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• Google has shared a teaser video showing a phone in the Pixel 11 series
• You can see it in a gold shade, with a colored light that must be the rumored 'Pixel Glow' feature
• The company has also confirmed that pre-orders open on August 12

We’re now less than a month away from the August 12 announcement of the Pixel 11 series, and Google is in full teaser mode. The tech giant has just posted a short clip showing off a phone in the Pixel 11 series in a gold shade.

You can mostly just see the gold-colored sides of the phone, but the camera block is also visible, and this houses a circular multicolored light. This then, must be the rumored ‘Pixel Glow’ feature, which will presumably be able to light up in different colors — or different patterns of colors — to alert you to different kinds of notifications.

Perhaps, for example, a WhatsApp message would appear in blue shifting to pink, while a calendar event might be a single block of yellow.

A Nothing idea

Glyph lighting on the Nothing Phone 2 (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker Todd)

How customizable this will be, and whether it’s capable of anything else, remains to be seen. But at least now we have a sense for how it looks, with this being a bit reminiscent of Nothing’s Glyph lighting systems, just rather smaller and more subtle.

That makes sense coming from Google, as its phone design is never as flashy as Nothing’s — a brand which almost makes gaming phones look visually tame.

But if you’ve missed the notification light that phones used to have, then this could appeal as a modern upgrade of that. And while it’s probably not going to be super innovative — given that it looks reminiscent of what Nothing handsets have and is an evolution of an old feature — it’s still not the sort of thing you see in most mainstream phones, so it’s nice to see Google try something a bit different here.

Beyond all this, the teaser page also mentions that Pixel 11 series pre-orders will open on August 12 — so presumably right after the announcement. And if you sign up for emails from that page you’ll receive an unspecified discount on the new phones, which is always appreciated, especially with everything getting more expensive lately.

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Business laptops under $600
Business laptops under $1000
Business laptops over $1000

A business laptop is a critical decision that impacts productivity. Let’s just say, I’ve made the wrong choice before, and the results weren’t nice. But don’t worry, I learned from my mistake and made a much better choice. You can also learn from my experience, as since then, I’ve extensively researched and tested the best business laptops.

The best deals ultimately depend on your workflow. For instance, the choice for an office worker using everyday business apps like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 differs much from a colleague editing 4K video and running CAD and 3D rendering programs. The key factors to consider are performance, storage, portability, security, and connectivity, based on your unique needs.

Whether seeking a mid-range or high-end option, you don’t need to stress to find it. With my long experience running through many business laptops, I’ve compiled the top picks from Dell, Asus, HP, and other known brands, starting from $548.

Best business laptop deals: Quick links

• Amazon: Save on HP, Microsoft, Apple machines and more
• Best Buy: Top deals on home & business laptops
• Walmart: Laptop & Chromebook discounts
• Newegg: Save on Lenovo, Acer, Asus and more

Best business laptop deals: Under $600

Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X processor, this Copilot+ PC combines 16GB of memory, a 512GB SSD, a 14-inch 2K touchscreen, Wi-Fi 6E, and up to 32.25 hours of battery life for students and everyday productivity.View Deal

Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X processor, this Copilot+ PC pairs 16GB of memory with a 512GB SSD, a 14-inch WUXGA display, USB4, Wi-Fi 6E, and up to 29 hours of battery life.View Deal

Powered by Intel's Core i7-1355U processor, this laptop combines a 15.6-inch 120Hz Full HD display, 512GB SSD, WiFi 6, and plenty of ports, making it a dependable choice for schoolwork and everyday computing. It only has 8GB of RAM though.View Deal

Best business laptop deals: Under $1000

Powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 7 processor, HP's laptop combines 16GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD, a 16-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi 6, and built-in Copilot+ AI features for everyday productivity and creative work.View Deal

Powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 processor, Lenovo's laptop combines a 15.3-inch touchscreen display, 16GB of DDR5 memory, a 512GB SSD, Wi-Fi 6, and up to 15 hours of battery life for everyday productivity and study, as we found in our review.View Deal

The Intel ThinkPad E16 Gen 3 pairs a Core Ultra 7 255H processor with 16GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD, and a 16-inch WUXGA IPS display for demanding workloads.

