Boox Palma 2 Pro
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Boox Palma 2 Pro is available now for $399.
- With 5G and access to the Google Play Store, you have access to all the major ebook ecosystems in a smartphone-like form factor.
- Extensive notetakers might find the screen too small, and the color display needs proper lighting to come alive.
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The new and improved Boox Palma 2 Pro from Onyx is the brand’s latest digital paper tablet, retaining its smartphone-adjacent form while introducing several new features: stylus support, a hardware bump, and, most notably, a color display.
Retailing for $399, the Palma 2 Pro also increases in price by $100, features 8GB of RAM instead of 6GB, and is equipped with a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G processor for faster load times and improved responsiveness. You also have 5G connectivity in a hybrid SIM slot that supports a MicroSD card.
Also: I found an E Ink tablet worthy of replacing my Remarkable, and it’s on sale
It’s still quite small for a digital paper tablet, and it still resembles a phone, but closer inspection reveals a unique, rough texture that resembles paper — or perhaps papier-mâché — something I’ve yet to see on another handheld device.
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It feels premium and solid, and the unique texture provides a tactile experience, although I have some concerns about how well this material withstands moisture or dirt. This is one device you don’t want to set down on a dirty table, or that errant drop of marinara sauce will stay with you forever.
For that reason, I highly recommend getting the protective case, which isn’t terribly priced at $22, and will keep it clean and the screen protected.
The 6.13-inch backlit Kaleido 3 color display features a subdued, natural palette that’s intended to resemble a newspaper or print magazine, and is highly customizable with a range of preset refresh modes and color options.
Color displays are the latest trend for E Ink devices, showing up in recent upgrades across the board this year. Although they certainly add value, I still maintain that color — on its own — doesn’t automatically “make it better”. Consumers still want crisp text, clean refresh times, and responsive UIs, and no amount of color will make up for the lack of these features.
That said, the display on the Palma 2 Pro certainly looks good, with vivid (for an E Ink tablet) color tones and a realistic, paper-like level of saturation. The Kaleido display’s range of color is easy on the eyes but still just distinctive enough to improve the experience.
Also: This Kindle nearly replaced my Remarkable tablet with just the display itself – but there’s more
Users will want to optimize the display with the different presets offered in the menu, as text can appear small and faint, and without the backlight, it is rather dim. Ghosting is to be expected, but quick refreshes clean it up, which is easily done with the wide range of customizable quick actions.
The screen itself also has a noticeable depth, appearing slightly distant from the surface, especially around the bezels. This detracts somewhat from the “paper-like” experience and is the one thing that edges the Palma 2 Pro away from an expressly premium user experience. Ultimately, however, it’s a matter of personal perception.
Swiping down from the top of the screen will bring up the Control Center, where the most commonly accessed settings live. The E Ink Wise menu allows you to adjust the refresh mode and the display’s color profile, something you’ll want to tinker with, depending on what you’re doing.
HD Mode, for example, allows for crisper images with more vivid colors, ideal for viewing graphic novels or magazines where you’re spending more time on each individual page, as it’s slightly slower to load. Regal mode is best suited for e-books, with clean text and minimal animations. You can also adjust the color modes here, with a few presets or the option to get granular and bring up sliding scales for contrast and vividness.
Navigating the UI is made easier with the pen — Boox’ Ink Sense Plus — which is a nice stylus in its own right but limited to the device’s small size. The pen-to-paper experience is lovely, with very little lag and a responsive feel, but the small display and even smaller floating toolbox in the Notebooks app affords a limited amount of room for notes or sketches.
Also: My favorite E Ink tablet has a worthy successor – with upgrades in creative ways
Additionally, the tablet’s small size results in inevitable palm interference, and the quick button, placed right at the point of the index finger, requires a learning curve to avoid accidentally activating.
In that sense, I wouldn’t recommend the Palma 2 Pro for users who want it solely for extensive writing or more detailed sketches — I’d recommend the ReMarkable Paper Pro Move instead, as it’s more suited as an e-reader first, with its versatile toolkit and deep well of software. That said, it’s perfectly capable of acting as a notepad for quick thoughts.
Like Onyx’s other Boox tablets, the Palma 2 Pro runs Android 15 and, with access to the Google Play Store, allows users to access any downloadable apps and their associated ecosystems.
This is one of the main draws of the Boox line of products: from the wide range of customizations to being untethered from any one ecosystem, users have unfettered access to all the big e-book libraries out there: Amazon’s Kindle, Google Books, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Rakuten’s Kobo, etc. This little device can be all of those devices at once.
The Google Play Store is still the most diverse in offerings, and for anyone who likes to hop between different apps (including e-book enthusiasts, with support for Bluetooth earbuds), the Boox Palma 2 Pro has a lot to offer.
Also: How to transform your old, obsolete Kindle into the ultimate open-source reader
Additionally, the Palma 2 Pro does support 5G connectivity, but it isn’t compatible as a standalone smartphone, meaning you can’t make calls from the device over carrier networks, even with a SIM card. However, you can use Wi-Fi-enabled calling apps, such as WhatsApp.
This makes the 5G element only necessary for users who need reliable data internet connectivity, but certainly not a requirement for all — or maybe even most — users.
In terms of battery, the 3,950mAh lithium-ion polymer cell is well-equipped for dozens of hours of use time, although keep in mind that keeping it on speed mode with brightness turned all the way up will drastically reduce battery life compared to a more modest refresh rate.
ZDNET’s buying advice
The Boox Palma 2 Pro is a premium, expressly portable e-reader that offers users free rein to all the major e-book ecosystems. It’s a significant upgrade from the Palma 2 and the original Palma from last year, keeping what made the device great while innovating on its use case.
Also: This Kindle nearly replaced my Remarkable tablet with just the display itself – but there’s more
Its compact size is great for anyone who wants a one-handed device, as it handles more like a smartphone and less like a Kindle or tablet. However, you have to be committed to the diminutive form factor, as the screen may be too small for extensive writing or drawing with the stylus, and text can appear small and faint if your settings aren’t optimized.
At $399, it’s not exactly cheap, but it’s not overly expensive, either — especially considering its diverse hardware and comparison to competing devices.
