Now Boox Is Making a Tiny E-Reader Too

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Credit: Boox

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A year ago, I was obsessed with my Boox Palma. I carried the phone-shaped e-ink device everywhere, and credited it with helping me read more and use my phone less. But after I discovered the quirky, wallet-sized Xteink X4 last December, my Boox e-reader has literally been collecting dust.

As I've pointed out in various reviews and articles, Xteink devices are a bit clunky (the company is a Chinese startup, and its products display all the growing pains you'd expect from new tech). They're also probably not for everyone—but they're definitely for a lot of people: Xteink's devices (which now include the X4, the smaller X3, and the just-released X4 Pro) have gone viral on social media and built a fervent fanbase on Reddit for three reasons: They are really basic, really cheap (starting at $69), and really small.

Boox, which previously gathered its own cult following with the Palma, now wants in on the wee e-reader action. This week, the company leaked the first details about a forthcoming device it's calling the Boox Picco, and it looks an awful lot like something Xteink would make.

What is the Boox Picco?

I first saw unsourced news of Boox's plans for a small-screen e-reader on Reddit yesterday, so I reached out to my contact at the company for more information. She told me that Boox is launching a new product line called Boox Tile that "focuses on creating more lightweight and flexible ePaper experiences for everyday use cases," and the first device out of the gate will be a truly palm-sized e-reader. (I bet they are wishing they'd called the Palma something else right now.)

Here's what we know about the Picco:

It is a "compact ePaper device for more convenient reading scenarios, such as commuting and on-the-go reading," according to the company.

It will have a 3.97-inch black-and-white e-ink display (larger than the Xteink X3, but smaller than the Xteink X4).

It will have a front light (a feature Xteink just introduced on the new X4 Pro).

It will support microSD cards.

And that's all that has been officially announced. Boox hasn't yet revealed what kind of processor it will have (Xteink devices use very simple ESP32 chips), whether it will have physical buttons, or if it will run on Android (like the Palma and the rumored Xteink S4). And then there are other important facts like when it will be released (in China or the U.S.), and, critically, what it will cost.

Why tiny e-readers?

At a time when many of us are romanticizing retro tech from the good old days of a decade or two ago, Xteink's stripped-down e-readers are beloved despite themselves (the first piece of advice you're likely to hear when you buy one is to overwrite the native operating system), explicitly because they are so bare-bones.

To judge by the Redditors in r/xteinkereader, the carry-anywhere size, tactile controls (the original devices lacked a touchscreen, a controversial addition to the X4 Pro), and single-purpose design feel like a balm in a time when other tech is doing everything it can to overwhelm us with features it insists we want (including needless AI integrations), even as social media apps have a stranglehold on our increasingly frayed attention spans.

In an era defined by attention overload, a super basic e-reader that literally can't do much more than show you a book feels as welcome as a hug—and that it's so small you can stick it in any pocket and forget you're carrying it, all the better.

Will the Boox Picco be worth waiting for?

Given the enthusiasm in the market for Xteink's devices, it's no wonder that Boox is trying to get in on the game, and I'm cautiously excited: I've reviewed a bunch of Boox tablets and e-readers, and the company knows how to make a good device. I'm just not sure it knows how to make the right device.

As I said, I've loved the Palmas I reviewed, but not without reservations. For one, they're expensive: The only model still readily available in the U.S., the Palma 2 Pro, retails for $400. For another, they do way too much: I primarily used mine as an e-reader, but it can also run apps, take pictures, play videos, and even make calls on wifi—basically everything a smartphone can do (hence the smartphone-like price). It is also too big; though its 6.13-inch screen and phone-like shape give it a smaller footprint than almost any other e-reader on the market, the Palma always felt very much like something else to carry, even if it did technically fit in my pocket (just not the same pocket as my phone).

In short, the Palma was guilty of doing too much. The e-ink screen made it appealing to e-reader fans, but the excess of features made it feel more like yet another phone, and pushed the price too high for most people to justify buying one over a Kindle.

If Boox understands the real factors behind Xteink's sudden success, the Picco will be a simple reading device with the polish you'd expect from a larger, more seasoned company. It'll also cost $100 or less. But if the Palma is any indication, the Picco might be just as overclocked, laden with features no one wants, and a price to match. We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, I've got plenty of books to read on my X4 Pro.