[1]BOOX PALMA

Pros

    * Boox Super Refresh
    * Android (support for 3rd-party apps)
    * Very portable
    * Great reading app
    * MicroSD Card
    * Speakers/Microphone
    * Camera

Cons

    * No native support for DRM-Protected ebooks
    * No mobile connectivity
    * Not ideal for PDFs

  A very portable 'candy-bar style' Android e-reader that supports higher
  refresh rates and third-party apps.

  When I first found out about the Palma, I was very excited. Had Boox
  succeeded where Hisense had failed? Would I finally be able to achieve
  my dream of replacing my Samsung LCD Android phone with an e-ink
  Android phone?

  My excitement very quickly waned – the Boox Palma would not have a sim
  card slot.

  My next thoughts were What is the point of the Boox Palma? and Who
  would use a phone-sized Android device that doesn’t support mobile
  connectivity?

  Whilst I pondered these questions, Boox sent me a review unit to check
  the Palma out for myself. I’ve been using it for a little over a month
  and my thoughts are below:

  NOTE: For full transparency, the review unit that Boox sent me was a
  pre-release version and so may be slightly different from the final
  product. It had not been water-protected and the left sidebutton didn’t
  work. In addition, there was no camera app installed. These issues will
  be (hopefully) ironed out in the final product release.

Design & Build

  The Boox Palma’s 6.1″ screen is flush with the bezel and the plastic
  chassis is textured on the rear to make it easier to grip.
  Boox Palm (front view) Boox Palma (Front) Boox Palma (back view) Boox
  Palma (Rear)

  Also on the rear panel is a 16Mp camera (with flash). It juts out ever
  so slightly so that the phone does not lay completely flat, however, it
  is not all that noticeable and nowhere near as bad as the [2]Boox Tab
  Ultra camera.

  On the right edge (towards the top) is a power button and volume
  up/down buttons, and on the bottom edge, the USB-C charging and data
  transfer socket sits between two speakers. On the left edge is an extra
  button which can be customised to either refresh the screen, go back,
  take a screenshot, page turn and a few other options. Just above this
  button is the MicroSD card slot (an extractor tool/pin is required to
  open it). On the top edge is the little hole for the microphone.
  Boox Palma (Right) Boox Palma (Right) Boox Palma (Left) Boox Palma
  (Left) Boox Palm (bottom) Boox Palma (Bottom)

  Overall, the Boox Palma is well-built and sturdy – and it was durable
  enough to be carried around in my rucksack for a month or so without a
  protective cover.

Hardware

  Typically, Boox devices have higher hardware specs than similar e-ink
  devices and the Palma is no exception.

  It has a 1.8GHz octa-core CPU and a dedicated GPU with Boox’s Super
  Refresh technology that is used in its TAB line of products. This means
  that tasks that have traditionally had performance issues on e-ink
  screens due to the low refresh rate are now possible.

  For example, I was able to browse the web smoothly without ghosting or
  the screen constantly refreshing. I was also able to watch some YouTube
  videos – the experience isn’t great and I wouldn’t want to be watching
  a lot of videos on the Palma, but it is possible. I was also able to
  use social media, including Facebook and Reddit.

  There’s a massive 6Gb of RAM and 128Gb of storage capacity, which can
  further be extended using the MicroSD Card slot.

  The 6.13″ monochrome e-ink screen has a resolution of 824 x 1648 and a
  pixel density of 300 dpi.

  Integrated into the screen is a frontlight with temperature (warm and
  cold) adjustment. In addition, the Palma has a g-sensor (for
  auto-orientation), Wifi, Bluetooth, Speakers and a Microphone.

  The battery capacity is 3950mAh, and I was concerned that this might
  not be enough to power the dedicated GPU for long periods. But I was
  pleasantly surprised to find that I consistently got 2-3 days out of
  the battery from medium-to-heavy usage.

Software

  The Palma runs Android 11 and has access to the Google Play Store,
  which means you can install whichever Android apps you regularly use
  (although that is not to say that every Android app will work as
  expected on the e-ink screen).
  Boox Palma Home Screen Boox Palma Home Screen Boox Palma Apps Boox
  Palma Apps

  The native reading app, Boox Neoreader, is (in my opinion) one of the
  best e-readers available. It opens a wide range of files including
  EPUB, PDF, AZW3, MOBI, DJVU, CBR, CBZ, FB2, DOC, DOCX, HTML, RTF, TXT,
  CHM, JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF and MP3. It also has lots of options for
  formatting ebooks and documents according to your own preferences.

