TL;DR
- BOOX releases Palma 2 and Note Air4 C.
- Palma 2 offers a phone-sized e-reader option with upgraded silicon and new biometrics.
- The Note Air4 C, on the other hand, is a tablet-sized solution with a color screen for Android apps.
Seeing this much diversity between screens is a testament to how mature the mobile device landscape has become. Not everyone is in the race to have the highest refresh rate, highest pixel density, or highest color gamut. This frees up resources to explore things like the foldable wild world. One of the most interesting areas to develop is Android-powered hardware that utilizes e-paper, a low-power electrophoretic display that is easy on the eyes. Today we’re checking out two of the latest e-paper devices from BOOX.
First up is the Palma 2, the sequel to arguably the most phone-like of BOOX’s products. It has a 6.13-inch 300 PPI Carta 1200 screen that can display high-contrast, crisp text at low resolutions. Eye fatigue. Runs Android 13-based software. This is a little behind the times, but good enough for this kind of use case. The octa-core processor and 6GB of RAM are probably overkill, but the 128GB of storage looks good enough to store all the books you want to read. Plus, there’s a microSD expansion feature for those crazy people who need more.
You’ll probably use something like the Palma 2 primarily for reading and enjoying features like the dual-tone front light, but here you’ll find things like a 16MP camera for easily snapping photos of interesting things. Standard smartphone hardware is also plentiful. A speaker for music (or a text-to-speech feature for impromptu audiobook action in a pinch). Since it’s 2024, BOOX also has an AI assistant. And new to this generation, the Palma comes with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication.
If 6.13 inches feels a little too cozy, check out the 10.3-inch BOOX Note Air4 C. This tablet has a Kaleido 3 panel that can deliver color and also runs Android 13, so you can use your favorite productivity apps between books. Compared to the previous generation Air3, the new e-reader upgrades the RAM to 6GB and keeps the storage at 64GB. It also supports microSD expansion. The company also managed to reduce the weight by 10 grams.
Both models are on sale now, with the Palma 2 priced at $280 and the Note Air4 C priced at $500.
