Prove me wrong: The Boox Palma 2 Pro makes for an amazing minimalist phone

As someone who is chronically online because of my work and interests, digital minimalism is something that interests me deeply and is something that I’ve tried to inculcate in my off-work hours. But if you spend any amount of time around people who talk about digital minimalism, you start hearing the same familiar pitches. Switch to a dumb phone. Delete your apps. Turn everything grayscale. If you want to go a step further, lock your phone away. The advice always sounds great until you actually try living with it. For one, my job relies on technology and communication, and I can’t exactly turn off the dial on that.

Moreover, most of us cannot simply retreat from the world. We need maps, banking, authentication, messaging, and the small conveniences that make everyday life function smoothly. That tension between wanting less and needing enough is where most of these experiments fall apart. At least they do for me. You either give up too much or you fall right back into the same cycle of tapping and scrolling without even knowing it.

On the flip side, I’ve had a decade-long fascination with E-Ink. From owning and enjoying practically every generation of the Kindle to multiple attempts at building out E-Ink dashboards, I love how calm they feel and that they help me slow down without feeling hostile towards the reality of my daily requirements.

For the longest time, I’ve treated E-Ink gadgets as simple reading tools, something to pick up to catch up on my reading habit and put away before getting back to work, but it is abundantly clear that I’m not the only one who thinks that E-Ink could be more than that. What if it could be the bridge between modern connectivity and a simpler way to co-exist with technology? And what if the limitations that made E-Ink impractical for entertainment were the same limitations that could make it the perfect antidote to smartphone overload? Now that color E-Ink is finally making its way to handheld devices, it’s opened up a perfect middle ground. You get the splash of color needed to make sense of everything from traffic data in maps to gradients in apps, while avoiding the overstimulation of a regular phone.

That line of thinking led me to the Boox Palma 2 Pro ().

My first reaction when I saw the Palma 2 Pro’s details was a bit of confusion. The Palma 2 was a popular device for its portable form-factor and Android support. It could be a smartphone-lite if you had round-the-clock Wi-Fi connectivity. But it was no smartphone replacement.

The Boox Palma 2 Pro, like the original, looks like a phone, fits in your hand like a phone, and runs Android 15 like a phone. But unlike the original Palma 2, this time it actually behaves like a quasi-smartphone thanks to its newfound cellular connectivity. It gives you access to everything you need while removing the polished and hyper-stimulating, dare I say addictive, smartphone experiences we have all grown used to. Just to be clear, there’s no dialer here, and the SIM slot is data-only. However, the vast majority of my communication, including calls, happens over WhatsApp, so it hasn’t been an issue for me. Your mileage may vary, of course.

The Boox Palma 2 Pro doesn’t change the design all that much over the original, and looks exactly like a compact smartphone from 2016. Slab-shaped, pocket-friendly, fingerprint reader on the side, and large bezels that would look out of place on a mid-range Android phone today. The only clue that gives away its differences is the screen. Unlike the original Palma, the 2 Pro tacks on a Kaleido 3 color display with its own set of pros and cons. The E-Ink panel, as you’d expect, desaturates everything. There’s no glare. No hyper-saturated icons trying to pull your attention.

The screen is decidedly darker than the regular Carta display, but for me, it’s not a huge miss because of all the benefits of having a color display. It gives app icons a soft tint that makes them easier to glance at. Interface elements stand out. It’s easier to highlight text in PDFs, and you can take better notes. Similarly, you can read manga or comic books in all their washed-out, but coloured glory. The Palma 2 Pro delivers the most unsmartphone-like smartphone experience, and that calmer approach becomes the foundation for everything that follows from the moment you pick it up.

The device runs Android 15, which instantly removes the biggest argument people have against minimal phones. You do not lose essential functionality. You do not give up banking apps, authentication prompts, Spotify, maps, or your password manager. Every core part of your modern digital life is still here in your pocket. Moreover, this isn’t a locked-down Android experience; there is no proprietary app store funneling you into a stripped-down ecosystem. Instead, you get the familiarity of the Play Store, with all the benefits of a slowed-down experience.

That calmness of utility is not a side effect, it’s the whole point. E-Ink introduces friction but not frustration. I can’t doomscroll on it because scrolling itself becomes a conscious act. I can’t fall into a rabbit hole of YouTube or Instagram Reels because the screen is not conducive to video playback beyond the basics. Truly, I say this in the best possible way: Watching any video on an E-Ink screen is more effort than it is worth, despite Boox’s attempts at bumping up refresh rates. That, to me, is an advantage. When Instagram Reels play like slideshows, I stop consuming them. It’s frustrating the first day or two, and by the third, I’m consciously setting my phone aside.

Nor can I bounce endlessly between apps because it’s slow enough that I think twice before doing it. And yet none of this feels restrictive because I can still reply to messages, check my email, approve a bank transaction, and look up something important in a browser. The biggest difference here is intention. Every action carries a small penalty in the form of a pause. And in a world of 165Hz displays, that forced pause as the screen catches up with you becomes the boundary protecting you from distractions that your modern smartphone no longer provides.

The more I’ve been experimenting with it, the more I’ve realised that this is not just another quirky E-Ink gadget geared primarily towards on-the-go reading or note-taking. It might be the cleanest expression of functional minimalism in a phone-shaped body. A device that lets you stay reachable without being consumed, and a reminder that sometimes the best way to simplify is not to subtract features but to change the way you interact with them.