  Neoreader doesn’t handle DRM-protected files but it is easy enough to
  install other e-readers for this functionality. I installed Kindle
  Reader, Kobo Reader, Pocketbook Reader and KOReader and they all worked
  fine. Audible worked perfectly as well.

  Although there is a rear-facing camera on the Palma, there was no
  native app to access it on my unit. However, I installed an app called
  ‘Open Camera’ from the Play Store and was able to take a few snaps. I
  found it difficult to frame my photos using the black-and-white e-ink
  screen because it was hard to imagine what the picture would look like
  in colour. It was particularly difficult when there was not enough
  light because the shadows are larger and over-emphasised on the e-ink
  screen. But apart from that, the camera worked fine and when I opened
  the photos up on a colour screen, they looked great. I would hope that
  when the Palma is shipped, there will be a native camera app
  pre-installed (update – there’s not a camera app).
  Photograph taken with the Boox Palma Photograph taken with the Boox
  Palma Camera

  I installed Google Chrome and was able to browse the web almost
  flawlessly.

  I also installed GMail, Reddit, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Google
  Calendar, and Google Analytics. And they were all perfectly usable.

My Experience with the Boox Palma

  When I first got the Boox Palma and had a quick play around with it, I
  felt that it was a nice little device but that it wouldn’t really fit
  into my everyday workflows and would have a very limited appeal.

  But I was determined to give it a more thorough test, so I installed
  the Kindle Reader to pick up where I’d left off on my current ebook.
  The e-reading experience was very pleasant – the Palma is about the
  same size as my phone but much lighter, which made holding it for long
  periods very easy.

  I then remembered that I had to send an email, but I was too lazy to
  get off the sofa and grab my phone, so I installed GMail on the Palma.
  I then thought that I could use it as a communications device and went
  on to install my regular communication apps, Facebook Messenger and
  Whatsapp.

  At various points over the next few days, I would install more Android
  apps. One of the first was Google Chrome, then Google Calendar followed
  by Google Analytics, Facebook, and Reddit. All worked acceptably and I
  became less reliant on my phone. In fact, I really enjoyed doing most
  of my on-the-move daily tasks with the comfort of an e-ink screen.

  I became very fond of the Palma and (for a while) it became my primary
  handheld device, with my phone being relegated to my rucksack for most
  of the day. Almost everything I used to do on my phone, I could now do
  on the Palma.

  Except, I still needed to carry my phone around with me as well so that
  I could make and take calls, send and receive SMS messages and have a
  wifi hotspot for the Palma to connect to when I wasn’t at home or the
  office.

  And this is really where the Palma falls over (and it goes full circle
  back to my initial thoughts about the device). Without on-board mobile
  connectivity and support for a Sim Card, I still have to carry two
  devices around with me…and I’m not going to carry around two devices
  when one will suffice.

  I looked into doing some sort of screen-sharing or mirroring between
  the Palma and my phone so that I could send/receive SMS/calls with the
  e-ink device but found nothing that was practical. And, even if it
  were, I’d still have the issue of having to carry around two devices.

  After a couple of weeks, when the novelty of the Palma had worn off, I
  made the difficult decision to switch back to my Samsung Phone. For the
  most part, I loved the Palma, and if it could connect to the mobile
  network and be a true phone replacement, I would snap it up in an
  instant (a well-built Android e-ink phone is my dream). But,
  unfortunately, the Palma is missing the key connectivity functionality
  that I need.

  Don’t get me wrong – I do still use the Palma from time to time as a
  pocket-sized, lightweight and non-bulky ebook reader. But my phone is
  the only device that I need with me all the time, and so the Palma
  often just sits in my rucksack.

Verdict

  I think that it is a little unfair that much of my review has been
  based on comparing the Palma to my mobile phone because this is not the
  use case that Boox envisioned for the device.

  Boox has positioned the Palma as a Mobile ePaper device, offering users
  the ability to perform tasks typically done on Tab series devices in a
  portable format. Because it is equipped with a GPU that supports a fast
  refresh rate it is able to do a lot of things that an Android phone or
  tablet can do. And it can seamlessly integrate with larger-sized
  devices through the cloud, so if you have a Boox writing tablet, you
  can access your notebooks on the Palma.

