ONYX BOOX Darwin 3

High contrast eInk Carta display

The Darwin 3 has a 6-inch eInk Carta touchscreen with a resolution of 1024x758 pixels and a high contrast ratio (15:1). Apart from specific colour matrices, this is the most modern type of electronic ink, which is now widely used in mid- to high-end readers. The text is perfectly readable both in bright sunlight and indoors. And in which case, the MOON Light backlight helps out, which is much less tiring for the eyes than the backlight of IPS screens.

Auto cleaning of the display from ink spots

However, all these are quite familiar characteristics for a good reader. Much more interesting is the support for Snow Field technology, which removes artifacts when updating the display. Usually, ordinary electronic ink leaves garbage on the screen after a dozen flips, which have to be removed by a full page refresh. Snow Field does this for the reader without distracting from the book itself. However it only works in proprietary ONYX applications — OReader and NeoReader.

Full Android

Darwin 3 is running an old Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, which has been radically redesigned for the needs of readers. At the same time, Android is not stripped down, as in low-cost ONYX BOOK models, so you can install other reader applications, simple games like text quests, and even social network clients on the reader. However in this case it is important to understand that the screen with electronic ink cannot fully replace a smartphone / tablet due to the fact that it takes time to update and draw the image.

Built-in Wi-Fi module and capacious battery

To communicate with the outside world, a Wi-Fi module is built into the e-book. A capacious 3000 mAh battery is responsible for battery life. The volume is good even by the standards of smartphones, but the operating time will largely depend on how actively you use Wi-Fi, Snow Field and the backlight. With a minimum load, the manufacturer promises 20,000 pages. This is about a month of reading in the mode of 2-3 hours a day.

"Smart" case

A nice bonus for Darwin 3 buyers is a cute and useful faux leather case that secures the lid with magnets when the book is open and puts the book to sleep when the lid is closed. You can dig here only to the velvety inner lining, which actively collects dust.