Together with Onyx Boox Prometheus in the second half of autumn 2016, ONYX BOOX Caesar was also released, one of the most affordable readers in the line of this manufacturer. It is equipped, like the ONYX BOOX Amundsen, with an E-Ink Carta screen, but boasts a Moon Light backlight. As far as we know, this model will be the last one made in this design, and before the end of this year, they will start selling their first reader with an aluminum case and a protective screen coating. Should I wait or take a closer look at the existing model line? Here you need to build on the available budget for the purchase of an e-book.

ONYX BOOX Caesar at a modest cost offers a matrix latest generation, current characteristics and a common platform for all readers with the ability to install software. Below is a summary table of available offers on Russian market, compiled on the basis of data from the Yandex.Market service.

ONYX BOOX Caesar review

Equipment

The ONYX BOOX Caesar comes in a traditional flat cardboard box with a hinged lid. A thematic image is applied to the cover, with reverse data on characteristics.

The bundle is modest, it includes only a micro USB cable for charging, instructions and a warranty card.

Appearance

ONYX BOOX Caesar, as mentioned above, is made in a well-known case. It turned out to be convenient and practical from the very beginning. From model to model, only the internal component and equipment changes.

It is available in black color. External surfaces with soft-touch texture. The grip is tenacious, does not slip out of the hands.

If you plan to often take the reader with you on the road and on the street, we recommend that you consider buying a cover. Convenient options can be found on the manufacturer's website from other models in the series or with an original pattern, there are also universal solutions.

The overall dimensions of the ONYX BOOX Caesar are 117x170x9 mm and weigh 169 grams. In the hands lies easily, long reading sessions do not create fatigue and discomfort.

The main area of ​​the front side is occupied by the E-Ink Carta screen. The frames around the screen correspond to the width of the fingers. A four-position joystick is displayed on the enlarged bottom frame.

A long click on it turns the backlight on or off. Also, this control is responsible for menu navigation and action selection. It’s easy to understand, although it takes time to get used to after actively using touch controls on smartphones or a number of other readers.

On the side frames on each side of the paging button. In a normal scenario, they will be used most actively. Button travel is soft and quiet.

All connectors at ONYX BOOX Caesar are concentrated on the bottom edge. There is microUSB, a microSD memory card slot and an audio jack plug.

The assembly of the case is excellent, all the parts fit perfectly to each other. No creaking or play of parts is observed.

Screen

A screen of the E-Ink Carta generation with a resolution of 1024 by 758 pixels is installed. It features high contrast and a white backing. Detailing is high, even small fonts are displayed clearly. Viewing angles are maximum. The picture remains legible in direct sunlight.

At night, Moon Light will be useful. It is implemented using eight LEDs, the brightness is uniform over the entire area. Screen refresh is fast. Additionally, the A2 mode has been added to the software, which increases the rendering speed.

Filling

The heart of the ONYX BOOX Caesar is a 1GHz Rockchip RK3066 dual-core processor. On board 512 MB of RAM and 8 GB of permanent. Part of the drive is occupied by the system, leaving about 3 GB free. You can install capacious memory cards. The platform does a great job with common tasks, flipping through large books and opening PDF files.

Soft

It has already been mentioned more than once that ONYX BOOX readers offer the most convenient, intuitive and functional interface. A system based on Android 4.2 was built with a proprietary shell and interface adaptation to the tasks of the reader. Quick access to the latest books read is available. There is a library with sorting and searching. Classic conductor.

There is no Google Play in the applications section, and given the lack of Wi-Fi, there is no need for it. You can install applications by first throwing them into memory, there are no restrictions.

In the job settings, you can change both general parameters and text display.

OReader for FB2 and ePub is used as the main program. For PDF and DjVu - Onyx Neo Reader. Rider is omnivorous.

Battery

A battery with a capacity of 3000 mAh is responsible for autonomous operation. It provides up to a month of battery life with active use. You can extend the time by turning off the backlight or reducing its brightness.

Results for ONYX BOOX Caesar

Approaching new year holidays with the traditional search for gifts. ONYX BOOX Caesar is the very option that you can please your loved ones and yourself. Books will be relevant for a long time, the emergence of an electronic format has inspired new life and expanded the circle of readers. The modern E-Ink Carta matrix is ​​not inferior to paper with high-quality printing, and it even surpasses many ordinary books. An important point is the absence of fatigue during long reading sessions, which smartphones and tablets cannot boast of. Built-in memory paired with a memory card allows you to place a huge amount of files. There were no crashes or problems.
ONYX BOOX Caesar receives the well-deserved award "Hit..