  Certainly, it is the most powerful and versatile 6″ e-reader available.
  It has fantastic hardware specs, is very portable, and is [DEL:
  waterproof :DEL] (contrary to my original belief, it is NOT waterproof,
  it is ‘water-repellent‘).

  So, I think if you are looking for a pocket-sized e-reader, the Boox
  Palma should be a consideration but only if you are likely to make use
  of its unique power, flexibility and extendability to carry out other
  tasks.

  If you only plan on using it for reading, it might be a bit overkill
  particularly as it is also the most expensive 6″ e-reader, priced at
  $250 USD. More affordable options in the 6″ category include the
  [3]Kindle 2022, [4]Kobo Clara, and even the [5]Boox Poke 5.

  In summary, the Boox Palma is a thoroughly decent device – actually,
  I’ll go further than that and say it is currently the best 6″ e-reader
  on the market – but this comes at a cost and I imagine that only a
  small subset of the market will be able to take full advantage of its
  power and versatility.

  But if it had mobile connectivity….well, that would really disrupt the
  market…

  [6]The Boox Palma is currently available from the Boox Store

DATASHEET

  [7]Check out our fully searchable e-reader comparison table here.
  PRODUCT [8]BOOX PALMA
  [9]Specs & ratings info [10]BOOX PALMA

  👍 Recommended
  My Rating
  [11]86%
  Review
  Price (approx) [12]$280
  Manufacturer Onyx Boox
  Release year 2023
  SCREEN [13]BOOX PALMA
  Screen size 6.1"
  Screen density (B/W) 300dpi
  Colour ⨯
  Screen density (Colour) n/a
  Frontlight ✓
  Buy
  HARDWARE [14]BOOX PALMA
  Storage 128Gb
  Super Refresh ✓
  Speakers ✓
  Microphone ✓
  G-Sensor ✓
  Bluetooth ✓
  SD card slot ✓
  Waterproof ⨯
  Page Turn Buttons ✓
  Width 80mm
  Height 159mm
  Thickness 8mm
  Weight 170g
  Buy
  SOFTWARE [15]BOOX PALMA
  Operating system Android 11
  Google Play Store ✓
  Kindle support ✓
  ADE support ⨯
  File formats PDF, EPUB, DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, TXT, HTML, RTF, FB2, CBZ,
  CBR, AZW3, MOBI, PRC, DJVU, CHM, ZIP
  File formats (image) PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP
  File formats (Audio) WAV, MP3
  Additional notes -
  Buy
  Where to buy [16]Boox Euro Store
  [17]Boox Store
  PRODUCT [18]BOOX PALMA

  [19]Me and my e-ink tablets

  Dan Dutton is passionate about E-ink writing tablets, which bring
  together the pleasure of writing on paper with the power of digital
  technology. When he bought his first tablet, he realised that there
  wasn't a lot of unbiased information available for people that were
  considering buying an E-ink tablet, and so he built eWritable.

References

  Visible links:
  1. https://ewritable.com/a/?booxpalma
  2. https://ewritable.com/tablets/onyx-boox-tab-ultra/review
  3. https://ewritable.com/ereaders/kindle-2022/review/
  4. https://ewritable.com/ereaders/kobo-clara-2e/review/?koboclara2e
  5. https://ewritable.com/ereaders/boox-poke5/review/
  6. https://ewritable.com/a/?booxpalma
  7. https://ewritable.com/ereaders/search-comparison-table/
  8. https://ewritable.com/ereaders/boox-palma/
  9. https://ewritable.com/e-ink-tablet-specifications-ratings/
 10. https://ewritable.com/a/?booxpalma
 11. https://ewritable.com/ereaders/boox-palma/review/
 12. https://ewritable.com/a/?booxpalma
 13. https://ewritable.com/ereaders/boox-palma/
 14. https://ewritable.com/ereaders/boox-palma/
 15. https://ewritable.com/ereaders/boox-palma/
 16. https://euroshop.boox.com/products/boox-go-color7?ref=1xOSXAvLABbr7F&variant=43732359708872
 17. https://shop.boox.com/products/palma?ref=lHOq7VyfFOljY1
 18. https://ewritable.com/ereaders/boox-palma/
 19. https://ewritable.com/author/admin/

  Hidden links:
 21. https://ewritable.com/ereaders/boox-palma/review/
 22. https://ewritable.com/ereaders/boox-palma/review/

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