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Built for demanding workloads, this 16-inch laptop scored 4 stars in our review. It combines desktop-class performance, a huge 99.9Wh battery, expandable storage up to 6TB, advanced cooling, and modern connectivity in a slim aluminum design for professionals on the move.

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Best business laptop deals: Over $1000

Powered by an Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 graphics, this laptop, which held up well in our review, pairs a color-accurate 15.6-inch QHD 165Hz display with 16GB DDR5 memory and a 1TB SSD for demanding creative workloads.View Deal

A clean, professional 16-inch laptop with a touchscreen you'll actually use. As we found when we went hands-on with it, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285H runs 16 cores up to 5.3GHz and includes an NPU for Copilot+ AI features. 32GB of DDR5-5600 in a dual-channel config gives you genuine multitasking headroom — not just enough to get by. View Deal

Available at Walmart, this 18-inch Asus powerhouse combines an AMD Ryzen 9 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 graphics, 32GB DDR5 memory, a 1TB SSD, and a stunning 240Hz Nebula display for demanding creative and professional workloads.View Deal

This 15-inch Lenovo laptop pairs an Intel Core i7-14700HX processor with Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 graphics, 16GB RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a color-rich 165Hz OLED display.View Deal

The AMD-powered ThinkPad E16 Gen 3 combines a Ryzen 5 processor with 16GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD, and a 16-inch WUXGA IPS display for dependable everyday productivity and multitasking.

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Available at Best Buy, HP's 16-inch laptop combines an AMD Ryzen 9 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 graphics, 16GB of memory, a 1TB SSD, and a vibrant 2.5K 165Hz OLED display for demanding creative workloads.View Deal

Fortune 500 companies are expected to operate more than 150,000 agents by 2028, according to an analysis from Gartner.

If achieved, it would represent a 10,000-fold increase compared to 2025, when enterprises averaged just 15 agents. Indeed, this shift toward agentic systems is the most significant architectural evolution of our lifetime.

With adoption accelerating so rapidly, governance is rising to the top of the AI agenda. Businesses of all sizes are seeking safeguards and systems of control to ensure they can trust the agents they work alongside, yet current methods often fail.

The data speaks for itself: although almost every global enterprise is using AI agents, only 12% have introduced a centralized governance approach. For most, governance remains piecemeal, exacerbating the chaos it is intended to control.

This disconnect raises a critical question: as AI scales rapidly, how can organizations maintain governance to manage it responsibly? Nearly every leadership team is facing the same problem: they want to harness AI’s full potential but also maintain control.

AI enthusiasm leads to AI sprawl

While most businesses recognize the value of agentic AI, and are experimenting and deploying various agents across their organisation, the risk of AI sprawl is high. The growing mix of customer-built and pre-built agents creates disparate agentic tools with no centralized strategy.

As enthusiastic employees develop their own agents – an approach which is increasingly common as the technology becomes more accessible - AI usage becomes siloed and inconsistent across the business.

This type of AI sprawl drives diverging standards and duplicated efforts, with research showing 94% of businesses are experiencing increased complexity, technical debt and security risk.

The autonomous nature of agentic AI, where systems interact with data and other agents in real time, means a lack of governance in the early stages can see AI sprawl quickly spiral out of control.

Fragmented governance is ineffective

Forward thinking businesses are investing time and effort into new compliance processes and building better safeguards to ensure AI outputs can be trusted. One such method is the use of human-in-the-loop models for key decisions, an approach currently used by 52% of businesses.

However, as AI scales further and more rapidly, new challenges will emerge. There is a risk that human-in-the-loop methods lead to unintended inconsistency, where employees spanning different teams, regions or departments introduce uncoordinated rules for access, security and usage.

Instead of enforcing control, this has the opposite effect. Businesses are then left grappling with governance systems which reinforce the fragmentation they were trying to overcome.

