Boox seems to have tapped on an unfilled niche with the release of the Palma, their smartphone-sized e-reader that’s been gaining quite a number of fans since its release last year. it just made so much sense as a portable alternative to the much bigger e-readers everyone else was selling. The Boox Palma 2 takes that surprise hit and makes it even better.
Externally, the e-reader looks fairly the same as its predecessor, coming in at around the same size and general design. It also retains many of the same specs as the original, from the RAM and the storage to the rear camera. What it addresses, though, are the main shortcomings in the previous generations, so it gets a new processor for faster screen refreshes, a biometric system for better security, and a new version of Android to keep it compatible with the latest versions of apps.
The Boox Palma 2 gets the same 6.13-inch E-Ink Carta 1200 screen, a grayscale display with 300 PPI pixel density, enough to mimic the appearance of traditional printed matter. It also gets the same 6GB of RAM, which should be enough to handle any modern reading app, as well as the 12GB of storage for accommodating any reading materials you want to keep on hand. In case the storage room runs short, it also has a microSD card slot, so you can extend it with additional storage as needed.
It also retains the same 16MP rear camera as the original, so you can use it to take photos and videos, if you don’t mind the less-than-stellar use of an E-Ink screen as a viewfinder. Since you’re probably still going to use your phone camera for more traditional photographs, Boox recommends using the device’s camera as a digital scanner, since it’s also compatible with plenty of apps for digitizing various documents.
The Boox Palma 2 has a new octa-core SOC that should enable faster screen refreshes, which is very much needed for any Android-based E-Ink device, while allowing you to perform basic multitasking tasks with ease. To optimize performance, you can set the device to one of four settings, namely HD (for the best onscreen text quality), Under Balanced (for skimming book pages and images), Fast Mode (for faster overall screen refreshes), and Ultrafast (for watching videos and other tasks not usually performed on e-readers). It also gets a fingerprint sensor on the power button, so you should be able to quickly unlock it with just one hand.
While the previous version ran Android 11, this one now runs on Android 13. Sure, that’s still not quite the latest version of Android, but it should be current enough that it should better support most newer versions of apps. It has preinstalled Google Play Store access. Other features include an adjustable front light, a 3,950mAh battery, a physical rocker for use when turning pages, a water-resistant construction, customizable physical controls and gestures (short press, long press, double tap), built-in speaker for audiobooks and TTS, and a OTG support for connected external devices.
The Boox Palma 2 is now available for preorder, priced at $279.99.