Device spotlights
Meet the BOOX Palma 3: The Pocket Reader That Takes a Pen
The BOOX Palma 3 is the newest version of the phone-shaped reader that made the Palma name. It keeps the idea that worked, a 6.13″ E Ink page in a body that fits wherever your phone does, and changes almost everything around it: a metal frame, a faster chip, Android 16, and, for the first time on a black and white Palma, support for a stylus.
What changed from the Palma 2
The short version: same screen size and the same reason to own one, built better and faster.
- A metal frame replaces the plastic mid-frame of earlier Palmas, and the back has a matte, paper-like texture. It comes in one finish, Titanium Gray.
- 7.8 mm thin and about 185 g, a millimetre thinner than the Palma 2 and lighter than most phones.
- A newer octa-core chip with BOOX Super Refresh. BOOX quotes about 45% more CPU performance than the previous model, which you notice in page turns, scrolling long articles and switching apps.
- Android 16 with the Google Play Store, up from Android 13 on the Palma 2.
- 6 GB of memory and 128 GB of storage, plus a microSD slot for cards up to 2 TB.
- Bluetooth 6.0 for wireless earbuds, audiobooks and podcasts, and dual-band Wi-Fi.
The rest is familiar Palma: a fingerprint sensor in the power button, page-turn volume keys, a programmable function button, a speaker and microphone, a 16 MP rear camera and a 3,950 mAh battery.
BOOX Palma 3$447.99
The screen
The Palma 3 uses a 6.13″ Carta 1200 screen at 824 × 1648, which works out to 300 ppi, behind a flat glass cover lens. It is black and white, and that is worth saying plainly: if you want colour for comics, magazines or colour highlights, the Palma 2 Pro is the colour Palma.
What the Palma 3 does well is text. Pages are crisp, contrast is higher than on earlier Palmas, and the warm and cold front light, with a light sensor that adjusts it for you, keeps the page comfortable from a sunny patio to a dark bedroom. Like every E Ink screen, it reflects light rather than shining it at you, so long reading sessions feel more like paper than like a phone.
It takes a pen now
The Palma 3 works with the BOOX InkSense Plus active stylus, sold separately. On a pocket screen that is not about writing pages of notes. It is about the small things: underlining a sentence, circling a word to look up later, a note in the margin of an article, or a quick list when an idea arrives and your phone is the wrong tool for it.
Until now, a Palma that took a pen meant the colour Palma 2 Pro. The Palma 3 brings that to the black and white model.
Android, tuned for E Ink
Because it runs open Android with Google Play, the Palma 3 reads from the stores and libraries you already use: Kindle, Kobo, Libby, read-later apps, news apps and audiobook apps. Books bought in those stores stay in their apps, and the apps all run here.
Apps built for phones do not always look their best on E Ink, which is where EinkWise comes in. It lets you set the refresh mode, colour mode and layout per app, so a reading app can favour sharp text while a news app favours speed. The home screen takes docks and widgets too, so you can put a calendar, your library and the apps you actually use on the first page and leave the rest out of sight.
In the box, and the case
The Palma 3 comes with a USB-C cable, a card tray eject tool, a quick start guide and a warranty card. There is no case in the box.
The case made for it is the Palma 3 2-in-1 case, in Ivory or Forest: a translucent back shell that stays on, and a magnetic flip cover that comes off for one-handed reading, wakes and sleeps the screen, and folds into a stand. The Palma 3 is its own size, so cases made for the Palma 2 or Palma 2 Pro are not a safe fit.
Who it suits
The Palma 3 is for people who want their reading in their pocket without their phone's notifications attached. Commuters, people who read in queues and on lunch breaks, and anyone trying to swap some scrolling for a chapter. The stylus support makes it a good fit for readers who like to mark up what they read, and for anyone who wants a small, quiet notebook that also holds their library.
Choose a different Palma if you need colour or mobile data: the Palma 2 Pro has both. Our guide to the BOOX Palma compares all three models side by side.
Buying one in Canada
TIFAN is an authorized Canadian BOOX dealer. The Palma 3 comes with the full BOOX manufacturer warranty, and we handle the claim with BOOX for you if you ever need it; our warranty page has the details. New devices come with 30-day returns and free shipping across Canada on orders over $100.