Last month one of Onyx’s YouTube influencers let the cat out of the bag about Onyx releasing a new mini ereader soon called the Boox Picco.
So far we know absolutely nothing about it other than the alleged screen size, but some are already crowning it as the best mini ereader that money can buy, and we don’t even know how much it’s going to cost yet.
I’ve been waiting for Onyx to release some real information about the Boox Picco (if it really exists), but it’s been a month and that has yet to happen. The lone detail revealed was that it has a 3.97″ screen (they should just round up and call it 4″ at that point).
There’s lots of speculation about other details, but the fact is nobody really knows anything about the Boox Picco yet. We’re all waiting for Onyx to officially announce it. And it’s safe to assume the hype will wane considerably once they reveal the actual details, when reality can’t compete with expectations.
A lot of people are looking to the Boox Picco as an alternative to Xteink’s ereaders, but the problem is Onyx is never going to be able to come anywhere close to the price of an Xteink X3 at $69, or even the X4 Pro at $99.
If the Picco is running Android like other Boox devices, then that will require considerably more battery power and processing power than Xteink’s devices, which will increase the cost. Then there’s the high possibility it will run an old version of Android. Onyx just released the Boox Go 6 Gen II a couple months ago, and everyone was super disappointed by the fact that it runs Android 11 from 2020.
On the off chance the Boox Picco doesn’t run Android, then people will be disappointed that it can’t install Android apps. If it does run Android, it’s going to be an outdated version, and people won’t like that either. It’s going to be impossible to please everyone.
Some are just hoping that it has a 300ppi screen and a frontlight. If they’re going the budget route I doubt it’ll have a top-of-the-line screen, but it’ll be interesting to see how it all pans out. What do you hope to see from the Boox Picco?
I think we’re expecting a “mini Palma”. There are Chinese smartphones the same size as the “Picco”. Its specifications and what we know about the “Palma” could serve as a guide. But it’s all a bit of a mystery, and I agree that it’s bound to have something we won’t entirely like.
I would want something that doesn’t have android running. I love my go 7, but I switch back to my kindle (now that it’s jailbroken) because the battery life is just chef’s kiss.
I do love the xteink. I think boox is going to have to come in hitting hard for everyone to like it as much.
Yeah, that’s why I don’t understand the hype. Battery life is much worse with Android, and performance is terrible on devices with low-end specs, so I really don’t see it as being a good option for these types of devices. It would need 3GB of RAM and a quad-core CPU at a minimum, and a decent-sized battery, and then it’s going to cost almost as much as the Go 6 at $199.
Looking at other reviews, it looks like it’s running on Linux. Maybe it’ll be a Palma Lite after all.
It has to be Android, because Onyx can’t offer a proper book store, so they rely on others.
But the problem with Android is that it’s super bloated, now with vibe coding included. The hardware requirements are high, which means it needs a lot of power, and you can expect a device that needs charging every day. At least I’d think a Picco would have half the capacity a Palma 2 has.
Xteink’s devices don’t have a store and neither do Pocketbooks in the US so I don’t see that as a requirement. If they’re going to use one of those cheap smaller screens it might make more sense to have a basic OS like Xteink’s ereaders. But I’ve never heard of a 3.97″ E Ink screen being used anywhere else, and I don’t see them for sale anywhere either, so who knows what they’re doing.
Well, we already know it doesn’t run Android.
Although I’ve read somewhere that it runs Android 11, perhaps it’s a closed-source version?
According to this report from IFA, where Onyx has the Picco on display, it doesn’t run Android. It’s basically Onyx’s version of the Xteink X4 Pro, but with a USB-C port, and other details are still murky.
That’s still a good start, if the software isn’t crap. Android eReaders don’t seem to work well for me. I’ve always preferred them to use dedicated software like the old Sony eReaders, or the Kobo and Kindle ones.