Onyx BOOX Palma 2 Pro is a $400 phone-sized eReader with an E Ink color display and 5G cellular data

After launching recently in China, the Onyx BOOX Palma 2 Pro is now available for pre-order worldwide for $400, and it’s expected to begin shipping in early November. The Palma 2 Pro is a pocket-sized gadget with almost all the features you’d expect from a phone.  It has a 6.13 inch ultrawide color display, an operating system based on Android 15, and support for 5G cellular networks.

But with an E Ink Kaleido 3 display, it’s better suited for reading eBooks than it is for streaming videos or playing games. And that 5G radio is data-only: the phone doesn’t support making phone calls or sending text messages (unless you do those things over a data connection). Still, it earns the Pro in its name by adding a bunch of features that the WiFi-only Onyx BOOX Palma 2 lacks.

The Palma 2 has a black and white E Ink Carta 1200 touchscreen display, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and an Android 13-based operating system. The Palma 2 currently sells for $270.

Meanwhile the $400 Palma 2 Pro has a Kaleido 3 display that supports 4096 colors, support for an optional pressure-sensitive stylus, a 5G radio, and a hybrid SIM card reader (you can either use two SIM cards or one SIM + one microSD card). This model is a tiny bit larger and heavier than the Palma 2, but you’d probably be hard pressed to notice the difference unless you place the two devices side by side.

The Palma 2 Pro is so close to being a phone that it’s easy to wonder why Onyx BOOX didn’t go just a little further and make it a phone. But the company isn’t a phone maker, and has so far specialized in eReaders and E Ink tablets with stylus support. Adding cellular data to an existing design is a lot simpler than making a new product and getting it certified for use as a phone, so it’s probably best to think of the Palma 2 Pro as a small tablet with an E Ink color display and always-connected capabilities.

Selling for $400, it’s also priced like a mid-range smartphone, which could make it a tougher sell than some earlier members of the Palma lineup. Those devices were basically marketed as pocketable eReaders that are easier to carry with you anywhere you go than models built to be the size of a paperback book. With their Android-based operating systems and support for the Google Play Store, you could use them for more than reading though.

The new model’s color display and 5G radio expands on that functionality, not only letting you download eBooks anywhere, but also browse the web or run a wide range of third-party apps on the go… without necessarily getting sucked into a marathon doomscrolling session.

That’s because while the Palma 2 has a color display, it’s still an E Ink screen that has a muted color palette and relatively slow refresh rate. While Onyx BOOX devices do let you adjust your settings for faster refresh rates, this usually comes at the expense of image quality.

E Ink’s Kaleido 3 displays are also well known for being a little darker than the company’s black and white screens. And while the display has a pixel density of 300 pixels per inch when viewing black and white content, that drops to 150 ppi for color.

Interestingly there is an Onyx BOOX device available in China with a 6.13 inch black and white display and 5G support. The Onyx BOOX P6 Pro, it’s similar in most respects to the Palma 2 (which is know as the P6 Pro Color in China), but it has an E Ink Carta 1300 greyscale display and lacks support for the optional stylus. This model does not appear to be available outside of China though, at least not at the moment.

One other thing to consider? That $400 price doesn’t include the cost of an optional stylus. The Onyx BOOX InkSense Plus stylus is sold separately for $42, and supports 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, tilt detection, and replaceable tips. There’s also a shortcut button on the side.