Goodbye Kindle, I don't think I'll miss you.
I never thought I'd replace my Kindle. Then I tried the Boox Palma. A short review, and why I switched.
Even though it never really replaced physical books for me, I've been a big Kindle user for many years. The ability to take hundreds of books with me anywhere is priceless. Vitto even has a running joke that I tend to lose them on the plane.
I love my Kindle so much I never thought I'd replace it.
But I did. And it feels GREAT.
I first heard of the Boox Palma from Riccardo, and then repeatedly from David. When nerds recommend a new gadget, I'm usually skeptical, but hey, these are respectable nerds after all. After 2/3 weeks of hesitation, asking Vitto repeatedly if I should go for it (as usual) - I decided to finally press the button.
From the moment it arrived, I never touched my Kindle ever again.
There are many good things about the Boox Palma. But I'll start with what hit me first: It's well built. One of my favourite things about the Kindle was that those things would last a long time (if you didn't leave them on the plane). I'm not sure the Boox Palma will last that long - but for the past 4 months of use, I can throw it pretty much everywhere - it's sturdy.
A Kindle that fits in your pocket. Now how great does that sound? One of my all-time annoyances with the Kindle was the fact that it was great to carry - but ONLY as long as you have a backpack. For airplane travel, it's great. But for every other time I left home without a bag - I just didn't take it. Now, with something that fits in my pocket, every occasion is a good occasion to take my e-reader with me. So I've found myself reading in places I would never have before. Waiting for a friend? Going out for lunch somewhere? Which is one of the big reasons why I love this gadget: it makes me read more!
We can't talk about an e-reader without talking about the display. I'm by no means a display expert, but it's pretty sharp. You can tweak the refresh modes and filters - but I don't really tend to do so. I do tend to adjust the color temperature. Quite a lot, actually. If I'm reading at night I want something yellower. If I'm reading during the day I want something colder. My only complaint about the display is the lack of a native dark mode. I wish I could touch a button and all the colors in my device would just invert. But either that option isn't available, or I haven't found it.
No more Amazon. No more kindle store, no more 'send-to-kindle', no more 'we could not send your file', no more 'when does this thing sync so I can see my book'. Bye Amazon. With the Boox, all I need is Dropbox. The Boox Palma is something the Kindle never was: A full-fledged Android phone. I can install whatever I want, whenever I want. My RSS reader? Check. My newspaper apps? Check. The actual Kindle app? Also!
But I don't use the Kindle app on my Boox. One of the most pleasant surprises when using the Boox Palma has been KOReader. It's the reading app I've always wanted. And it's where I spend 99% of the time on my Boox Palma. Incredible customization (the fonts, the rendering, the images), dark mode, a super pleasant progress bar. I just love reading in this app. Best of all? It's free and open source. I have to take my hat off to the maintainers. It's another big reason why I love the Boox.
And it lasts a long time! I tend to read ~1 hour every night, and more during traveling, and it comfortably lasts 2+ weeks without charging. Worth noting that I don't watch YouTube videos on it. You could. But not sure what the point would be.
The Boox Palma is not perfect. The company has tried to shove AI down the users' throats a couple of times. I think I've received a single software update in ~4 months, which is not the most encouraging. And yes - it's an Android phone, but for everything else other than reading - it will feel sluggish. Expected? Probably. But it also costs 2-3 times what a Kindle does.
But the reason why I loved my Kindle was not because it was powerful, or because of its great software. It was because it just made me read more often.
And that's also why I love the Boox Palma. Because it makes me read more.
Apps I use on the Boox:
>>> One of my all-time annoyances with the Kindle was the fact that it was great to carry - but ONLY as long as you have a backpack.
If you can make yourself wear cargo pants or cargo shorts, you can fit a Kindle in your pocket. ;)