Best Boox E-Reader: How to Pick the Right Model for You

How to choose

How to choose the best Boox e-reader

Picking the best Boox e-reader comes down to four questions, because Boox sells a wider range than Kindle or Kobo and the names run together fast. First, mono or color: a black-and-white screen is sharper, cheaper and easier on battery, while a color Kaleido screen shows highlights and covers at the cost of some crispness. Second, size: a 6 to 7 inch reader fits a pocket, a 10.3 inch slab is for PDFs, textbooks and handwriting. Third, do you want the Google Play Store, which every Boox here has, so you can read across Kindle, Libby and Kobo instead of one store. Fourth, do you want to write, which means a model that takes a pen. Answer those and the five readers below sort themselves.

Best overall

Best overall: Boox Palma 2

The Palma 2 is the Boox e-reader we would point most people to first. It is the size of a phone, with a sharp 6.13-inch mono screen, and it runs full Android 13 with the Play Store, so it reads Kindle, Libby, Kobo and any other app in one hand. At $269.99 it costs more than a basic Kindle, and the reason is freedom: no first-party reader opens every store the way this one does. It slips into a coat pocket at 170 grams, lasts days on a charge, and gives you the focus of an e-reader without a phone’s pull. Our Boox Palma buying guide covers the whole line, including the color Pro.

Screen

6.13″ mono, 300 ppi

Color

No

Pen

No

Reads

Any app, via Google Play

Price

$269.99

Best for

Pocket reading across more than one store

Best budget

Best budget: Boox Go 6

If the Palma’s price gives you pause, the Go 6 is the cheapest way into a Boox at $159.99. It is a 6-inch mono reader with a warm-and-cold front light, a pocketable 146 grams, and the same open Android library, so it still reads any store’s books. The trade for the lower price is plainer hardware: a smaller battery, an older Android version, no speaker and no pen support, so it is a pure reader and nothing more. For a commuter or a holiday reader who just wants a calm screen and a low price, it does the one job well. The full breakdown is in our Boox Go 6 review.

Screen

6″ mono, 300 ppi

Color

No

Pen

No

Reads

Any app, via Google Play

Price

$159.99

Best for

The cheapest open reader for travel

Best color

Best for color: Boox Go Color 7

For comics, magazines, color highlights or just nicer covers, the Go Color 7 (Gen II) is the pick at $289.99. It puts a 7-inch Kaleido 3 color screen in the same light, speaker-equipped body as the mono Go 7, runs Android 13 with the Play Store, and now takes a stylus, which the first Go Color lacked. Color e-ink is muted, closer to newsprint than a glossy tablet, so set your expectations there; what you get is soft, paper-like color that is easy on the eyes. If you want color in a pocket instead, the Palma 2 Pro is the 6.13-inch color option, and the mono Go 7 is the same size for less if color is not the point.

Screen

7″ Kaleido 3 color

Color

Yes, 4,096 colors

Pen

Yes, sold separately

Reads

Any app, via Google Play

Price

$289.99

Best for

Comics, magazines and color highlights

Every Boox reads every store’s books; the choice is color, size, and whether you want a pen.On picking a model

Best big screen

Best big screen for reading and notes: Boox Note Air 5C

When a pocket reader is too small for PDFs, textbooks or handwriting, the Note Air 5C is the Boox to buy at $529.99. It is a 10.3-inch color e-note with a Kaleido 3 screen, Android 15, and a Pen3 stylus in the box, so it reads, marks up documents and takes handwritten notes on one surface, with an optional keyboard for typing. It is the most device for the money here, and the most you will spend, which is the honest trade. If you mainly read and rarely write, it is more tablet than you need; if you plan and annotate, it is the one that does everything. Our Boox Note Air 5C review goes deep on it, and the Boox planner templates are built for exactly this screen.

Screen

10.3″ Kaleido 3 color

Color

Yes, 4,096 colors

Pen

Yes, Pen3 included

Reads

Any app, via Google Play

Price

$529.99

Best for

Reading PDFs and writing on one big screen

Best mono for notes

Best mono for notes and PDFs: Boox Go 10.3

If you want a big writing surface but not the color or the price of the Note Air, the Go 10.3 is the mono answer at $379.99. It is a 10.3-inch black-and-white e-note with a Pen Plus stylus included, and unusually it has no front light, which makes it paper-thin and built for daytime reading in bright light. Text and PDFs look razor-sharp in mono, the writing latency is low, and you save well over a hundred dollars against the color Note Air. The catch is the one you choose on purpose: no color, and no backlight for night reading. For a daytime note-taker who reads documents more than novels, it is the value pick of the large Boox readers. The Boox Go 10.3 review has the detail.

Screen

10.3″ mono, no front light

Color

No

Pen

Yes, Pen Plus included

Reads

Any app, via Google Play

Price

$379.99

Best for

Sharp daytime PDFs and mono handwriting

Compared

The best Boox e-readers compared

Here are the five in price order, so you can match a screen size and a price to what you want to do.

One trap in that list is worth naming, because it caught us. Boox sells two different devices under the name Go Color 7 at the same time: the first generation at $219.99, which takes no stylus at all, and the Gen II above at $289.99, which does. Seventy dollars apart, same name, and the cheaper one is the one that turns up first in most searches. If a listing does not say Gen II, assume it is not.

There is a second one on the store itself. Every Boox product page opens with a “Select a warehouse” control set to either US or Hong Kong, and the two carry different prices: the Note Air 5C is $529.99 from the US warehouse and $499.99 from Hong Kong, and the same $20 to $30 spread runs across the line. The prices above are the US figures, because that is what most readers here will actually pay at checkout. The Hong Kong option is real and it is cheaper, but it ships internationally, so weigh the transit time and any import charges before you take the saving.

Which to buy

Which Boox e-reader should you buy

Start with how you read. If you mostly read books and want one pocket device for every store, buy the Palma 2, or the Go 6 if price leads. If you read comics or want color in your highlights, the Go Color 7. If you want a big screen to annotate PDFs and handwrite, the Note Air 5C in color or the Go 10.3 in mono, depending on whether color is worth the extra to you. There is no single best Boox e-reader for everyone, only the best one for how you read, and for most people in most pockets that is still the Palma 2. If you are weighing Boox against other brands entirely, our wider e-ink tablet roundup sets these against the reMarkable and the Kindle Scribe.

Whichever you land on, tell us in the comments which Boox you read on and how it has held up. Real use sorts these devices better than any spec sheet, and it helps the next reader pick.

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