The Palma is a wierd product. It’s a small e-reader with far greater gadget ambitions. On its web site, Boox describes the product as a “distraction-free system that allows you to reclaim your focus within the precise center between tech and life.”
In a number of methods, the corporate’s ambitions seem to reflect these of Light Phone’s by constructing a secondary system designed to take away you out of your smartphone’s built-in distractions. That’s a pleasant sufficient sentiment many people can little question get behind, having skilled yet one more deeply polarizing U.S. presidential election via the lens of social media.
What, exactly, constitutes a “distraction” versus a vital perform is extraordinarily subjective, nonetheless. Turning again to Mild Telephone for a second, we see a product that was deliberately launched with a restricted function set, solely to subsequently introduce new performance that was initially deemed “nonessential” by the startup.
For higher or worse, we depend on our little pocket communicators for almost each facet of our lives. Decreasing dependence and distraction are valiant targets, however depriving customers of genuinely useful options may be counterproductive.
The Palma doesn’t begin from that very same place of useful minimalism — at the least not totally. There are particular limitations baked instantly into the product by the character of its ePaper show. There’s sure performance that works higher on the expertise — studying, for instance — however it lacks an incredible quantity of versatility in comparison with your normal smartphone/pill display.
The system, nonetheless, runs Android (albeit a couple of generations behind) and has entry to the Play Retailer. It has a digicam, microphone, audio system, and Bluetooth connectivity. The Palma 2 options an upgraded octa-core processor and provides in privateness by the use of a fingerprint reader.
The attention-grabbing selections of what to place in and what to depart out make it really feel like PDA with an id disaster: a wierd client digital chimera that’s not totally certain what it needs to be when it grows up. Because it seems, that’s a part of the enjoyable.
Taking part in round with the Palma 2 despatched me down some sudden rabbit holes, together with Reddit threads whereby folks focus on methods to backdoor performance onto the device. There may be, for instance, a microSD slot for expandable reminiscence, however not one for a SIM. Which means, despite the inclusion of microphones, audio system, and Bluetooth, it’s not particularly designed to make cellphone calls.
As such, folks debate the viability of utilizing WhatsApp’s voice function as a work-around. There’s no GPS, which places the kibosh on mapping performance, however how about piggybacking on a tool that does? It’s a number of work for comparatively little reward, however it’s at all times hopeful to see the methods through which technological limitations spur intelligent person innovation.
Granted, I’ve solely been utilizing the Palma 2 for a short while, however I are likely to fall within the camp of customers content material to consider the system as a pure e-reader. It enjoys lots of these options, together with ePaper that’s far simpler on the eyes (and sleep schedule) and extends battery life far past what the common smartphone is able to.
The brand new processor provides zip to the Palma, whereas eradicating the annoying latency from the earlier technology. That stated, the product remains to be hampered by ePaper’s refresh limitations. If Boox had been to make a model of the Palma that was a real e-reader, stripped of a lot of the doubtless extraneous options, and delivered it at a lower cost, I might see these items flying off the shelf.
Simply the promise of a reader that’s skinny sufficient to hold in a pocket will probably appeal to a number of consideration. I’ve wasted extra time than I care to say making an attempt to resolve whether or not to take my Kindle with me on an extended practice experience, understanding it might imply awkwardly carrying the system round for the remainder of the night and doubtlessly leaving it behind in a darkish nook.
Boox makes some nice e-readers, and the Palma suits the invoice. It’s good {hardware}, with a flush 300 ppi show and a stable entrance gentle for studying in mattress. The $280 asking worth, however, is tough to justify except you propose to make the most of many of the different options.
