Plus stylus and a magnetic sleep case.
On hardware, the tablet uses an undisclosed E Ink Carta HD panel at 300ppi, powered by a 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 and a 3,700mAh battery. It measures 235 x 183 x 4.8mm and weighs 364g without the case and stylus. Other specs include dual stereo speakers, Bluetooth 5.1, USB-C, and support for 20 document, 4 image, 2 audio file types.
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TechRadar praises the tablet’s design, textured rear panel, and improved grip, but says the bundled case remains frustrating because of its removable magnetic flap.
The larger issue is the new stylus. TechRadar says the InkSense Plus has a thicker tip, feels heavier, and is less smooth than the pen bundled with the previous model. Because Boox is moving away from EMR support, third-party pen replacements are not an option on the Lumi.
Software is a stronger point. Boox’s custom Android interface remains highly configurable, with native apps for reading and note-taking, cloud integrations including Google Drive and Dropbox, support for EverNote and OneNote, plus OTG support for external drives over USB-C.
In day-to-day use, TechRadar says reading is where the Lumi shines. The frontlight improves contrast enough to make ebooks and notes look sharper and clearer, even if wake-from-sleep performance still lags behind Amazon and Kobo devices.
That leaves the Lumi in an awkward spot: better than its predecessor in lighting and endurance, but harder to recommend when its writing feel — the main reason to buy this kind of tablet — has slipped backward.
Computing Editor
Tomas lives in the terminal. He covers chips, laptops, and operating systems with a focus on performance and efficiency. He reads kernel changelogs the way other people read fiction, and he's always on the hunt for the perfect mechanical keyboard switch. If it processes data, Tomas has an opinion on it.
via TechRadar
