E-Reader or E-Paper Tablet & Zotero

philhutchinson · 2026-01-17T17:23:08+00:00

Does anyone successfully use an E-Reader or E-Paper tablet with Zotero?
I have a large Zotero library of 3000+ PDFs, mainly academic books and papers. I usually read and annotate within Zotero. Now the Android app has been released I wondered if:
a. Anyone used something like the Onyx Boox Note Air 5 C with Zotero, or
b. If any other Android-based e-readers worked well with Zotero. Or
c. If not, if anyone has recommendations for the best ereader for reading and annotating academic (mainly philosophy--so text based) PDFs based on experience of doing so?

Finally, it would be great if an E-Reader manufacturer partnered with Zotero to create a Zotero-focused E-Reader.

ridvanbinici · 2026-01-18T10:57:30+00:00

I have been using Zotero in combination for various models of Onyx Boox for about 5 years now. I think I have used Note 5, Tab Ultra and Page 5 (not sure). I am mostly satisfied with the experience. If you have Zotero subscription, you have three workflow option. Boox offers native Zotero sync, there is Zoo for Zotero and Zotero official android app. All have upsides and downsides though. For example native Boox sync sometimes fail to download or upload items. Zoo for Zotero sometimes crashes and takes a long time to load. Official Zotero app has a fine reader, but pen input and e-reader experience not on
par (and cannot be) with Boox's PDF reader app Neoreader.
I forgot to mention KOReader Zotero plugin, which had some major issues about 6 months ago.
For a detailed comparison, you could search the forums and find many more comments about e-readers experince with Zotero.

philhutchinson · 2026-01-18T11:08:43+00:00

Thanks very much, that's really useful. So, just to be clear, you recommend Onyx Boox devices? I'm thinking of buying the new Note Air 5C.

ridvanbinici · 2026-01-18T12:52:55+00:00

Cannot comment on a device that I have never used. All I can say is colored e-ink wasn't perfect when I toyed with latest models about one year ago.

tmarinus · 2026-01-18T14:04:14+00:00

I just bought the boox 5c for zotero use.

I'm still trying to get it all to work. Big concern is data ownership. Boox sends a lot of data to its servers. However one can remove and block many of these services. https://appsec.space/posts/onyx-boox-go-10.3/
Besides this the company breaks the GNU licence which sucks!

Then once that is done I setup sync using self hosted WebDAV inside zotero. And I'm using syncthing-fork to sync other pdfs from laptop and PC that are outside zotero.
Additionally I setup the notes app from boox to auto export notes made into pdfs that allows me to see and use them on laptop.

How does all this work? Decently. It could be way better for sure. Zotero is still missing some functions. For example I would love if the volume buttons (can can be set to scroll, next page or volume in boox) to work switching pages in the pdfs.
I'm also missing tabs for opening multiple pdfs.
And following links in a pdf I haven't found a direct way to go back (like how it works on desktop).

The screen is dark, like all reviews say. This means you need to use the extra light, this works well but is not like a b/w ereader giving 0 eye strain. However it feels a lot better than an tablet for me.
The pen works well too. (Quite impressed by that even)

So here is my short summary of using the boox 5c for less than a week.

swfuhexin · 2026-01-19T00:59:32+00:00

Maybe you can try: https://github.com/normanify/zbook

tmarinus · 2026-01-19T13:33:45+00:00

@swfuhexin
While this gives a way of opening the downloaded PDF's in another reader, it does not (as far as I can see) a way of syncing the PDF back into Zotero.

I think a huge benefit of of using Zotero's own PDF reader is that all my annotations etc are always the same between different devices.

normanfoster · 2026-01-19T14:53:20+00:00

@tmarinus

If two-way sync is required, I think the Android version of Zotero has done a really good job.

Zbook can call the device's default reader to open quickly and is only intended to support one-way sync (from Zotero to E-Reader devices), which has some advantages in supporting older devices.

tmarinus · 2026-01-19T15:50:01+00:00

@normanfoster I agree. I really like the two way sync using webdav works great.

I have tested that if you prefer to have your own pdf app, a solution (in boox) is using the build in zotero sync, which allows for syncing and opening the pdf's in whichever app you want. Downside to this (besides having to give boox access to internet) is that the interface is a bit less for finding the specific pdf's, and unless you pay for Zotero you are limited in storage. (Good reason to pay for zotero).