Centralized rules, centralized standards, centralized knowledge

The only effective way to maintain control of scaling AI is to build governance into the AI itself. Governance must be designed as part of the foundations of an agentic system; it cannot be added as an afterthought.

To ensure meaningful control, enterprises require centralized visibility into which agents are running, how they are connected and where their dependencies lie. This represents a major opportunity, given that only 12% of businesses had introduced a centralized governance approach as of January 2026.

Historically, manual governance fails because enterprises cannot keep pace with the speed and scale at which AI agents interact. One of the core governance challenges is coordinating agents so they do not duplicate work or conflict with one another.

This requires orchestrating agents through a central neutral system layer that connects them to a real-time understanding of enterprise architecture and its operational parameters, ensuring outputs remain secure, compliant and coherent.

By ensuring there is a centralized governance layer built into the enterprise, all agents can follow the same rules, comply with the same standards and draw from shared knowledge. The governance system can then evolve and grow alongside the business itself.

Governance doesn’t need to be slow to be successful

The modern enterprise is already shaped by legacy systems, fragmented architectures and technical complexity, but it is not inevitable for AI to follow the same path.

The explosion of agentic tools offers enormous potential for business productivity, even if it does not automatically create coherent, high-quality architecture. The biggest challenge organizations face right now isn't the capability of the models themselves - it's connecting AI to where real work actually happens inside the enterprise.

It is now up to each organisation to pick and choose the agents best suited to their organisation and prioritize their integration in a unified way. This means moving away from old habits – often where governance is added incrementally every time a new agent or application is introduced – to remove the risk of fragmentation and AI sprawl.

The optimal approach is one which works with the unified and agnostic governance layer built into the foundations of the AI system to combat technical debt at scale. Only then will enterprises be able to harness AI’s full long-term potential in a sustainable manner.

Governance should not restrict the speed of AI adoption; it can scale alongside it. The successful enterprise of the future depends on its ability to approach AI with speed and efficiency without compromising trust.

We've reviewed and ranked the best laptops for business.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

The U.S. granted the UAE license-free access to advanced AI chips and servers after upgrading its export status, reshaping AI partnerships and export controls.

The post UAE Wins License-Free AI Chip Access After Backing U.S. Security Efforts in Iran Conflict appeared first on TechRepublic.

These are the best platforms for family-friendly programming, including Cocomelon, Bluey, SpongeBob and Teen Titans.

Publishers and author Scott Turow sued Google, alleging it used copyrighted books and articles to train Gemini without permission.

The post Google Hit With New Copyright Lawsuit Over Gemini AI Training appeared first on TechRepublic.

"Never settle" takes on a whole new meaning, as the once-maverick phone-maker retreats from the US and Europe.

Now that the company has closed in Europe and the US, I've looked back at my top picks from OnePlus' phones, wearables and foldables.

Higher oil prices since the Iran war began mean many oil companies have brought in excess profits. Some U.S. lawmakers want to tax those windfall profits and give the money to lower-income Americans.

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In recent days, federal immigration agents fatally shot two immigrant fathers. None of the federal officers involved were wearing body cameras, the agency said.

(Image credit: Michael M. Santiago)

The Federal Highway Administration quietly stripped bike lanes and other safety recommendations from a key list of best practices. Critics say those measures are proven to cut crashes and save lives.

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President Trump said TrumpRx is the biggest thing to happen in healthcare in decades. But an NPR analysis finds drugmakers are only offering deals on a few of their medicines.

For the sixth World Cup in a row, no team from the Asian Football Confederation made it past the first knockout round, winning only three games out of 29. Asian teams are competitive — up to a point.

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An ACLU report looks at the widespread use of force in immigration enforcement in the first year of President Trump's return to office. Recent fatal shootings in Texas and Maine have brought renewed scrutiny to the agency's tactics.

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Key voters in Pennsylvania are split on whether President Trump earning a big windfall last year is a big deal or not. Their reaction reveals a level of cynicism about many in the political class.

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We've all engaged in a little 'gossip.' But did you know its origins were tied to family and friendship?

