BOOXPalma 2 Mobile ePaper eBook Reader Fingerprint Recognition Smart Button Dual Microphones (Black)

I have other e-readers and what drew me to this is its portability.Pros:1. Very comfortable to hold.2. Fast and snappy compared to other readers when navigating around (using Balanced setting).3. The apps I can load. So far: Libby, Kindle, Hoopla, Audible, CloudLibrary, and Goodreads. You can download other apps and watch videos but my main use is for books/audiobooks so those are what I have for now.Cons:1. Battery life. Doesn’t last as long as a Kindle which is expected.2. Screen fragility. I’ve read many sources saying they have had issues with the screen breaking. This has made me more careful compared to my Kindles.3. The official case from BOOX is not worth it. Very cumbersome and non-ergonomic. If you buy this e-reader, I suggest a pouch and a back case if necessary. Throw in some finger strap if you need them.4. The price. It is heftier than other e-readers.Conclusion: If you want portability coupled with an open system, then I recommend it.

I’m a long-time Kindle owner/reader, starting with the Kindle 3 in 2010, moving to the Kindle Paperwhite in 2015, then upgrading more recently to the Kindle Paperwhite (5?) Signature in 2023. All that to say, I’m over-the-moon about my Palma 2 and have been voraciously reading from it daily since I received it a week ago.I’m hemmed and hawed about buying the BOOX Palma for over a year, then when the Palma 2 came out in early 2025, I contemplated it again. I read some so-so and even negative comments about the device, so I skipped buying it, especially since it’s much more than I spent on my most recent Paperwhite, which I love.However, the Palma 2 has been great and I take it everywhere. I use a small crossbody that cannot hold my Kindle, so I’d leave it at home. The Palma fits perfectly and the form factor makes it to easy to squeeze in a few pages as I wait.I love being able to read ebooks outside of the Kindle ecosystem too and have been thoroughly enjoying reading Dune directly in the Libby app, which I could only previously do on my phone or iPad. It’s pricey for being such a small device and the battery life isn’t as robust as the Kindle’s but the convenience of the device makes it more than worth it to me.

I'm impressed. Blown away, actually. I haven't been this excited about a new device since I bought my first Kindle (a second-generation one) in 2009, and for considerably more money.The Palma 2 is revolutionary. It's also a truly elegant and thoughtfully designed device. If you're considering getting one, you can already imagine why I like it so much. I assure you that I'm not disappointed in any way. It's everything I'd hoped: very speedy, extremely nice to look at, a pleasure to read on in daylight and in the dark. It runs all of my Android apps.I even like the native on-screen keyboard. Some reviewers report having rushed to install Gboard, but I've found the native keyboard to be excellent. I initially thought it didn't have the multi-clipboard feature, but it does! As far as I'm concerned, the Boox keyboard is superior to Gboard. To give an example of a feature it has that I believe Gboard lacks: when you want to use square brackets, the Boox keyboard gives you both brackets with a tap on one key ( [] ) and positions your cursor between the two so that you can immediately enter text there. I have wanted this feature for a long time! [EDIT: I need to walk my endorsement of the native keyboard back a bit, because the dictionary that it uses for predictive text input is atrocious. Unusable. Laughable. Boox really needs to provide a usable predictive text input service. Also, there doesn't seem to be any autocorrect.]I've been similarly impressed with the native reading app, NeoReader. It's elegant and highly functional. I'd been planning to use Readera or Moon+ Reader, but now I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be fine with just NeoReader, even though unfortunately it's a "system app" that's not available for installation on other Android devices. I think Boox should sell both NeoReader and the keyboard in the Play Store.A year or two ago I might have hesitated to buy this kind of device from a Chinese company, but in light of what our own government is doing right now with the complicity of the tech bros--and also our alignment with Russia, our punishing of our allies and our pardoning of violent criminals--I no longer feel any added degree of safety limiting myself to American-branded tech products. It's sad but true. No American company offers anything like the Palma 2, anyway. They should.My only caveat would be that this is not a device for people who don't like to think about any settings or options when it comes to technology. There's a bit of a learning curve to an Android device with an e-ink display. People like me enjoy the novelty and experimentation, but I realize not everyone does. If you're familiar with Android and like it, or if you know you wouldn't mind learning it to get what the Palma 2 has to offer, I don't think you'll regret buying one.One reviewer here calls the Palma 2 an e-ink phone. It's not a phone. It has everything a phone does except for cellular connectivity. That's made crystal clear in the product information and in every online review, so if you still think it's a phone you haven't done your homework yet.I couldn't recommend the Palma 2 more highly.A final note: There aren't many cases available specifically for the Palma 2, and none of the ones I found appealed to me at all. I decided to go with a pouch-style universal smartphone case with a zipper. That way there's nothing on the device when I'm reading. I'm going to be very careful not to drop it, because if I chipped or cracked it I don't think I'd be able to resist buying a new one!

I would have liked the Boox for various reasons. Portability is one of them. But there is no Kindle app or other ebook apps installed. To install these apps is overly complicated. I just wanted to read. I returned the Boox. Erik.

It's a lot less responsive than the Paperwhite 2024. It lacks auto brightness and auto temperature control (for less blue light at night). The negatives aside, the display is very nice and it's a useful form factor. I find it pleasant to read on. It fullfills the function of phone sized e-reader. I also have the Hisense A9 with similar for factor. the display on the boox is much better and the boox is also light. The textured back make it easy to read with one handed. I bought a protective case but im not sure that ill use it. My main gripes are it's laggy especially when typing and the lack of auto brightness and nighttime controls for the display.