A pocket-sized e-reader, a device built around screen technology that mimics ink on paper rather than emitting backlit light, is getting its first update in nearly two years. Boox has announced the Palma 3, a redesigned version of its smartphone-shaped black-and-white reader, priced at $339.99. That is $60 higher than the $279.99 the Palma 2 carried at its 2024 launch.
The physical redesign is the most obvious change. Boox wrapped the Palma 3 in a new anodized aluminum frame. Anodizing is a surface treatment that hardens the metal against scratching and wear without adding paint or a separate coating on top of it.
The display itself did not change. The Palma 3 carries the same 6.13-inch E Ink Carta screen at 300 pixels per inch that the Palma 2 shipped with. Pixels per inch, or ppi, measures how densely packed a screen's dots are; at 300ppi, text on an E Ink panel reads cleanly, close to how ink looks on a printed page. This display technology has been in use for quite a few years now.
The headline new feature is stylus support. On larger E Ink tablets, writing and annotating directly on screen is already standard. The Palma 3 brings that to a phone-sized form factor. Boox also described a handful of other small updates without specifying each one.
The $60 price increase is the central question for buyers weighing the upgrade. Based on what Boox has disclosed, the aluminum chassis and stylus capability are what the higher price buys. The display is unchanged. Boox has not set a firm release date, describing the Palma 3 only as expected to be "available soon."