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The Dark Side of the Moon WE-001 comes with a copy of the cassette for $199.

Boox Go 10.3 Gen II Lumi: One-minute review

As far as epaper writing tablets go, Boox has some of the most versatile options thanks to their Android-based operating systems, and the Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi is arguably the best of them despite its rather mouthful of a name — I’m just going to call it the ‘Lumi’ from here on in.

I was already a fan of the original model, calling the reMarkable dupe a pleasure to use in my Boox Go 10.3 review — and by just adding a light and making the battery consumption more efficient, the Chinese ereader maker has made the Gen II model better.

Despite the screen being a touch slower than I’ve experienced with other devices like the 2024 and 2025 Kindle Scribes, the light adds a lot of contrast to the screen, making it easier to read on, whether that’s an ebook or a handwritten note. Now, I have to mention that there is a Gen II without a frontlight as well but, in my opinion, having the screen lit up just makes the epaper writing tablet that much more usable in any situation. With a frontlight, it also becomes a true Kindle Scribe alternative — again, thanks to its Android-based OS that gives the user access to the Google Play Store.

However, the aforementioned slow display is a disappointment as every time I woke up the Lumi to read or write, there would be a couple of screen refreshes (clearly marked as ‘Rendering’ when directly waking up to the native library application) before it settled down. Page turns, though, are fine but, again, Amazon’s 2025 Kindle Scribes are just that little bit faster at this as well. Long story short, screen performance doesn’t seem to have improved over the Gen I Go 10.3.

While I can live with the slower screen, I can’t fathom why Boox would retire the stylus that came with the original Go 10.3 as it was a lot better than the supplied InkSense Plus pen. The new stylus isn’t as smooth to write with, and is heavier, detracting from the all-important writing experience.

So as much as I’d love to say the Lumi is an improvement over its predecessor — and it is in a couple of ways — it just seems like Boox has taken two steps forward (with the frontlight and battery life) but one step back with the stylus.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Boox Go 10.3 Gen II Lumi review: price & availability

• Announced March 2026
• List price: $449.99 / £429.99 / AU$729
• Available directly from the Boox Shop and third-party retailers

With the addition of the frontlight, the price of the Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi is a lot higher than the launch price of the original Go 10.3 — you’re looking at shelling out $449.99 / £429.99 / AU$729 for the former, which is about $70 / £50 / AU$120 more than what the latter was when it was released in 2024.

That’s quite steep, although considering how expensive every bit of tech is getting thanks to RAM shortages, I’m not really surprised. It’s still competitively priced considering the 3rd-generation Amazon Kindle Scribe (2025 release with frontlight) retails for $499 / £449.99 / AU$849 for the 32GB flavor, while you get double the storage with the Lumi. Throw in the versatility of Android and it’s arguably better value (even compared to any of the reMarkables), but given its overall performance and user experience compared to the competition, I’d be hesitant to recommend it.

If the frontlight isn’t important, you can opt for the Gen II version without it, which will set you back $419.99 / £399.99 / AU$689. Prices for both Boox Gen II devices include the InkSense Plus stylus and a magnetic sleep case.

• Value score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: specs

Display type:

Undisclosed E Ink Carta HD panel

Screen size:

10.3 inches

Resolution:

300ppi

Processor:

2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 690

Frontlight:

Yes (warm and cold)

Storage:

64GB (non-expandable)

Battery:

3,700mAh

Speaker:

Dual (stereo)

Water protection:

None

Software:

Android 15

Connectivity:

Wi-Fi (2.4GHz + 5GHz); Bluetooth 5.1 USB-C

File support:

20 document, 4 image, 2 audio

Dimensions:

235 x 183 x 4.8mm (9.3 x 7.2 x 0.19 inches)

Weight:

364g (without case and stylus)

Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: design & display

• Good-looking, lightweight epaper tablet, but clunky stylus
• 10.3-inch E Ink display with good contrast
• Textured rear panel adds good grip

With its eggshell-white body and metallic trim, I thought the first-gen Boox Go 10.3 was a pretty tablet, so I’m glad to see that the Gen II version hasn’t been changed — except for a slightly more textured rear panel that affords a little more grip, which is important for a slim device like the Go series slates. I should note here that both Gen II Go 10.3 tablets are identical physically but, without LEDs on the unlit version, it’s about 14g (0.5oz) lighter.

