Boox Palma 2 Pro review: Color and 5G make a big difference

The Palma 2 Pro is even closer to being a smartphone

Boox's new device has nearly all the pieces it needs to replace a phone

Part of what makes the Palma so approachable is that, on some level, it's just an Android phone. The Palma 2 Pro has a friendly 6.13-inch Kaleido 3 E Ink display under a glass screen with rounded corners. On the right side of the device, there's a power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader, and on the left, there's volume / page-turn buttons, and a customizable Smart Button that you can assign for things like refreshing the screen or pulling up Boox's AI assistant.

The back of the Palma 2 Pro is phone-like, too. The device itself is available in either black or white, and whichever color you choose, you'll get a textured, almost stone-inspired back and a 16MP camera with flash. Inside, Boox says the Palma 2 Pro has a 3,950mAh battery, 128GB of storage that can be expanded via the device's Dual Sim slot (which takes a SIM card and a microSD card), along with an unnamed octa-core processor and 8GB of RAM.

Android 15 is the newest version of Google's mobile operating system that Boox's supports. Other devices use Android 12 or 11.

Like all modern electronics, the Palma 2 Pro charges over USB-C, but again, the key part here is that it runs Android 15. That means all of your favorite reading apps can be downloaded directly from the Play Store, along with whatever podcast, music, or video apps you use, too. That was technically true of the Palma and Palma 2, but the addition of the color screen and support for Boox's InkSense stylus open up more options if you enjoy drawing, taking notes, or consuming content in color, like comics or the rare YouTube video. All things that weren't nearly as enjoyable (or possible) on the Carta 1200 display past Palmas used.

But how useful these benefits are gets harder to square when you look at the price of the Palmas side by side. The Palma 2 Pro costs $399.99, while Boox currently sells the Palma 2 for $299.99 and the Palma for $199.99. When you think about these as smartphones, those are totally normal prices, but when you consider the potential drawbacks of the color E Ink display on the Palma 2 Pro, there might be good reasons to look at Boox's more affordable devices.

Color E Ink gets more annoying when you're only reading

You sacrifice resolution for color on the Palma 2 Pro

Paradoxically, while I like having the option to read comics on the Palma 2 Pro and appreciate being able to look at photos or doodle in color, I struggled with the drawbacks of the Palma 2 Pro's Kaleido display.

It's lower resolution -- 412 x 824 resolution for color and 824 x 1,648 resolution for black and white -- makes books and plain text look far less crisp than other e-readers, and also a lot more gray unless the adjustable backlight is fully cranked up. Boox offers multiple ways to adjust the brightness and refresh rate of the display (with Recommended, Fast Refresh, and Custom options), so you can really tune things to your preference, but it's still not quite as good as what you'll get on something like the Kindle Paperwhite.

If all you're interested in is reading, the Palma 2 Pro could very well be the best and most flexible option...

And that wouldn't necessarily be a problem if Boox didn't give you so many different ways to read things. Having few limits on the kinds of files you can use or the kinds of apps you can download from the Play Store means that I've spent way more time reading on the Palma 2 Pro than I have on basically any other E Ink device I've tested. Boox's own skin on Android 15 is also relatively streamlined, and the company's own reading app NeoReader, while a little obtuse and ugly, did a great job of handling any eBook file I could throw at it. If all you're interested in is reading, the Palma 2 Pro could very well be the best and most flexible option, especially at this pocketable size, though Boox really imagines it being used for more.

The screen is too small to write on comfortably

Writing on the Palma 2 Pro is not for the faint of heart or large of hand

The Boox Palma 2 Pro is great for reading, but if you're interested in the writing part of the device, you might be better off looking elsewhere. The Palma 2 Pro supports Boox's InkSense Plus stylus, a slim silver stylus that charges over USB-C, that's flatter on two sides like a drafting pencil, with a side button that can be assigned to several different functions.

It's comfortable to hold and easy to charge -- you can track its battery life and connection to your device inside of Quick Settings -- but it doesn't feel good to use for writing on the Palma's relatively smooth screen. Most other E Ink devices get around this by texturing the glass or adding a film to introduce friction and resistance to the writing process, but the Palma 2 Pro has neither. More so than anything, it made me miss writing on the reMarkable Paper Pro Move, which does a fantastic job of simulating the feeling of writing on paper.

That's not to say that I didn't find the option to quickly jot something down to be helpful when I was away from my desk, but I never really got over how cramped the screen felt. Not everyone will have the same problem, because some of it does come down to how small and neat your handwriting is, but I wouldn't buy the Palma 2 Pro just because you're interested in using it for taking notes. You'll find better options for that, even from Boox's own lineup.

Cellular connectivity is the best part of the Palma 2 Pro

If you can add a data SIM you definitely won't regret it

I spent the first half of my review time using the Palma 2 Pro using it on Wi-Fi around the house, reading articles while I waited for coffee to brew, writing down to-dos at my desk, and working my way through library books before bed. I found the experience enjoyable and the form factor fun, but I didn't really get why it was necessarily better than an e-reader.

For anyone looking to replace their smartphone or at least mostly replace it with a device that's a bit slower and more focused, I think the Palma 2 Pro is an ideal candidate.

Slotting a data-only SIM card from Google Fi Wireless in and taking the Palma 2 Pro to the park changed everything for me. Not only was the device still far more pleasant to read on than my phone, it could also wholly replace my phone for nearly all my basic phone tasks. Boox's NeoBrowser does a good enough job of loading websites that I easily came to rely on it to look things up. With a 5G connection, I could also easily download new books and comics to the Kindle app without having to hunt for Wi-Fi. And if an important email came through for work, I was able to not only receive a notification about it, but also respond to it, directly from the Palma 2 Pro.

For anyone looking to replace their smartphone or at least mostly replace it with a device that's a bit slower and more focused, I think the Palma 2 Pro is an ideal candidate. It works with data SIMs specifically, so there's no phone app, and you won't be able to place a call unless you can do it over an internet connection, but for everything other than gaming, the Palma 2 Pro could do the trick.

Should you buy the Palma 2 Pro?

You might get your needs met by a cheaper E Ink device

For anyone closely following Boox's devices, the Palma 2 Pro is a culmination of the work the company has done building smartphone-sized devices. It doesn't come without tradeoffs, though. Color E Ink isn't as crisp as a traditional black and white E Ink screen. And writing on the device isn't as comfortable as the company's other devices.

If the thing you're most interested in is using the Palma 2 Pro as a phone replacement, or at least making it the main way you read when you're not at home, it really is the best option out there. Having a 5G connection makes a difference in how useful the device actually is. The only shame is that the feature isn't available on Boox's cheaper devices.