Onyx Boox has just done something exciting; they have taken a page from the Hisense playbook and released a dedicated e-reader with the familiar candy bar shape as a smartphone, except it is a dedicated e-reader. You can do phone calls with this unit and talk to people on Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp or WeChat with dual microphones. However, it does not support SIM cards or eSim, and you must be on a WIFI connection to do anything useful. The most significant advantage of the Onyx Boox Palma is carrying an e-reader around with you in your pocket; you can’t do this with the vast majority of e-readers on the market. The Palma is available as a pre-order for $249; when it launches, the price will go up to $279.99.Only a small batch of units are available as a first come, first serve basis and will ship out sometime in August 2023.
I don’t really have a use for something like this, but the price is interesting, and if it can indeed do smooth scrolling as they claim, I might actually be interested out of sheer curiosity. It’s kind of like if Apple released an iPod Touch, but with an e-ink display.
Certainly not the fist time it has been tried; I had a yotaphone 2 and as an avid reader, it was very pleasant having a small ebook reader with me at all times: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yota#/media/File:YOTAPHONE_II.jpg , https://www.theverge.com/2015/5/13/8596973/yotaphone-2-white-price-release-date-specs
Also, there is the “Hisense A5”, which is a full 4G phone.
Ah, Onyx, the company that has been violating GPL for years now. I would never touch any product they make.
I have the Boox nova air tablet and I have to say it’s the smoothest eink device I’ve ever used. Worth every penny and replaced my new signature paper white the day I got it.
There’s no comparison in quality. The Signature is a toy by comparison.