Boox is almost alwaysat the forefront of e-reading tech, whether that’s support for color screens or a competent OS that brings so much more to the table than the barebones firmware you’ll find across Amazon, B&N, and Rakuten devices. Today, Boox is launching one of its most exciting devices to date, thephone-sized Boox Palma, and after using it for the last few days in preparation for an upcoming review, I can say there’s a lot to love here.
I’ve been a fan of e-readers since the first Kindle. Perhaps my love of handheld tech drove the interest, but I’ve certainly developed a passion for all E Ink devices, having reviewed quite a few over the last few years. Of course, many of thesereviews cover Boox e-readers, and since they run Android, it’s a perfect culmination of interests.
Onyx Boox Palma
The Onyx Boox Palma is a phone-sized e-reader that runs Android, something between a tablet and phone that works for e-reading and general web browsing. Plus, since it runs Android, you may use all of your Android apps, including e-reading apps like Google Play Books that looks phenomenal on the device thanks to respecting the device’s refresh rates.
For me, E Ink devices are something I use when relaxing, when I wish to unplug and simply read unencumbered by distractions. And it’s been a dream of mine to see someone manufacture a competent smartphone out of the tech. For Android users, Boox is already blurring the line between e-reader and tablet, and with the release of the Boox Palma, now we have something that’s much closer to a smartphone.
The Boox Palma does not contain a cellular radio of any kind; you will have to use WiFi for data, but it’s the form factor that soars here, in combination with some newish software that refines the Android app experience further, paired with capable hardware like a Snapdragon 662 and 6GB Ram. You won’t be able to replace your phone with the Palma, though I can say around the house it’s already getting more screen time than my phone, and that has everything to do with how Boox has decided to deal with a few of its shortcomings.
The first thing that really impressed me was to see per-app settings for the screen refresh. The nature of E Ink means scrolling content will add ghosting, and the nature of Android means most apps scroll. To work around this, Boox offers settings to control when the screen refreshes. In my testing, this feature doesn’t work with every app, like the Kindle app or Pocket, but it does work with Google Play Books on the Palma, which means you can legitimately refresh the screen automatically on every single finger tap when using Play Books. This may sound like a small thing, but this is huge news as Play Books offers a built-in store, resulting in a huge library that displays well on E Ink, which can not be said for the Kindle, Kobo, or Nook apps.
But beyond how well Play Books works on the Palma, the other appeal of the device is how it straddles the line of dumbphones and smartphones. I often dream of the day I no longer have to be constantly connected to information, and have toyed with the idea of moving to a dumbphone for some peace of mind. The problem is I require a few apps, like Spotify and Uber, which is why I’ve fantasized about a smart dumbphone that uses an E Ink screen. The Palma is pretty close to exactly what I would want, short of the missing radio, which brings me right back to why I’ve been using it around the house more than my phone for the last week. What it does, it does well, and so I’ve been reading a lot more lately, and actual quality content within novels instead of the random ramblings on social media that used to fill my phone’s screen time.
So, not only does the Boox Palma have me excited for the potential of an E Ink smartphone, seeing that it gets pretty close to exactly what I would want. But as a pocketable e-reader that you can carry one-handed, it’s quickly becoming my favorite screens in the house. Whether it will be for you is another question, but if you love to read and also love small tech that excels in niche areas, the Palma is a stunner that I truly hope broadens the market so we eventually see a killer E Ink smartphone from Boox.
The Onyx Boox Palma fills a unique niche of a phone-sized e-reader. And since it runs Android, you can use all of your favorite Android apps on the device, in the palm of your hand.
