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The Boox Palma 2 (left) cannot take calls, however the Bigme Hibreak (proper) can.
Credit score: Joel Cunningham
The Boox Palma e-reader is certainly my favourite gadget from the previous few years, however I additionally get why so many individuals discover it to be just a little confounding. It is a phone-shaped e-ink system that has all of the capabilities of a contemporary Android smartphone—along with serving up your e-books, it could possibly run apps from the Google Play retailer; it even has a digital camera. However would not have mobile performance, which suggests it could possibly’t take calls. That is likely to be altering, and shortly.
In accordance with a report from The Verge, Boox’s mother or father firm, the Chinese language tech agency Onyx Worldwide, is engaged on a brand new Palma-like system that can retain the shape and e-ink show of the present Palma, however add each mobile connectivity and shade—two of essentially the most requested options from the system’s die-hard followers, at the least judging by my observations of the r/Onyx_Boox subreddit over the previous few years.
The Verge obtained a have a look at the presumed Palma successor throughout IFA 2025, a European commerce present akin to CES. Although it wasn’t on show on the present flooring, a reporter was proven a tool that certain seemed lots just like the Palma, however which had each a shade show (virtually actually the identical Kaleido 3 display discovered on the Boox Go Coloration 7) and icons indicating a 4G + LTE mobile connection. No concrete particulars on specs or a launch date had been offered. (You may learn extra, and see an image of the system, over at The Verge).
Operate lastly follows kind
Personally, I like the Palma as a result of it is extra moveable than the common e-reader. As a result of it’s simpler to hold, I learn extra and use addictive apps on my cellphone much less (although the Palma can run most apps, social media is not very enjoyable on a sluggish e-ink display). However I nonetheless want to hold my cellphone, for all the same old causes (messaging, maps, tap-to-pay), so it is not the life-changing system it’d in any other case be. That might change if Boox certainly releases a Palma that may make calls and run messaging apps over a mobile connection.
There are quite a lot of questions that should be answered earlier than I can get too excited, nonetheless. For one factor, the system hasn’t been formally introduced, and there is no assure will probably be launched within the close to time period, or if will probably be bought within the U.S. (not all Boox merchandise can be found within the U.S. market). Then there’s the matter of service assist—you are actually not going to have the ability to purchase a Palma cellphone direct from Verizon or T-Cell, and it is not a certain factor {that a} Chinese language-made area of interest system it’s going to play good with each home service.
We additionally haven’t any data on what this factor may cost. For $300, the Palma already has quite a lot of phone-like capabilities, however including a shade display and a modem (and getting it licensed to play good with U.S.-based networks) will undoubtedly push that quantity lots greater. Tariffs aren’t doubtless to assist issues both: The latest Palma 2 was $299, and given that each one e-ink screens are made abroad, there is no likelihood it will not face these further import charges.
All that mentioned, one other system already available on the market offers me a reasonably good concept of what utilizing a Palma cellphone might be like.
What do you suppose up to now?
Not the primary e-ink cellphone
For the previous few months, I have been enjoying round with the Bigme Hibreak Professional, a $459 e-reader that appears an terrible lot like my Palma 2 (you may see each within the image on the prime of this text). In lots of respects, the Hibreak Professional is a one for one match for the Palma…nevertheless it additionally has 5G mobile functionality.
A tool like this holds quite a lot of attraction—I am at some extent the place I’m beginning to resent my iPhone’s primacy in my life. I might love carry just one system, and one that does not as readily plug me in to the horrors of the web and social media, however which might nonetheless deal with essentially the most important capabilities (retaining me related to my household, dealing with NFC funds, guiding me through Google Maps).
However up to now, for me, the Hibreak Professional is not it—as with different Bigme units I’ve examined, I discover its software program deeply irritating, and I have never had the time or power to dedicate to putting in an alternate launcher. (It would not assist that the primary system I obtained had a defective USB-C port, and getting a substitute took a couple of months.) I typically suppose Boox makes higher units than Bigme, so I am hopeful a Palma cellphone would repair a few of these points.
At this level, that is nonetheless a giant if. Regardless of their lovability, Boox’s e-readers positively aren’t as user-friendly as a Kindle. And although the Palma has attracted a cult following (to not point out mainstream consideration from retailers like The New York Occasions), an e-ink cellphone is at all times going to have area of interest attraction, which suggests we’re impossible to see one from a longtime tech firm like Apple or Samsung. A Palma cellphone would possibly fulfill some e-ink diehards, however I do not count on to see too a lot of them whereas using the subway.
