Why I love my Boox Palma e-reader
I really like reading. It's an activity that I have rediscovered multiple times throughout my life. When I was a kid, I loved the Harry Potter books. Now that I'm older, I still mostly read for enjoyment. I try to incorporate reading into my routine, such as before going to bed or while waiting for the train.
I do like physical books, and I have quite a few of them, but I honestly really love e-ink. What I like most about e-readers with an e-ink screen is:
- Backlight: Being able to read in the dark right before going to sleep is great.
- Same font type and size: I like the consistency of it.
- Contrast: When reading in direct sunlight, it really feels like reading a real book.
- Portability: You can always have all the books you're reading with you. When reading really long books, I like to read something else in parallel.
On the 2019-11-19 I bought myself a Kindle Paperwhite 10th generation. It has been a trusty companion during countless reading sessions. After almost 6 years it still works very well, but with time I started having some issues with it:
- Size: Although it's a small tablet, it still doesn't fit in my pocket. As a result, I rarely have it with me when I leave home casually.
- Amazon policies: The recent policy of restricting the ownership of the books that you are buying really doesn't sit well with me.
- Reading non-amazon books: It's not super easy to import e-books from other platforms.
- Ads: I never minded the lock screen ads, but lately, ads seem to be everywhere, and it's just annoying. That said, I still really like the device itself, and I use it quite often.
This spring I was looking for a phone sized e-reader and came across the Boox Palma 1. After much thought, on the 2025-04-30 I bought it used for 140€. It arrived in mint condition, complete with the original case and pop socket.
Here are some pictures of it:
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These are some of my favourite things about it:
- Small size and lightweight: it's similar in size to my iPhone, and I usually carry both in my pocket. It's also super lightweight. I have no problem holding it in my hand for a long time. These two factors make it super easy to use it in not so comfortable situations (crowded subway).
- Android: It's running full Android, so you can use every app you want and you are not locked into the Kindle system.
- Screen quality: It has a screen similar/better than my kindle. You can control both the brightness and warmth of the light. Very useful when reading at night.
- Wallpapers: one feature that I love is to personalize your lockscreen with whatever picture you like. It doesn't sound much, but it just makes me want to pick it up and read another chapter. In any case it's better than having ads.
- No internet on the go: although this could seem like a weak point, it really makes the device single use. The only thing you can do is to read, no other distractions.
- Turn page buttons: You can use the volume rockers to turn pages. This is super useful especially when you have gloves on and you don't have to fight the touch screen.
This is a comparison with my Kindle:
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I have two covers for it. One is the original Boox Palma TPU case and the other one is a cheap folio case bought from AliExpress. I really like the TPU case, it's super comfortable to hold. The popsocket is really useful for reading, but it makes the device bulky in your pocket. The folio case I don't really use. It make the device too heavy and its not super comfortable to hold. Here are some pics:
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Here are some pictures of me using the device on the wild:
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Some final words:
- I love this device because it makes it easier to read everywhere. I am currently reading a Clash of Kings - A Song of Ice and Fire, and I just love being fully immersed in this world.
- If you have a Kindle, you probably do not need it.. unless you really value portability and the ability to have an alternative when wanting to pick up your phone.
- The android skin on the palma is ok, but I just wish we could flash a custom rom on it, and bring it up to speed with the latest android versions and remove the bloat that comes with it.
- The home screen wallpapers are from here.