Boox Palma 2: An important little e-reader with larger ambitions | TechCrunch

The Palma is a wierd product. It’s a small e-reader with far larger gadget ambitions. On its website, Boox describes the product as a “distraction-free system that allows you to reclaim your focus within the precise center between tech and life.”

In a variety of methods, the corporate’s ambitions seem to reflect these of Mild Cellphone’s by constructing a secondary system designed to take away you out of your smartphone’s built-in distractions. That’s a pleasant sufficient sentiment many people can little question get behind, having skilled yet one more deeply polarizing U.S. presidential election by way of the lens of social media.

What, exactly, constitutes a “distraction” versus a necessary operate is extraordinarily subjective, nevertheless. Turning again to Mild Cellphone for a second, we see a product that was deliberately launched with a restricted characteristic set, solely to subsequently introduce new performance that was initially deemed “nonessential” by the startup.

For higher or worse, we depend on our little pocket communicators for practically each facet of our lives. Decreasing dependence and distraction are valiant targets, however depriving customers of genuinely useful options will be counterproductive.

The Palma doesn’t begin from that very same place of practical minimalism — no less than not totally. There are specific limitations baked straight into the product by the character of its ePaper show. There’s sure performance that works higher on the expertise — studying, for instance — nevertheless it lacks an amazing quantity of versatility in comparison with your customary smartphone/pill display.

The system, nevertheless, runs Android (albeit just a few generations behind) and has entry to the Play Retailer. It has a digital camera, microphone, audio system, and Bluetooth connectivity. The Palma 2 options an upgraded octa-core processor and provides in privateness by means of a fingerprint reader.

The attention-grabbing decisions of what to place in and what to depart out make it really feel like PDA with an identification disaster: a wierd shopper digital chimera that’s not completely certain what it desires to be when it grows up. Because it seems, that’s a part of the enjoyable.

Enjoying round with the Palma 2 despatched me down some sudden rabbit holes, together with Reddit threads whereby individuals talk about methods to backdoor performance onto the device. There may be, for instance, a microSD slot for expandable reminiscence, however not one for a SIM. Meaning, despite the inclusion of microphones, audio system, and Bluetooth, it’s not particularly designed to make cellphone calls.

As such, individuals debate the viability of utilizing WhatsApp’s voice characteristic as a work-around. There’s no GPS, which places the kibosh on mapping performance, however how about piggybacking on a tool that does? It’s a variety of work for comparatively little reward, nevertheless it’s all the time hopeful to see the methods during which technological limitations spur intelligent consumer innovation.

Granted, I’ve solely been utilizing the Palma 2 for a short while, however I are inclined to fall within the camp of customers content material to consider the system as a pure e-reader. It enjoys lots of these options, together with ePaper that’s far simpler on the eyes (and sleep schedule) and extends battery life far past what the typical smartphone is able to.

The brand new processor provides zip to the Palma, whereas eradicating the annoying latency from the earlier technology. That stated, the product continues to be hampered by ePaper’s refresh limitations. If Boox had been to make a model of the Palma that was a real e-reader, stripped of a lot of the possibly extraneous options, and delivered it at a cheaper price, I might see this stuff flying off the shelf.

Simply the promise of a reader that’s skinny sufficient to hold in a pocket will doubtless entice a variety of consideration. I’ve wasted extra time than I care to say attempting to determine whether or not to take my Kindle with me on an extended practice experience, understanding it might imply awkwardly carrying the system round for the remainder of the night and probably leaving it behind in a darkish nook.

Boox makes some nice e-readers, and the Palma matches the invoice. It’s good {hardware}, with a flush 300 ppi show and a stable entrance gentle for studying in mattress. The $280 asking value, alternatively, is difficult to justify except you intend to make the most of a lot of the different options.