Colour and 5G make an enormous distinction

I do not assume anybody may have predicted the sort of viral hit the original Boox Palma could be for a sure subset of E Ink followers and smartphone haters. Boox has been releasing Android-based E Ink tablets for years at this level, however providing lots of the similar options in a smartphone-sized gadget captured the creativeness in a wholly new approach. It helped that it arrived in 2024 alongside a rising curiosity in less distracting alternatives to the smartphone, however the gadget was a success all the identical, which naturally led many to surprise how Boox would comply with it up.

The Boox Palma 2 got here out in 2024, and was in the end a minor improve to the corporate’s authentic gadget, with extra RAM and a quicker processor being essentially the most notable adjustments. It is taken the corporate asserting the Boox Palma 2 Pro in 2025 to truly see what a correct sequel appears to be like like. The Palma 2 Professional incorporates a colour E Ink show, assist for a 5G knowledge connection, and the power to make use of a stylus to take notes. It improves on the Boox Palma in all the plain methods you’d count on, however not all of those new additions are created equal.

4/5

Model

Boox

Storage

128GB

CPU

Octa-core processor

Working System

Android 15

A phone-sized colour ePaper gadget with 5G connectivity for downloading books on the go, and stylus assist for taking notes.

Professionals & Cons

• Smartphone dimension is ideal for one-handed studying
• Android 15 means most apps can be found
• Stylus assist is useful in a pinch

• Costly
• Colour E Ink makes regular studying worse

The Palma 2 Professional is even nearer to being a smartphone

Boox’s new gadget has practically all of the items it wants to switch a cellphone

A part of what makes the Palma so approachable is that, on some degree, it is simply an Android cellphone. The Palma 2 Professional has a pleasant 6.13-inch Kaleido 3 E Ink show below a glass display with rounded corners. On the best aspect of the gadget, there is a energy button that doubles as a fingerprint reader, and on the left, there’s quantity / page-turn buttons, and a customizable Good Button that you would be able to assign for issues like refreshing the display or pulling up Boox’s AI assistant.

The again of the Palma 2 Professional is phone-like, too. The gadget itself is obtainable in both black or white, and whichever colour you select, you may get a textured, nearly stone-inspired again and a 16MP digital camera with flash. Inside, Boox says the Palma 2 Professional has a 3,950mAh battery, 128GB of storage that may be expanded by way of the gadget’s Twin Sim slot (which takes a SIM card and a microSD card), together with an unnamed octa-core processor and 8GB of RAM.

Like all trendy electronics, the Palma 2 Professional expenses over USB-C, however once more, the important thing half right here is that it runs Android 15. Meaning your entire favourite studying apps may be downloaded instantly from the Play Retailer, together with no matter podcast, music, or video apps you employ, too. That was technically true of the Palma and Palma 2, however the addition of the colour display and assist for Boox’s InkSense stylus open up extra choices in case you get pleasure from drawing, taking notes, or consuming content material in colour, like comics or the uncommon YouTube video. All issues that weren’t practically as fulfilling (or attainable) on the Carta 1200 show previous Palmas used.

However how helpful these advantages are will get more durable to sq. once you take a look at the value of the Palmas aspect by aspect. The Palma 2 Professional prices $399.99, whereas Boox at the moment sells the Palma 2 for $299.99 and the Palma for $199.99. When you consider these as smartphones, these are completely regular costs, however when you think about the potential drawbacks of the colour E Ink show on the Palma 2 Professional, there may be good causes to have a look at Boox’s extra inexpensive gadgets.

Colour E Ink will get extra annoying once you’re solely studying

You sacrifice decision for colour on the Palma 2 Professional

Paradoxically, whereas I like having the choice to learn comics on the Palma 2 Professional and recognize with the ability to take a look at photographs or doodle in colour, I struggled with the drawbacks of the Palma 2 Professional’s Kaleido show.

It is decrease decision — 412 x 824 decision for colour and 824 x 1,648 decision for black and white — makes books and plain textual content look far much less crisp than other e-readers, and in addition much more grey until the adjustable backlight is totally cranked up. Boox affords a number of methods to regulate the brightness and refresh price of the show (with Beneficial, Quick Refresh, and Customized choices), so you’ll be able to actually tune issues to your choice, nevertheless it’s nonetheless not fairly nearly as good as what you may get on one thing just like the Kindle Paperwhite.

