I don't know anything about Boox, but I've had a Kobo Clara BW for almost two years and it gets the job done. I don't care about the color screen, and I've read in reviews that the colors are kind of muddy and it's not really worth the price, especially if you're just reading novels. It connects to my local library's app directly and I've had no problem side loading downloads from my desktop. It has a backlit e-ink screen, which I like for reading in dark mode in bed. I like that it holds a ton of books (audio books too, although I don't use it for that) and fits in my back pocket. The only bad thing I have to say about it is that I used to like reading web articles via Mozilla Pocket, which Mozilla discontinued. Kobo replaced it with Instapaper, which I can't really get to work properly, although I admit I haven't put a whole lot of effort into it. I think the issue is integration with LibreWolf, but I honestly can't be arsed with it.