When Onyx first released the Boox Palma in 2023, I thought we’d finally start seeing more pocketable ereaders hitting the market, especially considering the fact the Boox Palma appears to be one of Onyx’s most popular models over the past two years. In fact, it just might be their best selling model in terms of sales numbers.
The Boox Palma 2 does currently have the highest number of sales on Amazon during the past month compared to other Boox models. Onyx has three separate listings for it on their Amazon store, with sales numbers of 500+, 400+, and 200+ during the past month. The new Go 7 Color and Note Air 4C both have listings with 500+ and 100+ sales so it looks like the Palma is beating both of those models.
And yet other companies still haven’t caught on to the popularity of the Palma and the convenience of a truly pocketable ereader.
Bigme is the only other relevant company that has released a new device like the Palma. In fact, they’ve released at least three different phone-shaped ereaders over the past year, and unlike the Palma, they can actually be used as phones.
But none of the major ereader companies have gotten the memo yet about people wanting phone-sized ereaders that easily fit in a pocket. The trend in recent years has been to make ereaders larger. The Kindle Paperwhite had a 6″ screen for 4 generations over 9 years, and then in 2021 Amazon decided to increase the screen size to 6.8″, and now the latest Paperwhite has a 7″ screen.
The latest basic Kindle still has a 6″ screen, and it’s fairly small and pocketable, but it’s still over an inch wider than the Palma, and that makes a huge difference when it comes to sticking it in a pocket.
I reviewed the Boox Palma 2 earlier this year and I really liked the form factor for reading on the go, and I like the fact you can use the volume buttons on the side as page-turn buttons. The only thing I really don’t like about the Palma 2 is the high price. At $300, it’s a lot more expensive than most 6″ and 7″ ereaders with black and white screens.
Hopefully some other companies will see the success of the Palma and start releasing their own versions of it. Of all the new E Ink devices to come out since 2023, the Palma is the most underrated of them all. Color E Ink is the current trend, but I’d rather see more pocketable ereaders getting released than color ereaders. Speaking of which, I’m surprised Onyx hasn’t released a color version of the Palma yet.
I don’t get the appeal of the Palma at all. I purchased it at the very beginning, and quickly sold it. I read a LOT, and it’s just too small for that. Why not use one’s phone? I have several older model phones and if I didn’t want to use the battery on my regular phone, I could use the old phone (which doesn’t have a number/plan).
Also, many clothes for women don’t have pockets. Unless I’m running to get groceries, my kindle goes everywhere with me.
I wonder if the Palma users lean towards men, who don’t carry purses and who have pockets.
I honestly don’t get the Palma. The PW is a perfect size for me.
I’m a man, I don’t carry a purse and I have pockets.
I can confirm that my 6” device (in my case it’s a Verse Pro) actually fits in all of my pockets and in my crossbody bag. I can also confirm that it’s actually easy to pull my device out of my pockets or to slip it in, I don’t need to squeeze it in and out. It works with all my pants (especially cargo pants!!) and all my jackets.
I see virtually no need for a smaller device since I’m already able to carry my Pocketbook everywhere.
I love my Palma.
Advantages:
I’m big on backpacking and the small size is great.
Yes I’m a man, and I do carry it in my pocket everywhere.
Android means I installed the Libby app directly and almost never use Amazon for anything anymore. There are just better sources of books than Kindle.
I unbeatable the lack of appeal of being tied to Amazon. Yet for those of us who are on a fixed income, I get free books from them. I splurge on kindle unlimited each month because I more than get the value. I use Libby for library books, but the books are checked out through Amazon. As far as I can tell, other sources such as kobo might be more expensive for me. (however, I do have over 5000 kindle books from the last 15-20 years, and several thousand Nook books – Nook was my first e-reader device.)
So many books, so little time.
I’m a woman, but I don’t carry a purse, and a lot of the time I don’t carry my eReader with me everywhere. I DO have my phone for on the go short reading and Palma 2 for browsing and reading for hours in the evenings at home.
I don’t have any old phones to use as a backup reader because I trade them in for my new phones. After a long day of computing work, then doing various things on my phone, my eyes are already starting to feel the strain of screen time. I find that an eink screen for my book & website browsing/reading is easier on my eyes and the Palma is lighter than a larger eReader or my phone.
With the Palma, I am still in the Android eco system, so books I start reading on the Palma at home, I can pick up on my phone in the same app if I am out and about. And frankly larger devices tend to weigh more and I have enough hand/wrist pain that larger devices and paper books aren’t fun to hold.
“Why not use one’s phone?”
Why not use one’s tablet?
Because phone screens are not as pleasant to read books from as e-ink devices are. Otherwise we would all read on our tablets. Or phones, depending on the size we want.
I came here to comment but…Mary says it all! Thank you, Mary!
I came to say Tea and Mary’s takes are incredibly idiotic.
I have a Kobo mini, which is 5 inch and has a more square shape.
As I always have a phone with me, I would not carry another device as the Palma with the same size.
However, it would be awesome if Kobo released an update of the mini.
I currently have a Palma 2 that I haven’t made a firm decision about. The appeal for me is that, when traveling, especially overseas travel, I don’t drain my phone battery when I’m reading. My Kindle died a few months ago, and I’ve been using my phone. I’m often amazed at the battery drain which I didn’t worry about before. And you can install whatever reader you like, if you don’t want to be in Amazon’s pocket.
I don’t get why people have such an issue with the Palma? I read a lot on my phone and have no issues reading on a device that small. I prefer that size actually and was looking for an e-reader in exactly that form factor when the Palma was released.
I also read a lot when I’m outside…at the park, by the pool, on my porch/deck. Have you tried reading on your phone outside on a sunny day? You won’t be able to see a thing, plus it’ll kill your battery. It’s the same benefits of reading on any e-reader vs a phone/tablet.
Do you consider your Kindle a phone replacement? The smaller form of the Palma doesn’t make it more so a phone replacement than any other e-reader. The smaller size makes it easier to carry around an e-reader when I’m traveling or just out and about. I’ll always have my phone with me and would rather handle an additional device that is of similar size vs a bigger device.
I have a Palma as a second reader when I want to travel light.
I not only use it as a reader, but also as a tablet with an exceptional battery life that I can install airline and train company apps, so I can save my phone’s battery.
The screen is excellent and I love the form factor. The only downside I can think of is that it takes a very long time to boot.
It may be a generation issue, but for me (50+ man, avid book reader since childhood), popularity of this product continues to be a big mystery. It tries to address issues that simply don’t exist. The e-ink screen makes it unusable as an app ‘driver’. It’ form factor is wierd for person used to standard book formats and too small for reading books – when you’re older, your eyesight is shot, font size has to be increased and on 6 inch screens you need to press that button every 15 seconds. Also, this thing is basically a mobile phone, which I already carry with me… only with crappier screen and less functionality. Also, why does this thing cost twice the price of a decent 7” reader?
If companies look for new product lines in e-book reader segment then the logical step for me would be to take another look at what they are trying to replace – physical books! And mass market paperback format has been proven optimal for over a century. Make a device with 8 inch screen, 300 dpi and with 1×1.63 aspect ratio, then you’ll get my attention. Kobo Sage came close, but they messed it up when they put a crappy battery in it.
But the screen isn‘t „crappier“, it’s infinitely superior for the one purpose it was essentially made for – reading. I don‘t use a tablet for reading, either, after all.
Hmm. I think people might reading on their phone more if Amazon would add a Kindle e-ink theme (pale gray background with black lettering.