Like I mentioned earlier, the one feature that elevates the Palma 2 Pro from an Android-powered Kindle to minimalist phone territory is the SIM card slot. This is not a Wi-Fi-only niche reader. You can get data on the go, run WhatsApp and other chat apps, and maintain essential communication for your work and personal life.

Now, I’ll be honest, some of the apps were hilarious to use the first time I got around to it. You can’t exactly fast-type on an E-Ink screen, and sending across memes is an exercise in frustration. Messages come in, I read them, I reply if needed, and then I lock the Palma 2 Pro. The loop ends there. I started optimising for efficient communication over finding the funniest image to go with a response.

Reading on the Palma 2 Pro deserves its own mention because it changed how I used the device throughout the day. Recently, I was at the hospital for a series of tests. If I remembered, I’d have stuffed my Kindle in a bag, but I didn’t, and the likelihood of me sitting around scrolling Reddit and Instagram was much higher. With the Palma 2 Pro in hand, I resorted to reading. Now, I’m no spring chicken, and as someone who is being more mindful of his health, I’ve started noticing the effects of eye strain from long hours of squinting at small screens.

With the Palma 2 Pro, I can more or less mitigate those ill effects. While there’s no getting around the fact that this is still a small screen, that’s easily mitigated by adjusting font sizes. I was comfortably able to catch up on my e-book and reading list while waiting for my appointment. The device doubles as a mini e-reader that fits into my pocket without the bulk of a tablet and none of the eye fatigue. That portability is a surprisingly big advantage that I truly only appreciated once I started using it. It might sound pompous to say this, but spending time on Instagram feels like eating junk food all day long and I would rather choose a more intentional healthier diet of purposeful reading. But that’s just my opinion.

Look, let’s be real. The app experience here is nothing worth writing home about. It’s functional, and the color screen goes a long way towards making modern apps look and feel the way they should. But between the muted colors and the general slowness of E-Ink panels, a lot of what makes smartphone apps addictive is gone. The act of opening YouTube is sluggish enough that I’d rather not unless there’s something I absolutely must check out. While for many users that might come across as a detriment, for me, it’s taken away the urge to open apps all the time, and I’m very content with the outcome.

Notification fatigue and notification anxiety are two things I usually struggle with. But the more I use the Palma 2 Pro the less I feel on the edge about incoming notifications. For one, the sheer number of notifications I receive has gone down on the Palma because I haven’t bothered installing the worst offenders, like Instagram. Besides that, I’ve switched off notifications from apps like Reddit. That effectively just leaves me with my email client and WhatsApp to deal with. Now, if I get a notification, I know it’s probably urgent. Plus, I’ve stopped instinctively reaching out to my phone just to be sure that I haven’t missed out on a notification.

Over time, using a device that is crippled by design reshapes your habits. You go back to treating your phone as a utility and a tool. Something that supports your day rather than interrupts it, which, I suppose, was the original intention of a smartphone. Even something as simple as the camera contributes to this shift. The Palma 2 Pro has a camera, but it is for utility and can’t hold a candle against even the most average smartphone cameras. However, you won’t find me complaining.

I use it to scan documents, capture quick references, or save information for later. Not to scroll through a gallery of memories or post pictures online. That absence of performative photography contributes to the minimalist philosophy at play here in small but meaningful ways. Plus, I’m more than happy that I’m actively seeking out my actual camera more often. Keep in mind, this isn’t me justifying an obvious technical limitation. Within the context of Palma 2 Pro buyers, I’m sure the majority wouldn’t have even missed the absence of a camera.

Battery life is another place where the Palma 2 Pro really emphasizes the slow-tech focus. Since the display does not draw power unless it refreshes, the device ends up lasting much longer than a typical smartphone under minimal use. Add to that the fact that you’re just using it less, and for less computationally intensive tasks, and the impact on battery life reduces further. You really do stop thinking about charging because it just keeps going, to the point that I did not even notice I was out of power when it finally ran out. It is not as long-lasting as a Kindle because it is still connected to a cellular network. However, you can comfortably expect a few days of use on a single charge.

Rounding it back to the design, I’ve really grown to love the hard plastics and rough back of the Palma 2 Pro. These are material choices that I’d probably look down on a regular smartphone, but they work here for a couple of reasons. I’m a big fan of chuckability. It’s my personal term for tools and devices that I would have no problem just chucking into a bag. My MP3 player is chuckable, my Kindle is not. My old Canon point and shoot is chuckable, my foldable phone is not. The Palma 2 Pro? Definitely chuckable. It feels compact and sturdy in my pocket, and I can toss it into a bag or on my desk without much worry or ceremony. Phone as a tool, remember?

The more time I spend with the Palma 2 Pro, the more I realize it is not quite a dumb phone at all. It is a “smart” phone that is wrapped in a dumb phone philosophy. It gives me the essentials without the extras, the modern conveniences I cannot give up without the addictive hooks I want to leave behind. But most importantly, it gives me a healthier relationship with my digital life without demanding that I completely cut myself off from it.

This is why the Palma 2 Pro stands out. It brings together everything I love about E-Ink and everything I have always looked for in digital minimalism without forcing me to compromise on practicality. And that’s something very few devices can balance. It is not perfect, and it is certainly not for everyone, but if you have been tempted by the idea of disconnecting without completely going off the grid, this might be the most realistic and sustainable path to get there.