Onyx has announced the Boox Palma 2, a follow-up to last year’s intriguing small-screen e-reader.
We were quite impressed with the Boox Palma, with its unique one-handed potential and supreme pocketability. It was far from the finished article though, which is where the Boox Palma 2 comes in.
The Boox Palma 2 is fronted by the same 6.13-inch 300ppi E Ink Carta 1200 screen as before, which provides a much more portable reading experience than you get with most e-readers. Given the compact side, text looks even sharper here than on most regular e-readers.
New this time is a faster (albeit unspecified) octa-core processor to help zip its Android-derived UI along a little faster. This is backed by the same 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage as before.
Talking of Android UIs, Onyx has leapt forward a couple of generation from Android 11 in the original Palma to Android 13 in the Palma 2. Yes, we know, it’s still a couple of generations behind, but it’s progress. Besides, Onyx’s take on Android is just about the most stripped-back we’ve ever seen, although it does now include an AI assistant to answer all your questions.
The fact that it’s based on Android is an unusual feature for an e-reader, but it means that it gains access to the Google Play Store and all of its many e-book apps. You can download Amazon’s Kindle app on this thing, as well as all of the usual social media and productivity apps.
The other major addition here is a fingerprint sensor stashed under the side-mounted power button.
Once again there’s a 16MP rear camera with flash, intended for document scanning rather than holiday snaps. Dual microphones and speakers allow the Boox Palma 2 to serve as a portable media and podcast player.
The Boox Palma 2 is available to pre-order now in two colours: Ivory White and Deep Cyan Black. It costs the same as the original, which is €299.99 / $279.99
Onyx has also announced two more traditional new e-readers in the Note Air 4 C and Boox Note Max. The former is the follow-up to the Onyx Boox Air 3 C, a large e-reader with a colour display. This time it packs an improved refresh rate, faster performance, and Android 13 with a new tablet-like UI. It costs €549.99 / $499.99.
The Boox Note Max packs a huge 13.3-inch E Ink Carta 1300 display into a super-skinner 4.6mm-thick body, and will eventually sell for €699.99 / $649.99 when it becomes available in the near future.
