The reason to buy a BOOX Mira arrives before the specification sheet. It arrives around 3:17 in the afternoon, when another PDF is open, the cursor is blinking, and the bright laptop panel feels less like a tool than a dare. Mira is for the person whose computer is mostly a machine for words. It gives that person a 13.3-inch reflective E Ink canvas that looks closer to a printed page than a glowing desktop.
That makes it a specialist, and a rather costly one. BOOX currently lists the original Mira at $799.99 and sold out. For the same money, conventional displays offer acres of color and effortless motion. Mira offers something narrower: 2200 x 1650 monochrome pixels, a 4:3 page-like shape, warm and cool front lights, touch, and permission to spend more of the day away from a backlit panel.
The people most likely to understand the proposition are writers, editors, programmers, researchers, students, and analysts. If the work is drafting, reading, comparing documents, watching logs, answering email, or sitting inside a terminal, the limitations can become tolerable. If the day revolves around Figma, timelines, color grading, games, or video calls, they become the whole story.
Why it exists: a calmer place for words
BOOX, the consumer brand of Guangzhou-based Onyx International, entered dedicated monitors with Mira in 2021. The product grew out of the same practical insight behind e-readers: text does not need to glow or redraw sixty times a second to remain useful. The launch model paired a flexible E Ink panel with Mini HDMI and USB-C, giving Windows, macOS, and Linux computers a direct external display rather than asking users to remote into an Android tablet.
With a laptop that supports video over USB-C or Thunderbolt 3, one cable can carry the image and power. Mini HDMI works too, though USB-C must still supply power and the touch signal. This detail matters. A USB-C socket can be charge-only, and a disappointing black rectangle is an expensive way to learn about DisplayPort Alt Mode.
Physically, Mira is closer to a portable laptop display than a desktop monitor. The aluminum body is 5.6 mm at its thinnest point, and its magnetic sleeve folds into a stand. Reviewers liked the portability and were less fond of the stand's limited adjustment. The 75 x 75 mm VESA holes are the grown-up solution: add an arm and the screen can sit beside a conventional monitor, or turn vertically for long pages.
“Light and portable” sits on the pro list. “Artifacts are common” sits on the con list. Both can be true before lunch.BGR's 7/10 review, 2023
The daily bargain: speed versus cleanliness
E Ink holds an image without constantly refreshing it. That is lovely for a page and awkward for a mouse pointer. BOOX answers with four default modes: Speed for general computer use, Text for typing, Image for pictures and timed clearing, and Video for dynamic content. The desktop utility adds custom settings for contrast, light and dark cutoffs, speed, and refresh behavior.
The E Ink seesaw
Editorial workflow fit, not measured benchmark data. Moving toward speed generally means accepting lighter blacks and more visible residue.
No mode abolishes the physics. Fast movement leaves pale traces, dark interface blocks can smear into what follows, and a page that looked clean five minutes ago can acquire a faint archaeological record. The square button at the lower right performs a full refresh and clears it. Owners on Reddit describe pressing it often, especially when switching between pages or applications. This is normal operation, not necessarily a defect.
The practical trick is to redesign the computer around the panel. Use light themes. Increase font weight. Remove translucent panels, gradients, wallpaper, and decorative shadows. Prefer keyboard navigation over long mouse journeys. Keep color-critical alerts on the laptop screen. A programmer in the BOOX community called the Mira “wonderful” after moving the system to white or high-contrast mode, while warning that shaded backgrounds create fragments and force more refreshes.