Electronic books are much more useful than electronic cigarettes, and not only because they do not harm health, but also save space in the house or bag. I have repeatedly reviewed products from Onyx, the leader in the reader market, but previous models were in the premium segment. Agree, not everyone is ready to pay 10-11 thousand for a device for reading books, so today's review is dedicated to Gaius Julius Caesar, or rather, the budget version of the reader for a modest 6.5 thousand rubles ONYX BOOX Caesar 2. Well, let's read?

By the way, the budget of the device is felt literally in everything, from the configuration to the device itself. However, this does not mean that the device is molded from what it was. The ONYX BOOX Caesar 2 is a popular model that has become a classic in the reading genre.

The reader comes in a box stylized as a real book, which depicts the Roman comrade Caesar with the FRED PERRY logo.

The box contains only the charging cable, user manual and warranty card. In general, they did not live richly, there was nothing to start. Main difference budget option Reader is the lack of a branded leather cover, which comes in more expensive models.

Also, the ONYX BOOX Caesar 2 lacks a touch screen. However, this is not a reason to be upset - the joystick in the middle at the bottom and two keys on the sides are more than enough for comfortable use. Moreover, for me personally, one button on the left was enough to turn the pages.

The first thing that is felt when meeting with the device is its lightness. The reader weighs only 182 grams, and thanks to the classic size of a pocket book, the device lies securely and comfortably without slipping out of your hands.

Fingers easily reach all the necessary buttons, so no perverted maneuvers will have to be done.
Despite the low cost of the device, this model has a proprietary E Ink Carta screen, the essence of which is increased contrast and a lighter background than the previous generation screens.

The classic MOON Light backlight has not gone anywhere, the brightness of which can be characterized by the phrase “well, you, infection, shine in my face.” In general, you will not have problems with reading at night or under the covers. In the country, I used this "reader" even as a flashlight when going to the toilet.

On board the device are 512 MB of RAM and a 2-core 1 GHz processor - of course, these parameters are beyond the eyes and ears for comfortable reading.

Even the built-in 8 GB is more than enough to store an entire library, for insatiable book worms, memory expansion up to 32 GB is provided.

As usual with Onyx, the 3000 mAh battery will last you a long time. This is a decent indicator for this kind of device.

The number of supported formats is impressive, so the "dance with a tambourine" to find a digestible format can be avoided.

Everything else is standard - a built-in dictionary that you can use when reading, support for a large number of languages. Among them, for example, Russian, English, German, French, Spanish, Swedish, Dutch, Finnish, Polish, Chinese, Japanese and many others. There is also an English-Russian and Russian-English dictionaries, a calculator, a convenient reader and that's it.

Of course, you can install third-party applications, but keep in mind that without a touch screen, they may not work. So check compatibility.

All in all, the ONYX BOOX Caesar 2 is a reliable no-frills reader for those who only want an e-reader and nothing else. No frills, just a pleasant comfortable reading and immersion in your favorite books. What else can you demand from a reader for that kind of money, I don’t even know. Of course, you can say that a simple reader can be bought for a couple of thousand cheaper and you will be right, but ONYX BOOX is, first of all, a recognizable brand, which means stable quality. Anyone who needs an excellent reader for adequate money ONYX BOOX Caesar 2 fits perfectly.

The full line of devices can be viewed on the official website of the company.

P.S. I wanted to put something themed with Caesar on the title photo, for example, the ruins of the Roman Empire, but, unfortunately, I am in the country and there is no Roman Empire here. Moreover, there is not even a Caesar salad here to take a picture of a book against its background. So do your best, but you stay here and there.

I welcome the members of the Club of Experts, as well as all the guests who have visited this page.
Once again, ONYX pleases us with a novelty in the world of e-books. This time she introduced to the market new model called ONYX Boox Caesar 2. This reader is an updated version of the previous ONYX Boox Caesar book. The main change here was the presence of a new SNOW Field function.

Package

ONYX Boox Caesar 2 comes in a small white box. The image of the emperor is printed on the front side in the center, and at the bottom there is a brief historical background about Caesar.

There is a Roman ornament on the right side, no data are available.

On the left side, you can see barcodes, as well as information about the importer and the place of assembly.

ONYX logos are placed on the top and bottom ends.

On the back side there are descriptions of the reader and its new SNOW Field function. Below are specifications, as well as information about the importer and manufacturer. On the market, the e-book is available in several colors: white, black and gray. In our case, the body color is black.

Compared to packaging design past model, then there are no changes other than the name and description of the SNOW Field function.

