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The Palma 2 Pro asks the phone to surrender the last chapter
· New York time
The $400 Boox Palma 2 Pro is a smartphone-sized E Ink reader that runs Android and supports Google Play, allowing access to third-party apps. TechCrunch's reviewer was drawn to a practical advantage: a smaller device can be easier to hold while reading on one's side in bed. That is a specific assessment of comfort, not a universal finding about how everyone should read. Larger, squarer readers can feel awkward in that position, the reviewer explained, even when their owners already have a perfectly serviceable Kindle. The Palma occupies an unusual middle ground between a dedicated reader and a compact Android tablet. Its appeal rests partly on giving books, articles and documents a pocket-sized screen without making the ordinary phone do every job. At $400, the distinction matters. This is another device purchase, not a free setting that turns an existing phone into a different object. Buyers weighing it against equipment they already own have a real cost to consider. Still, its modest ambition is refreshing. Much of consumer technology promises to transform civilization. This device makes a smaller proposition: perhaps finishing a chapter should not require negotiating a grip accessory and an elbow arrangement worthy of a structural engineering assessment.
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