E Ink nerds are always clambering for handheld, pocket-friendly E Ink devices. Even the difficult-to-use, 4.3-inch Xteink X4 is beginning to gain a following after a quiet international launch back in September. Suffice it to say, the people want small e-readers, and they will surely be pleased to learn Boox will be dropping a new 5G-connected Palma this month. It’s just in China for now, but we’ve got a feeling we’ll see it on this side of the Pacific sooner rather than later.
The new Palma will be more connected than ever
You probably remember the story from September of this year, when The Verge got an early look at a new color Palma device with 4G connectivity at the IFA event in Berlin. Since then, we haven’t learned much other than the new device probably won’t be able to make calls, but it will be able to make use of cellular data.
That’s all we knew until yesterday, when Boox dropped a bunch of new information on its Chinese social media channels (via Notebookcheck). The new P6 Pro (I’m guessing it will be called the Palma Pro when/if it gets to us) will feature 5G network connectivity, 128 GB of storage with 2 TB of expandable SD storage, and 8 GB of RAM. Need more? There will be a color version and a black-and-white version. Add to that a 16 MP camera, stylus support, and an etched glass screen protector, and things are looking pretty sweet.
Let the speculation begin
That’s just about everything we know for sure. One big unknown is the price. The Palma 2 currently retails between $300 and $270, and it’s a good bet that this one will cost at least as much as its predecessor. Boox is also boasting that the P6 Pro will come pre-loaded with hundreds of optimizations for many popular apps. Given that the Chinese app market is vastly different from the Western app market, it’s not a sure thing that an international release will ship with the same feature.
There aren’t a lot of other obvious improvements over the Palma 2 to be made. Boox might go with a Carta 1300 screen (one generation up from the Carta 1200 on the Palma 2), but that’s a minor leap in terms of display tech. Perhaps we’ll get a bigger battery, or Boox will do something really surprising with the E Ink tech on its color model.
Will you be able to buy one?
The big question for those of us not living in China is, “Will we be able to buy one?” As of now, there’s no way to know. We’ll have to wait for the October 9th announcement to get any more information, but given that Boox chose to show off its new Palma to The Verge, I’m willing to bet we’ll see it eventually. If you just can’t wait, you can try ordering one directly from China when sales open on the 15th.