While the slimness doesn’t make for fantastic ergonomics, the Lumi weighing only 364g is, in fact, lighter than the Gen 1 model that tipped the scales at 375g without screen lights. It is about 0.2mm thicker than the previous Go 10.3, but that’s neither here nor there.

It’s still a beautiful device and, despite the thinness, there are dual speakers on either side of the USB-C port on the bottom edge, as does a mic. The only button is for power/sleep on the top edge. There’s no microSD tray here, though, for additional storage. One larger bezel allows plenty of room for your hand, although holding such a slim device, no matter how light, isn’t necessarily ergonomic. If you add in the sleep case, however, it just becomes heavier.

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

I should talk about the case here, really quick — it’s a faux suede cover that unfortunately comes with the removable flap that I utterly detest. The brown suede material starts to lose its luster within days of use, so I can’t attest to its longevity, but I can’t fathom why Boox has to make the magnetic flap removable. This has been the case with the last few Boox devices I’ve tested and I find it rather annoying — the magnet is quite strong and the flap tends to entirely come away when you unfold it to close the case or secure the stylus to the side of the tablet.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Speaking of which, the magnetic hold of the stylus is good but, as with nearly every such device, it’s not strong enough to keep the pen secure during travel, so you do need to depend on the case.

Boox has also changed the pen, now offering the InkSense Plus stylus that has a thicker tip that just isn’t as smooth as the previous stylus. It’s also slightly heavier than the older pen, which makes it feel clunky in the hand that, in my opinion, doesn’t lend itself well to controlled mark making on the screen. And as I’ve discussed elsewhere, the stylus can make or break the user experience for epaper tablets. Sadly Boox is moving away from using EMR support on its screens (just like reMarkable), so you can’t use a third-party pen on the Lumi.

Boox hasn’t revealed what E Ink screen technology it’s using here, but the 10.3-inch display isn’t bad, with a 300ppi resolution. It’s not as yellow (warm) as I’ve seen on other Boox devices and the frontlight’s incremental adjustments for both brightness and temperature are excellent, adding wonderful contrast to the text or writing on the screen that makes the Lumi a far better reading tablet than its predecessor.

• Design & display score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: Software

• Runs a custom Android 15-based operating system
• A relatively clean user interface, but it takes getting used to
• Plenty of good native apps, but access to the Google Play Store makes it very versatile

Where the original Go 10.3 released in 2024 was using Android 12, the Lumi (and its cheaper sibling) have been upgraded to Android 15, although the software is a very trimmed-down custom version of Google’s operating system. You still get unfettered access to the Google Play Store, so you can, in theory, use any Android app, but e-ink tablets weren’t meant for streaming content or playing games on.

That said, nearly every Boox device comes pre-loaded with native apps that are quite good in their own right and have been improved over time as well, making them more streamlined than before. That’s not to say the UX is easy — if you’ve never used a Boox device before, it will take time to wrap your head around it all as there are still little adjustments that are hidden in sub menus.

What’s different with the Go series compared to other Boox tablets is the home screen navigation — the main menu is arranged vertically on the left, with the Library being your default view. You can change the main menu items in Settings, though, either adding or removing applications.

Customizing the user experience has never been Boox’s problem, which means you can choose between several options for System Display or Gestures, and even tweak individual native apps as you see fit — even the NaviBall is optional to use and can be configured to trigger a plethora of functions.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

The Control Center hasn’t changed much over the last couple of years, but I’m still not sure access to an AI assistant is necessary on an e-ink device, but perhaps some power users would appreciate it.

As always, you can sign into a fair few cloud services, including Google Drive and Dropbox, get full support for EverNote and OneNote, or download any other productivity application you might need, but keep in mind that not all third-party apps will be optimized for this device.

