This $400 colour E Ink gadget is sort of a smartphone

Although E Ink expertise is most carefully related to E Readers just like the Kindle and Kobo, current gadgets just like the reMarkable Paper Pro Move and the Boox Tab X C have confirmed that there is extra to E Reader expertise than simply tucking into the most recent bestseller, with these gadgets permitting customers to attract, draft, write, message and extra.

And now it seems like all this productiveness is coming to a smaller gadget as Boox has up to date its extremely pocketable Palma line of smartphone-sized E Ink gadgets with the newly-announced Palma 2 Professional, which would be the first pill of its form to supply superior options designed with each work and play in thoughts.

Bringing a smartphone expertise to an E Ink gadget

You have bought all the things you want however a cellphone app

Credit score: Boox/Canva

The $400 Palma 2 Professional is squarely focused in direction of these searching for a smartphone-like expertise from a tool that appears prefer it has extra in widespread with a Kindle than an iPhone. The 6.13-inch colour E Ink gadget runs Android 15, and is powered by an octa-core processor and 8GB of RAM with 128GB of onboard storage.

The gadget additionally options 5G connectivity, a primary for a Palma gadget due to a hybrid SIM slot, which can be utilized to both add 2 TB of storage or home a data-only SIM. Curiously, as a result of the gadget’s connectivity is proscribed to data-only, it can’t be used for conventional cellphone calls or texting regardless of having two onboard microphones, a receiver, and a speaker on the backside. Nonetheless, although you may’t make calls on the Palma 2 Professional, Boox does tout the flexibility for the gadget to work with navigation apps, which is one thing I positively did not count on from an E Ink gadget.

Along with all of its connectivity options, the Boox Palma 2 Professional additionally has an adjustable entrance mild, energy button with fingerprint safety, onboard 16MP digicam with an LED flash, and Bluetooth for connecting to wi-fi headphones. It’ll even be the primary gadget in Boox’s Palma line to help drawing and taking notes with the corporate’s InkSense Plus stylus.

The Boox Palma 2 Professional is accessible to pre-order now forward of its launch date on November 7 for $400 and is available in both black and white. The InkSense Plus stylus shouldn’t be included however those that want to add one on can achieve this for a further $46.

The recognition of E Ink gadgets as a substitute for conventional iPads and tablets has been attention-grabbing to observe, as E Ink gadgets usually price extra and have fewer options than a standard iPad or Android-based pill. Nonetheless, as I’ve famous earlier than, there are definitely some interesting use cases for E Ink over traditional screens, smaller gadgets just like the Palma 2 Professional could have room to develop in reputation as customers look to restrict “dangerous display screen time” with their smartphones and substitute it with “good display screen time” on gadgets like these.