That’s exactly what happened with the Boox Palma 2.
When I first reviewed the original Palma last year, I admired its ambition but couldn’t quite get past its oddness.
It was a smartphone-sized e-ink device that looked like a Kindle had shrunk in the wash — it was intriguing, yes, but also felt a bit like a solution searching for a problem.
The format was unconventional, the size too small for comfortable reading over long stretches, and the software a little too clunky to make up for it. I wanted to like it more than I actually did.
So, it’s safe to say I came to the Boox Palma 2 with tempered expectations. But this time, the strange little e-reader-that-thinks-it’s-a-phone has found its footing (thankfully considering the price).
What once felt like a novelty now feels like a genuinely useful companion — one that has refined its niche and, in doing so, become a far more appealing device.
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At first glance, the Palma 2 doesn’t look radically different from its predecessor — it’s still about the size of a smartphone, with a 6.13-inch e-ink Carta 1200 display, and still maintains the rugged, no-nonsense look with its textured back and matte finish.
But where the original Palma felt a bit like an odd prototype, the Palma 2 feels more deliberate. It’s faster, smoother, and crucially, the display feels more responsive — both to the eye and the finger.
Boox has clearly done some under-the-hood tweaking with an updated processor and improved firmware to make navigation much snappier.
Opening and flipping through ebooks is quicker, and using third-party reading apps — something Boox has always allowed thanks to its Android base — is finally a smooth experience rather than a jittery compromise.
You can genuinely use this for Pocket, Kindle, Kobo, Libby, and more, without everything grinding to a halt or looking like it’s being viewed through frosted glass.
What also helps is the Palma 2’s refined software interface with the clunkiness I noted in the original addressed, with a cleaner launcher and less friction when jumping between apps or adjusting settings.
The dedicated side button — programmable to open your favourite app or perform an action — remains a quiet hero, turning the Palma 2 into a one-handed reader that feels tailor-made for a busy commute or a quick read in a café queue.
However, with a new gadget, there comes the one lingering question mark, that remains the same — the one thing I still struggle with is the price.
At well over £250, the Boox Palma 2 remains a costly proposition, especially for a device that sits somewhere between an e-reader and a smartphone without fully replacing either.
It’s undeniably clever and nicely built, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that you can get a full-sized Kindle Paperwhite and a cheap Android tablet for less.
That said, if you’re specifically after a phone-sized, highly customisable e-ink device with the flexibility to run your own apps and read across multiple platforms, there really isn’t anything else quite like it — and perhaps that uniqueness is what you’re paying for? (I guess).
The Palma 2 has carved out a new space — it’s the device I grab when I’d otherwise be doomscrolling on my phone.
It’s a focused, distraction-free portal into books and articles, compact enough to pocket, but powerful enough to feel like a proper digital tool.
In short, the Boox Palma 2 has done what good sequels should: it’s taken the quirks of the original and polished them into strengths.
What once felt strange now feels smart. Maybe number 3 will hit the nail on the head.
3/5
From £279.99
Why are my social media feeds filled with images of celebrities as stylised digital dolls?
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A new trend is sweeping social media feeds — the AI doll generator. Popular on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and even LinkedIn, it sees users transforming themselves into stylised digital dolls or action figures, often complete with personalised packaging and themed accessories. Dubbed by many as the “Barbie Box” trend, the appeal lies in blending nostalgia with the latest in AI image generation.
The trend has even caught the eye of politicians here in NI — former Health Minister and South Antrim MP Robin Swann, and DUP MLA Phillip Brett have uploaded their own ‘action figures’ to their socials.
The process is relatively simple: users upload a photo to an AI tool and describe the kind of doll they want to be. The result is a slick, often humorous image showing the user as a toy, perhaps clutching a laptop and coffee cup to reflect a work-from-home lifestyle, or dressed in fantasy armour for a more dramatic makeover.
Fans have embraced the trend as a playful form of self-expression, and some have even found creative uses for it in branding or personal marketing. The rise of hyper-personalised avatars has allowed people to present curated versions of themselves that are fun, aspirational, or tongue-in-cheek. It follows in the footsteps of other AI trends like the Studio Ghibli-inspired portraits and Pixar-style selfies that similarly blurred the line between art and algorithm.
But not everyone is on board – critics have raised concerns about the increasing reliance on AI for digital self-presentation, warning that it may reinforce unrealistic beauty standards or turn self-image into yet another curated product. Some have also noted that the dolls often reflect a narrow idea of aesthetics, with lighter skin tones, large eyes, and Westernised features cropping up in results — raising issues around bias in the underlying AI models.
Others worry the trend encourages a blurring of the line between reality and performance, particularly on professional platforms like LinkedIn, where the doll generator is being used to create glossy, cartoonish versions of job roles and personal brands. There’s a fine line, critics argue, between creativity and turning yourself into a product.