One of the things I really like about Boox’s premium note-taking tablets is OTG (on the go) support. This means I can plug in an external hard drive or portable SSD directly into the USB-C port to transfer files. In fact, it’s what I predominantly use even though BooxDrop is a handy app for cloud transfer. I don’t even bother signing into my Google Drive account on a Boox these days.

There really isn’t very much to complain about from a software standpoint — it’s the writing experience that takes a tumble here.

• Software score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: User experience

• Good screen contrast with lights makes for a lovely reading experience
• The supplied pen, however, isn’t as nice as the older version for writing

A device might look lovely and come with the nicest software, but ultimately its user experience determines its value. And that’s the case with the Go 10.3 Gen II Lumi — it does a lot right, like its reading experience is lovely, but its main functionality of writing is a little bit of a letdown.

Reading

Like I said, reading on the Lumi is lovely — the frontlight makes the text stand out, adding contrast where previously, on the Gen 1, it was disappointing. Page turns are quick enough too with the screen quite responsive to taps and gestures.

And yet I feel it’s a little slow for an epaper tablet that was released in 2026. For example, every time I woke up the Lumi during my months-long testing, it took a while to ‘render’ an ebook from its native library app.

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

It very much seemed like it was refreshing the app twice before finally rendering the page. On the other hand, the 3rd-generation Kindle Scribe released in 2025 takes a second or two to open but doesn’t flicker or ‘refresh’ the page — it’s a lot smoother on waking up. As are the Kobo Libra Colour and Kindle Paperwhite from 2024.

Boox doesn’t reveal what E Ink screen tech its using, but other than its slight slowness on waking up, I can’t complain about the reading experience. All books and images rendered on screen have been sharp and clear, particularly with the frontlight on.

Writing

The same kind of contrast with the frontlight on is available on the Notes app too where handwriting looks sharp and clear on screen. However, the physical act of writing on the Lumi isn’t as good as it has been on the Gen 1 because Boox decided to change the stylus.

The previous pen had a thinner nib that moved over the screen quite well. The new InkSense Plus stylus is heavier and the slightly thicker tip feels like it needs to be dragged to make a mark — it feels clunkier in comparison.

Boox has also stepped away from using EMR screens, which means you can’t swap that pen out for another. I tried using one of Boox’s own older pens (used to be supplied with the Note series) and it didn’t work. That’s a real shame as writing is the Lumi’s principal function and the experience of doing so is disappointing.

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

The native Notes application, though, is full featured — in fact, for the average user it’s probably overkill — and would be ideal for students, teachers and researchers.

• User experience score: 3.5 / 5

Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: Performance

• Generally good performance except on waking up
• A lot of ghosting visible, especially in the Notes app
• Exceptional battery life for an Android device

The Lumi's overall performance is a mixed bag. While it uses a better chipset (Qualcomm Snapdragon 690) compared to the original Go 10.3 (Snapdragon 680), it hasn't really made much of a dent in the speed with which the Lumi performs the tasks at hand.

That's not a complaint — it's an observation. However, Amazon's newest Kindle Scribes are just that much faster at things, like page turns are so quick they barely register that they've moved and the lag between pen input and the mark on screen is barely discernible. On both counts the Lumi is just that smidgeon slower that you can notice if you use it side by side with the 2025 Kindle Scribe (3rd generation).

The slow waking up of the screen is also something that has bothered me, and I've already mentioned how disappointing the writing experience is, but I'm also surprised at how much ghosting there still is on Boox devices, including the Lumi, something Amazon has managed to completely eliminate on its Kindles. You'll be able to notice the ghosting on nearly every single image I have in this review (including in the gallery below).

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

Where the Lumi really shines (pardon the pun) is with battery life. It still uses the same 3,700mAh battery pack that was in the Gen 1 model and yet whatever software adjustments Boox has made has pushed battery life to weeks rather than days. It's the first Android digital notebook I've used to have such an impressive battery life, one that can match the Kindle Scribes, albeit dependent on use.