What it is good at, and what it politely refuses
| Task | Mira fit | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Writing and editing | Strong | Crisp type, quiet grayscale, and little need for continuous motion. |
| PDFs and research | Strong | The 4:3 panel suits pages; 13.3 inches can feel tight beside several source windows. |
| Coding | Mixed to strong | Excellent for terminals and text-forward editors; syntax colors and dense IDE chrome lose meaning. |
| Spreadsheets | Mixed | Static cells read well, but rapid scrolling and color-coded dashboards are compromised. |
| Web browsing | Mixed | Reader modes and simple sites work; animation, sticky overlays, and gray UI create residue. |
| Design, games, video | Poor | Monochrome output, ghosting, and pointer latency work against the task. |
Touch input adds a useful wrinkle. With the correct USB connection, a finger can scroll a document or operate the attached computer. It is handy for a screen placed close to the keyboard, but it does not turn Mira into a standalone tablet. There is no Android home screen, battery-powered reading session, storage, or stylus notebook hiding inside. Disconnect the source and the monitor has nothing new to say.
The front light is also easy to misunderstand. Mira has no conventional backlight shining through the image. Its adjustable LEDs throw warm or cool light across the reflective surface from the front. In daylight, turn them off and let the room do the work. In dim conditions, the light keeps the page readable. Anyone buying specifically because illumination triggers symptoms should test the monitor within a return window; E Ink comfort is personal, and community reports are not unanimous.
The competition changed while Mira stood still
The original Mira now lives in a busier field. DASUNG sells 13.3-inch Paperlike models, including newer 300 ppi monochrome and color versions that advertise higher refresh rates. Bigme's B13 brings a 13.3-inch color panel. Sun Vision Display takes another route with 24- and 32-inch reflective LCD monitors, which keep full color and conventional motion but need strong ambient or front lighting and occupy much more desk.
BOOX itself moved upscale. The current Mira Pro family uses a 25.3-inch, 3200 x 1800 display, and the 2025 Color Version adds Kaleido 3 color. Those are desktop machines, not portable companions. Their scale solves Mira's cramped multi-window problem while abandoning the slip-it-beside-the-laptop appeal that made the original unusual.
Buy it if...
- Your day is mostly text and static documents.
- You want a portable reflective second display.
- You are willing to tune themes, fonts, and refresh modes.
- You can keep a color screen nearby for exceptions.
Skip it if...
- You need smooth motion or faithful color.
- You expect an $800 screen to be effortless.
- You live inside dense, color-coded applications.
- Ghosting or pointer delay breaks concentration.
A sane setup ritual for new owners
Prove the cable path
Test whether the computer's USB-C port carries video. If it does not, use Mini HDMI and add USB-C for power and touch.
Start in a light theme
Choose a plain white background, dark text, larger type, and fewer visual effects before judging sharpness or ghosting.
Assign jobs to modes
Try Text for drafts, Image for PDFs, and Speed for navigation. Save custom settings instead of chasing one universal mode.
Keep refresh within reach
Treat the square clearing button like Page Down. A deliberate full refresh is part of the interface.
Fix the ergonomics
The cover stand is convenient for travel. For daily use, a VESA arm or solid tablet stand gives better height and tilt.
Verdict: an accessory for a deliberate workday
Mira works when the buyer stops asking whether it can imitate an LCD and asks which parts of the day never needed an LCD in the first place. A clean draft, a long article, a terminal, a reference PDF, and a quiet inbox all fit. A film, a design file, and a frantic dashboard do not.
At $799.99, especially with the original model sold out through BOOX, this is not an impulse experiment. Buyers should compare current DASUNG and Bigme options, confirm return terms, and verify cable compatibility before shopping used stock. Still, the core idea remains useful: not every computer task benefits from more brightness, more color, and more motion. For the right desk, Mira is a way to move the words somewhere calmer and leave the glowing screen on call for everything else.
A used Mira deserves a proper audition. Bring a known video-capable USB-C cable, fill the panel with white and then black, run a full refresh, and look for marks that remain. Test both light temperatures, the wheel, the function button, the touch layer, Mini HDMI, and each USB-C port. Confirm that the magnetic cover and VESA screws are present if they matter to your setup. Most important, spend ten minutes scrolling and typing in the application you actually use. A spec sheet cannot tell you whether the pointer delay feels meditative or maddening, and that distinction decides the purchase.