Personally, I will stick to the official Zotero app cause I really like to have uniformity in my annotations from different platforms. Even if improvements I am hoping for are never reaching the android app, it is for sure already working really well.

ap3489 · 2026-01-19T16:20:09+00:00

@tmarinus @normanfoster

I am looking at this - I assume the reason I can barely download any PDFs on my Note Air5c is because I don't pay for the Zotero storage and therefore its not syncing from desktop version?

Handy to knbow if thats the only thing I am missing - currently only a few PDFs have the blue download arrow - most produce a red exclamation mark

tmarinus · 2026-01-19T16:33:26+00:00

@ap3489 When you do not use zotero storage it will not store the PDF's. So those are not synced, only the meta data.
If you do not want to pay for Zotero storage then I think setting up some webdav storage is the easiest solution to get sync working on all entries.

(Tho maybe we should keep this discussion about experiences of using ereader and zotero)

chrislittle · 2026-01-19T17:18:21+00:00

Zotero for Android generally works very well with Onyx Boox products. I use it with a Zotero storage plan which makes it seamless, but I understand it also works reasonably well with other ways of syncing.

The two main issues are: no Zotero for Android epub support yet (it is being developed as I understand, so fingers crossed it arrives soon) and the app is not optimized for black and white screens, so things like choosing a highlight colour are a little frustrating.

But in general, I'd recommend the workflow with Boox devices. I am not aware of any other eink devices that even come close, although I have stopped paying much attention after finding the solution I needed with Boox devices a few years ago.

The Boox data privacy issues could be a concern depending on the nature of your work and data stored. I tend to keep my use of it pretty stripped back to just Zotero and pleasure reading for that reason, although I am not up to speed on the precise issues.

oyvindbs · 2026-01-20T12:15:08+00:00

I think the Zotero integration for Boox works quite well now. I seem to have to try a few times when I download the pdfs but they are fast synced back (not the case on 3.5.4 but works on 4.1.1).

If you're interested in reading epubs, the Zotero web library works quite well. I usually read epubs there. I've even made an Android app that I use on my Boox note which shows the book covers in your Zotero account and links to the books in the web library (will be updated to the app when it supports epub reading).

(I'm looking for beta testers to be able to publish it as an open beta on Google Play. If you're interested, e-mail me at appbugge@gmail.com). You can see more of the app here: https://oyvindsolheim.com/other/zotshelf/

m.lana · 2026-01-27T11:29:10+00:00

in this line of integration of zotero between PC and tablet
anyone knows or uses the TCL NXTPAPER 11 ?
(interesting because costs less than the /similar but different/ Onyx boox go)
Maurizio

tmarinus · 2026-01-27T12:16:52+00:00

Considering that that also just runs android it should all be the same.

oyvindbs · 2026-01-27T13:59:49+00:00

Like the last commenter wrote, you can use both the Zotero app, the web library (I think) (and ZotShelf) with any android device. The implementation of the Zotero api on boox is only available on boox devices.

If you want to use the internal pdf reader on other devices you can probably just download the pdf from the web library and upload it afterwards with the annotations. I don’t think the api implementation on boox is so good that I would recommend it if that is the only difference between boox and an alternative.

qtdovky · 2026-01-27T14:14:15+00:00

@m.lana I'm pretty sure the TCL has google services because its just a more "eye-protecting" LCD screen, so it should work fine with the official Android app. E-ink is different technology than LCD, but it is cool that the TCL can kind of "replicate" the e-ink experience.

qtdovky · 2026-01-27T14:20:10+00:00

I own an Onyx Box Note Air 3C, I've used both the API integration of Zotero as well as the official app, and I would say to be mildly cautious. I one time annotated through half of a very important text in Neo-Reader, pushed it through the sync to Zotero, and then none of my annotations showed in the desktop app, but did in the android one. It was only ever that PDF, but know that you may need to "test" your PDF's to see if your annotations can sync through the API to all "types" of Zotero. It may be different now, but I just use the native app now which was the solution.

m.lana · 2026-01-27T17:00:19+00:00

re: reading PDFs
the idea is that of having a tablet where Zotero works most smoothly in sync with Zotero on the Mac.
hence PDF are to be read and annotated on the tablet by using the internal reader of Zotero.

this should (help to) avoid the problems mentioned?