In my case, an hour of reading and 30 minutes of writing per day gave me 17 days of use with frontlight at medium brighness and a similar warmth setting, plus Wi-Fi on at all times (but not Bluetooth). Using cloud services and didn't make any dent on the battery usage, although excessive online browsing did drain a little extra but not by all that much.

Topping up was average, with the 3,700mAh pack going from 19% to full in just under two hours when plugged into a wall charger via a high-quality USB-C cable.

• Performance score: 3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Should I buy the Onyx Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi

Attribute

Notes

Score

Value

It's cheaper than the 3rd-gen Kindle Scribe, but you'll get better performance elsewhere

4 / 5

Design & display

It's a beautiful device with reMarkable 2 vibes, and a frontlight makes a world of difference. However, the display just seems to lack the oomph factor I've seen in newer epaper tablets.

4 / 5

Software & apps

With an Android-based software allowing for versatility, and a nicer user interface than previous Boox UIs, it's hard to fault the Lumi. It's not perfect, but it ain't bad.

4 / 5

Writing & productivity

It's fantastic to read on, with brilliant contrast when the light is on, but the supplied pen is a major letdown when it comes to writing.

3.5 / 5

Reading

Without a frontlight, it's not the ideal ereader

3.5 / 5

Performance

On its own, the Lumi performs well for most users, but it's hard to give it full praise when there are faster E Ink displays being used on competitive digital notebooks, but the battery life is the best for an Android epaper tablet.

3.5 / 5

Buy it if...

You want a thin, light digital notebook with frontlight

There are more epaper writing tablets without a frontlight now than with, and trust me when I saw that can make a difference to usability, especially at nighttime and in bright sunlight.

You want the versatility of the Google Play Store on your digital notebook

It's not the only Android-toting epaper writing tablet, but it's well priced compared to some of the competition.

Don't buy it if...

You'll be doing a lot more writing than reading

The Lumi's main function is as a writing tablet and, given the disappointing stylus supplied with it, it's hard to recommend when there are competitors offering a better experience.

You want the best performance out of your digital notebook

It's not that the Lumi is bad; it's just that there are better options out there that have more responsive screens with next-to-no ghosting.

You need plenty of storage

64GB is a very good amount of storage that you'll get on the Lumi, but power users with large files saved on the device might need more, and there's no microSD card tray here. For that, I'd recommend Boox's Note series over the Go.

Also consider

I like the Lumi, but I don't I love it. If, like me, you'd be keen to check out other options, the two below are the ones I'd recommend, both of which are cheaper but aren't Android based.

Amazon Kindle Scribe (2nd gen)

It might have been succeeded by the 3rd-gen Scribe that's bigger and better, but it's still available to buy and still makes for an excellent e-ink writing tablet with a lovely screen and, importantly, regularly discounted now since it's an older model.
Read our full Amazon Kindle Scribe (2024) review for more details

reMarkable Paper Pure

It's not as full featured as an Android-based epaper writing tablet, but this reMarkable offers you a distraction-free slate to unleash your creativity. It's essentially the reMarkable 2 in a new body with 32GB of storage.
Read our in-depth reMarkable Paper Pure review to learn more

How I tested the Onyx Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

I've tested a range of ereaders and epaper writing tablets for TechRadar, so I'm well suited to compare the Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi with its competitors.

As with all such devices I've previously tested, the first thing I did with the Lumi was to sign into the Google Play Store and down the Kindle and Kobo apps. I then used OTG support to transfer ebooks to the device directly from a portable SSD via the USB-C port, but I also used BooxDrop and cloud transfer from Google Drive to test various services.

The Lumi then became my daily ereader and note taker for 4 weeks, using it an average of 2-3 hours a day to read and write. I'm not an artist, so drawing was out of the question.

Out of curiosity, I also downloaded Geekbench 6 to benchmark the CPU (the app is available on the Play Store). I sideloaded a few MP3 files to test the onboard speakers.

Read more about how we test

[First published July 2026]

Victims of this week's flash fire at a Bangkok music bar that took more than 30 lives included four of the six core members of the band playing when the blaze broke out.

(Image credit: Sakchai Lalit)

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