The Boox Palma stands out as a 6.13-inch, 300 PPI e-ink black and white display device, differing significantly from other Boox devices due to its unique smartphone-like format. However, it’s essential to clarify that while it resembles a smartphone, it lacks network capabilities.
Initially unsure of the Boox Palma’s purpose, the more I used it, the more its display quality, front light, and auto-intensity adjustment impressed me.
Despite not being a full-fledged smartphone replacement due to its reliance on internet access and lack of photographic capabilities, it can serve as a decent alternative if these limitations aren’t critical for your needs.
Actual Purpose and Applications
Understanding the Boox Palma’s actual purpose gets tricky. While it could work as an e-reader, the rounded corners on the bezel impact app usability, causing certain apps to get too close to the edges. The vertical portrait orientation might not suit everyone for reading, affecting the overall user experience. While it supports Kindle, Kobo, and inverted schemes, the screen format might not deliver optimal content for all users.
Boox Palma Specification
Aspect of Consideration
- Unboxing
- Design
- Display
- Reading
- Hardware
- Battery
- Pricing
Design
The Boox Palma is unlike most smartphones today. With a screen size of 6.13 inches, it stands out as a compact device.
However, the prominent bezels surrounding the screen add bulk, making its dimensions comparable to larger smartphones like the Pixel 8 Pro.
Despite this, the Palma remains relatively lightweight at 170g, resembling a shrunken Kindle or a mini version of other Boox tablets. The textured back surface enhances grip and adds a unique touch to the otherwise plastic design.
Layout: The device layout comprises a volume rocker (assignable for volume or page navigation), a power button (no fingerprint reader), microphones at the top and bottom, a USB-C port, and a single speaker. The screen, flush with the surface, offers good image clarity despite slight reflectivity.
The Boox Palma boasts a single 16-megapixel camera, primarily intended for scanning documents.
Display
The Boox Palma comes with HD Carta e-ink display with 300 PPI and a screen size of 6.13 inch giving the screen crisp and clear visuals.
The Palma features a dual front light that allows adjusting color temperature and intensity. It’s also equipped with a light sensor for automatic brightness adjustments based on ambient light conditions.
The Boox Palma presents a fascinating array of screen refresh options, catering to various user preferences.
- The Ultra Fast mode promises the best quality, resolution, and minimum ghosting but operates at a slower pace.
- Balanced mode offers an equilibrium between speed and responsiveness, leveraging the dedicated GPU unit for an interactive experience.
- Fast mode prioritizes speed but can result in image degradation and increased ghosting.
It also allows users to manually adjust settings or, more conveniently, set specific refresh modes for different applications. For instance, Google Play can operate in Fast mode while the Edge browser works in Balanced mode.
Moreover, the Boox Palma introduces a manual refresh button, conveniently placed alongside the micro SD card slot. This button clears ghosting, enhancing the overall display experience.
Reading
The Boox Palma despite its smartphone like form factor has a decent screen size when compared to other E Reader. However, if you are jumping from a bigger E Reader like the Kobo Libra or Kindle Oasis the screen size might seem small.
The device performs admirably well, especially in speed refresh mode, handling various formats and document orientations with ease with minimal lag.
For e-Books and properly formatted e-pubs, the Palma functions reasonably well. The device supports various e-book formats such as ePub, Kindle, and PDFs, allowing users to read digital books from multiple sources. With Android and Play Store support you can download you favorite third party reading apps.
Reading PDFs: However, dealing with PDFs poses challenges due to the device’s vertical format. Despite an excellent new reader with formatting capabilities, the limitations become evident when handling PDF documents. The portrait mode with fit-to-width offers good readability, but the limited height of the screen proves restrictive for comprehensive PDF viewing.
Like most Boox devices the Boox Palma has back lit screen with warm lights and auto brightness making the reading experience quite nice.
Hardware & Software
Software: Running on Android, the Boox Palmer has a unique interface, lacking the Google Discover feed and featuring a page of customizable widgets instead.
Notably, there’s no app tray; all apps must reside on the home screen, though folders can help organize them. The notifications bar functions conventionally, but the Control Center, accessed by swiping down from the right, offers quick toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and various settings.
Running on Android version 11, the device feels somewhat dated, but Onyx promises at least three years of firmware updates.
Hardware: Internally Boox Palma, runs on an octa-core processor with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage (expandable up to 2TB via micro SD).
Although it possesses Wi-Fi, it needs an external source like a router, phone hotspot, or dedicated mobile hotspot for internet access.
Camera: When it comes to the camera it lacks a dedicated camera app, being an Android 11 Google Play-enabled device allows downloading third-party camera apps for normal photography. However, the image quality isn’t impressive. It’s apparent the camera isn’t designed to replace smartphone cameras, serving solely for document scanning and OCR conversion.
Battery
The Boox Palma impressively houses a 3950mAh battery while maintaining a lightweight design at 160 grams. However, due to the power-hungry dedicated GPU responsible for enhancing display clarity and mitigating ghosting, the battery life isn’t as extensive as typical e-ink devices.
Under regular conditions, standby time could be around 400 hours, but reading or browsing might consume approximately 9% of battery per hour.
When using the front light expect around 10-12 hours of active use. Turning off the front light extends this to about 18 hours. While the battery performance isn’t exceptional for an e-ink device, practical use cases often involve lower front light settings, thereby increasing usability.
Pricing
A promising gadget with a unique blend of features that aims to replace your smartphone with an E-Ink display. Are you looking for a new device that blurs the line between a smartphone and an e-reader? If so than this niched down E Reader can be a good choice.
What is Included in the package? The package contains the Device, minimal paperwork, and a USB charging cable, and an AC power adapter.
Conclusion
The Boox Palma presents great potential as a unique device. However, its reliance on external internet sources, incomplete user experience, and software limitations pose significant concerns. It’s an innovative gadget that feels promising yet lacking in some critical areas, particularly in defining its purpose and adapting its UI to the device format.
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