Boox Note Air 2 Plus Review: 2026 Verdict on the Older Boox

Q: What's the difference between the Note Air 2 and Note Air 2 Plus?

The Plus added a faster processor, more RAM, and adjustable warm front-light. Same screen, same form factor.

Q: How does the Note Air 2 Plus compare to the reMarkable 2?

Note Air 2 Plus has more flexibility. reMarkable 2 has better pen feel and a focus-first OS.

Q: Is the Note Air 2 Plus going to keep getting OS updates?

Boox has slowed major OS updates for this line. Security patches still arrive but Android version bumps stopped.

The verdict, up front

Is the Boox Note Air 2 Plus still worth buying in 2026

The boox note air 2 plus review question changes meaning in 2026 because the device is two generations behind. The Note Air 3 launched in 2023, the Note Air 4C added color in 2024, and the Note Air 5C is the current flagship. The Note Air 2 Plus still works, still gets enough OS updates to be safe, and still does the core writing-plus-reading job that made the line popular.

What it doesn’t have: color, the latest pen tuning, current Wi-Fi, or the long-term update cadence Boox reserves for newer models. The trade is price. New stock at retailers runs ~$349 while it lasts; used market sits around $280. Note Air 4C, the current equivalent buy, is ~$500. The gap is real.

Specs

Note Air 2 Plus specs and what’s changed

Display: 10.3″ Carta 1200 mono e-ink
Resolution: 1872 × 1404, 227 ppi
Frontlight: Adjustable warm + cool
Pen technology: Wacom EMR (Pen2 Pro included)
Pen latency: ~ 26 ms (typical)
OS: Android 11 (still receiving security patches)
Storage: 64 GB
Weight: 445 g
Wireless: Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0
Battery: 3700 mAh, ~ 1 week typical

The headline number is 10.3-inch Carta 1200 mono. Color isn’t part of the conversation; if you need color, this isn’t the buy. The pen latency is solid for the era but slower than current models. Battery is one week of typical use, which feels short until you realize most owners charge it Sundays and don’t think about it the rest of the week.

Pen feel

How the Note Air 2 Plus writes

The writing surface is the reason the Note Air line stuck around. Glass-front-laminated panels can feel like writing on a window; the Note Air 2 Plus uses a textured front layer that adds friction. Not as much as reMarkable’s surface, more than a Kindle Scribe.

The Pen2 Pro included in the box is good. Side-button programmable for eraser or lasso. Magnetic side-attach to the device for transport. Replacement nibs run ~$5 for a pack of 3 and last roughly 3 months of daily use.

What it does well

Where the Note Air 2 Plus still wins

Reading apps. Full Google Play Store. Kindle, Kobo, Libby, Hoopla all install. The reading job is identical to current Boox models because the apps don’t care about the device generation.

PDF annotation. The 10.3-inch screen handles A4 PDFs at near-1:1 scale. Pen feel + screen size combine for the marginalia use case.

Note-taking via Boox’s native Notes app. Layered handwriting, OCR via Boox’s cloud service, export to Evernote / OneDrive / Dropbox.

The price gap. ~$280 used vs $500 for the Note Air 4C is the real argument. If you’re not paying for color, you’re saving $220.

Where it breaks

Honest drawbacks of the Note Air 2 Plus

What we liked

Genuine paper-feel writing surface, latency aside.
Full Android with Play Store. Kindle and Kobo both install.
10.3-inch screen handles A4 PDFs without zoom.
Used market price (~$280) is half the current model.

What we didn’t

No color. If color e-ink matters, skip and buy the Note Air 4C.
Android 11 vs Android 12 on newer models. Some apps drop support.
Pen latency ~26 ms vs ~22 ms on current Boox; feels slower on hatching.
OS update cadence has slowed; major updates rare in 2026.

If you’re not paying for color, you’re saving $220. That’s the whole argument.From this review

Use cases

Who should buy the Note Air 2 Plus

Buy if: writing and reading mono content is the daily job, budget is the constraint, and you don’t need color. The pen feel is genuinely good and the apps catalog is identical to current Boox models.

Skip if: color matters (manga, magazines, color-coded notes), you want the latest OS support, or you’re going to feel the pen-latency gap on rapid sketching. In those cases, the Note Air 4C is the right buy at the new price.

For the older-device pair comparison, see Note Air 2 vs reMarkable 2. For the broader Boox lineup, Onyx Boox 2026.

Verdict

Boox Note Air 2 Plus, the Templacity verdict

FAQ

Common questions, answered briefly

Is the Boox Note Air 2 Plus still worth buying in 2026?

Yes, on the used market. Around $280 used vs $500 for the current Note Air 4C. Pen feel and apps catalog are nearly identical; the gap is color and pen latency. If you don’t need color, the Note Air 2 Plus saves you $220 for the same daily experience.

What’s the difference between the Note Air 2 and Note Air 2 Plus?

The Plus added a faster processor (Snapdragon 662 vs Octa-core), more RAM (4 GB vs 3 GB), and adjustable warm front-light. Same screen, same form factor. The Plus is the version worth buying.

Does Note Air 2 Plus run Kindle?

Yes. Full Google Play Store; Kindle app installs and works. Same as every Note Air model. The app on e-ink is slower than on phone but readable.

How does the Note Air 2 Plus compare to the reMarkable 2?

Note Air 2 Plus has more flexibility (Android, apps, frontlight, color via newer models). reMarkable 2 has better pen feel and a focus-first OS. Note Air 2 Plus is around $280 used vs $399 for reMarkable 2. See our Note Air 2 vs reMarkable 2 post for the side-by-side.

Is the Note Air 2 Plus going to keep getting OS updates?

Boox has slowed major OS updates for the Note Air 2 line. Security patches still arrive but Android version bumps stopped. For a buyer using current apps that’s fine; for a buyer expecting Android 14+ in 2027, the device may not get there.

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