Equipment

The set of ONYX Boox Caesar 2, like the first model, consists of minimum set elements:
- E-book ONYX Boox Caesar 2;
- User guide;
- USB-microUSB cable;
- Warranty card.

Appearance

The appearance of the ONYX Boox Caesar 2 is identical to other "entry level" readers, be it Caesar, COLUMBUS 2 or Amundsen.
This case is time-tested, it meets all the requirements for easy reading.
ONYX Boox Caesar 2 is made of black matte plastic. Its overall dimensions are 170 x 117 x 8.7 mm, and the weight is 182 g.

At the bottom of the front side is a five-position key. It is made in the form of a square black button with a silver trim. Above the key you can see corporate logo boox.

On the sides there are long keys for calling up the menu and scrolling.

On the top end there is a power button and a "Reset" hole.

At the bottom there is a microUSB connector, a slot for a memory card, and a plug for the missing audio input.

The only difference in appearance ONYX Boox Caesar 2 has touched the back cover. Now all the information has been moved from the central part to the bottom of the case.

The quality of workmanship and materials remains at a high level. Changes in appearance also did not happen, all controls remained in place.

Screen

The ONYX Boox Caesar 2 has a 6-inch E-Ink Carta screen. The display resolution is 1024 x 758 pixels, which is quite enough for a clear display of text. There is no touch control.
One of the main advantages of the ONYX Boox Caesar 2 is the MOON Light. It is worth noting that the brightness of the backlight in 100% mode is very intense. As for me, 50% for reading is more than enough.

In the settings of the e-book, there are tools for working with display backlighting, thanks to which the user can significantly extend the autonomy of the reader.

Comparison of an e-book with a printed page.

Generally speaking, the screen of the updated model also remained without any changes.

SNOW Field

SNOW Field is the main and only novelty introduced in ONYX Boox Caesar 2. The SNOW Field feature allows you to minimize the number of artifacts visible to the eye. This is very useful feature, because due to partial rendering, the user will not see the contours of the old one on the new page. At this stage, the SNOW Field function is supported by the Neo Reader 2 program. But the manufacturers promise that in future updates, its support will also be implemented in the OReader reader program.
For an illustrative example, I recorded the work of the SNOW Field function in Neo Reader 2.

Interface

The main screen has not changed, the exception is a new style menu icons at the bottom of the display.

The list of books in the "Library" tab can be displayed in three options - everything, as in previous versions. Navigation remained inconvenient. I would like to finally see something more practical.

Two new programs appeared in the list of applications: "Clock" and "Reading Statistics".

By opening the statistics, you can view information about the books read, reading time, as well as the distribution of time.

The "Settings" tab contains all the tools you need to work with an e-book. Here you can view information about the built-in memory and information about the device. By the way, now only 5.06 GB of memory is available to the user, while in the previous model it was 6.16 GB.

Also in the settings there is an opportunity to assign functions to the side buttons in several ways.
In addition, there is another tab with settings. The main addition was the ability to assign functions to the side and center buttons.

Usage

Once again, the ONYX Boox Caesar 2 hardware has been kept intact. The e-book uses a dual-core Rockchip RK3026 processor with a clock speed of 1000 MHz, as well as a Mali-400 MP graphics accelerator. The total amount of built-in memory is 8 GB, and operational - 512 MB.

The reader control has also not changed: the left key calls up the menu, and the right key is used to scroll through. As I mentioned earlier, the user can independently assign functions to buttons in the Settings - System - Button Settings tab.

Like previous models, ONYX Boox Caesar 2 is capable of playing all major text formats.
The oReader and Neo Reader 2 reader programs have not undergone any changes in the interface. Presented sets of functions and tools for displaying text include everything you need.

Offline work

Autonomous operation of ONYX Boox Caesar 2 is provided by a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 3000 mAh. Also, manufacturers have provided special settings that allow you to translate e-book into sleep mode. Thus, the high battery capacity, the screen off setting, and the absence of a Wi-Fi module significantly increase the operating time of the device.

Conclusion

As you can see, the only difference between the new model and the old one is the presence of the SNOW Field function. The difference between the two display options cannot be called cardinal, both screens are made at a high level. The only thing to note is that in ONYX Boox Caesar 2 there is a noticeable trend towards the development of technology, manufacturers are not sitting idly by, for which I thank them. But speaking in general, I still lean towards the need for touch control in an e-reader. If you agree with me, then you should take a closer look at ONYX Boox Vasco Da Gama 2.

That's all for me, make smart purchases and enjoy new acquisitions.
I express my special gratitude to the administration of the Club of Experts for the opportunity to post this review.