Boox’s New Tiny E-Reader Could Shake Up the Market

Boox has made a reputation for itself within the e-reader world by cornering components of the market left unexplored by bigwigs like Amazon and Kobo, and its subsequent product might increase its area of interest dominance even additional. Today the corporate teased the Boox Picco, an immensely pocketable e-reader with a tiny 3.97-inch display screen.

That will make Picco the smallest e-reader within the Boox lineup by far; the corporate’s present small-form e-reader, the Palma, has a 6.13-inch display screen. Where the Palma and its successors are concerning the measurement of a smartphone, the Picco is even smaller than a deck of playing cards.

Little else has been revealed concerning the Picco simply but, although Boox has mentioned the e-reader will sport a monochrome E Ink show and a entrance mild. The machine may also have microSD assist for additional storage. Boox says the Picco is the primary product in a brand new “Tile” line, although the corporate didn’t present any particulars about what that entails.

The announcement of the Picco is an nearly direct response to the success of Xteink’s line of pocketable e-readers. The Xteink 3, Xteink 4, and the Xteink 4 Pro (simply introduced this week) have gone considerably viral within the final yr or so, particularly for his or her measurement. The Picco will likely be smaller even than Xteink’s smallest e-reader.

If the Picco follows within the footsteps of different Boox gadgets (I’d wager it can), the Picco will run a modified model of Android—which might give it a reasonably main leg up over Xteink. One of the Xteink’s most vital drawbacks is that it doesn’t run Android apps, that means customers solely have the choice of sideloading books into their e-readers. Popular apps like Kindle, Kobo, and Libby aren’t accessible to be used on Xteink gadgets in any respect.

We may also count on the Picco to be only a bit extra premium-feeling than the Xteink, which actually prioritizes a low worth level over construct high quality. No pricing has been introduced for the Picco simply but, however I’d count on it to be considerably larger than the Xteink 4’s $69. (The Palma 2 is $249; the Palma 2 Pro, which has a coloration E Ink display screen, is available in at a whopping $399.)

It’s additionally unclear if Boox will attempt to copy the Xteink’s magnetic bottom, which is likely one of the options that followers of the tiny e-reader have latched onto—it lets you stick the e-reader to the again of your telephone for simple entry on the go. No matter its worth level, although, it appears seemingly Boox will discover nice success with this new type issue, given how Xteink’s has been obtained. Could Amazon or Kobo be subsequent?