And that would not essentially be an issue if Boox did not offer you so many various methods to learn issues. Having few limits on the sorts of information you should use or the sorts of apps you’ll be able to obtain from the Play Retailer signifies that I’ve spent far more time studying on the Palma 2 Professional than I’ve on mainly another E Ink gadget I’ve examined. Boox’s personal pores and skin on Android 15 can be comparatively streamlined, and the corporate’s personal studying app NeoReader, whereas a bit of obtuse and ugly, did an excellent job of dealing with any eBook file I may throw at it. If all you are interested by is studying, the Palma 2 Professional may very properly be the very best and most versatile possibility, particularly at this pocketable dimension, although Boox actually imagines it getting used for extra.

The display is simply too small to put in writing on comfortably

Writing on the Palma 2 Professional shouldn’t be for the faint of coronary heart or massive of hand

The Boox Palma 2 Professional is nice for studying, however in case you’re within the writing a part of the gadget, you may be higher off trying elsewhere. The Palma 2 Professional helps Boox’s InkSense Plus stylus, a slim silver stylus that expenses over USB-C, that is flatter on two sides like a drafting pencil, with a aspect button that may be assigned to a number of totally different features.

It is comfy to carry and simple to cost — you’ll be able to monitor its battery life and connection to your gadget inside Fast Settings — nevertheless it would not really feel good to make use of for writing on the Palma’s comparatively easy display. Most different E Ink gadgets get round this by texturing the glass or including a movie to introduce friction and resistance to the writing course of, however the Palma 2 Professional has neither. Extra so than something, it made me miss writing on the reMarkable Paper Pro Move, which does a implausible job of simulating the sensation of writing on paper.

That is to not say that I did not discover the choice to rapidly jot one thing all the way down to be useful once I was away from my desk, however I by no means actually bought over how cramped the display felt. Not everybody can have the identical downside, as a result of a few of it does come all the way down to how small and neat your handwriting is, however I would not purchase the Palma 2 Professional simply since you’re interested by utilizing it for taking notes. You will discover higher choices for that, even from Boox’s personal lineup.

Mobile connectivity is the very best a part of the Palma 2 Professional

In case you can add a knowledge SIM you positively will not remorse it

I spent the primary half of my overview time utilizing the Palma 2 Professional utilizing it on Wi-Fi round the home, studying articles whereas I waited for espresso to brew, writing down to-dos at my desk, and dealing my approach by way of library books earlier than mattress. I discovered the expertise fulfilling and the shape issue enjoyable, however I did not actually get why it was essentially higher than an e-reader.

Slotting a data-only SIM card from Google Fi Wi-fi in and taking the Palma 2 Professional to the park modified every part for me. Not solely was the gadget nonetheless much more nice to learn on than my cellphone, it may additionally wholly change my cellphone for practically all my primary cellphone duties. Boox’s NeoBrowser does a ok job of loading web sites that I simply got here to depend on it to look issues up. With a 5G connection, I may additionally simply obtain new books and comics to the Kindle app with out having to hunt for Wi-Fi. And if an necessary electronic mail got here by way of for work, I used to be in a position to not solely obtain a notification about it, but in addition reply to it, instantly from the Palma 2 Professional.

For anybody trying to change their smartphone or at the least principally change it with a tool that is a bit slower and extra centered, I believe the Palma 2 Professional is a perfect candidate. It really works with knowledge SIMs particularly, so there is no cellphone app, and you will not be capable to place a name until you are able to do it over an web connection, however for every part apart from gaming, the Palma 2 Professional may do the trick.

Do you have to purchase the Palma 2 Professional?

You may get your wants met by a less expensive E Ink gadget

For anybody intently following Boox’s gadgets, the Palma 2 Professional is a fruits of the work the corporate has executed constructing smartphone-sized gadgets. It would not come with out tradeoffs, although. Colour E Ink is not as crisp as a standard black and white E Ink display. And writing on the gadget is not as comfy as the corporate’s different gadgets.

If the factor you are most interested by is utilizing the Palma 2 Professional as a cellphone substitute, or at the least making it the primary approach you learn once you’re not at dwelling, it truly is the most suitable choice on the market. Having a 5G connection makes a distinction in how helpful the gadget really is. The one disgrace is that the characteristic is not out there on Boox’s cheaper gadgets.