The new Boox Palma 3 comes with stylus support and an aluminum build
Developing story first seen 4 hours ago
Boox has expanded its E Ink line-up with three new Android 16 devices, headlined by the third-generation Palma pocket ereader, which switches from a plastic casing to an anodised aluminium frame. All three devices, which also include the Note Air6 C and Note Mini C, come with the Google Play Store pre-installed, and the Palma 3 adds support for the InkSense Plus stylus for annotating books and cloud-saved notes, marking it as a more premium successor to the Palma 2 Pro.
The Palma 3 features a 6.13-inch HD screen with dual-tone front light, 128GB of storage expandable to 2TB via microSD, a 3,950mAh battery, a 16MP rear camera with flash for document scanning, and dual microphones for voice memos; it will cost $320, some $60 less than its predecessor, though the stylus is sold separately for $46. The 10.3-inch colour Note Air6 C introduces a "Dual Notes" feature for annotating two documents side by side and costs $580 alone or $657 with a keyboard cover, while the 8.52-inch colour Note Mini C, aimed at mobile workers with access to apps like Teams and Outlook, is listed as "available soon" for $550.
- Boox unveils Palma 3, Note Air6 C and Note Mini C E Ink devices
- Palma 3 gets aluminium build, stylus support, costs $320
- Note Air6 C and Note Mini C add colour screens for note-taking
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Boox, a Chinese company known for its E Ink-based tablets and ereaders, has announced three new devices running Android 16 with the Google Play Store built in. The headline model is the Palma 3, the latest version of its pocket-sized ereader, a slim device roughly the size of a smartphone that uses the same low-glare, low-power screen technology found in Kindles rather than a standard colour display.
E Ink devices like these are popular with readers who want a phone-sized gadget for books and documents without the distractions and eye strain of a backlit screen. Boox has built a niche by combining this display technology with a full version of Android, letting people install ordinary apps such as email, messaging or note-taking tools rather than being limited to a single reading app. The other two devices announced, the Note Air6 C and Note Mini C, are larger colour E Ink tablets aimed more at note-taking and office work.
Boox operates in a small but growing market for alternative ereaders and digital notebooks, competing indirectly with mainstream products like Amazon's Kindle and reMarkable's writing tablets. Updates to its hardware, such as new materials, stylus support or pricing changes, are of interest mainly to people already following this niche category, as they indicate how the company is trying to differentiate its devices as the sector matures.
Full account
Onyx's Boox brand has announced three new E Ink devices, headlined by a third-generation version of its pocket-sized Palma e-reader alongside two colour digital notebooks, the Note Air6 C and Note Mini C. All three run Android 16 with the Google Play Store built in, continuing Boox's approach of treating its readers as fully fledged Android devices rather than closed e-reading gadgets.
The Palma 3 marks a design shift for the smartphone-shaped line, swapping the plastic casing of its predecessor for an anodised aluminium frame. It keeps a 6.13-inch monochrome E Ink panel with a dual-tone front light and ambient light sensor, and continues to support a stylus for note-taking, following on from the Palma 2 Pro. It also retains a rear camera pitched mainly at document scanning, dual microphones for voice memos and dictation, and a customisable side button. Coverage differs on price: one report puts it at $320, undercutting the outgoing Palma 2 Pro by $60 and noting the stylus is an extra $46 purchase, while another cites a $340 asking price without breaking out stylus costs separately. Reported storage also varies, with one account specifying 128GB expandable to 2TB via microSD and a 3,950mAh battery, details the other outlet's report does not address. Neither report gives a firm release date, describing the device as listed on Boox's site but not yet on sale.
The Note Air6 C is the larger of the two colour notebooks, built around a 10.3-inch Kaleido 3 colour E Ink display and, according to one source, an octa-core processor with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage that can be expanded to 2TB via microSD. It supports Boox's Pen3 stylus and introduces a Dual Notes feature that lets users annotate two documents side by side, alongside newly added AI tools such as meeting transcription and document summarisation. Pricing is reported consistently at $580 for the tablet alone, with one outlet adding that a bundle including a pogo-pin keyboard cover costs $657; this device appears to already be on sale, making it the only one of the three currently available to buy according to both accounts.
The smaller Note Mini C shares the same 8.52-inch Kaleido 3 colour screen concept and is aimed at more portable, one-handed use, coming with its own stylus. Here the reports disagree on price, with figures of $550 and $580 both cited, and one account additionally highlighting a fingerprint-enabled power button and support for enterprise apps including Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Slack and OneDrive, features not mentioned in the other coverage, which instead focuses on shared hardware specifications with the Note Air6 C. Both reports agree the Note Mini C has not yet gone on sale and is simply listed as coming soon.
Where outlets differ
Palma 3 price is reported as $320 by one outlet and $340 by another, with only one mentioning the $46 separate stylus cost
Only one source details Palma 3's 128GB storage, 2TB microSD expansion, 3,950mAh battery and 16MP flash camera
Note Mini C price is given as $550 by one outlet and $580 (matching the Note Air6 C) by the other
Only one report mentions Note Mini C's fingerprint power button and enterprise app support (Teams, Outlook, Slack, OneDrive); the other instead cites shared octa-core/6GB RAM/64GB storage specs with the Note Air6 C
Only one source notes the $657 Note Air6 C bundle price with the pogo-pin keyboard cover
The WIRED-style source is written from a first-person reviewer perspective expressing personal anticipation for testing the Palma 3, while the other is a more straightforward product roundup
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