Its rivals are mostly its siblings. The monochrome Palma 2 reads text better and costs less, though BOOX's own store lists it as unavailable, and the upcoming Palma 3 is monochrome, Wi-Fi only and has the newer Android. Outside the family, a Kindle or a Kobo Clara reads books more simply for a fraction of the price. On 25 September 2026 the black and white Palma 2 Pro both appeared in B&H's best-seller order for e-book readers.

This review is research-based. Nobody at this site has used one, so the judgments below rest on BOOX's specifications and on the published reviews by TechRadar and The Gadgeteer.

Buy it if you read on your phone today and want the same pocket habit on e-paper, with color for covers, comics and the web. If you only read novels, the color layer makes text look worse, and a monochrome reader serves you better.

Three readers and two accessories

Kobo’s announcement names three eReaders: the Kobo Clara Colour, the Kobo Clara BW and the Kobo Libra Colour. Two accessories go with them, the Kobo Stylus 2 and the Kobo Remote. Michael Tamblyn, Kobo’s chief executive, framed the move in the release around exactly this problem. “Many readers want to be able to pick up a device, see the screen, and feel it in their hands before they commit. With Kobo eReaders now available at Best Buy, more American customers can do just that.”

The context behind that sentence is a long absence. Kobo’s previous US retail partnership, with Walmart, ran from 2018 and ended in 2024 without much traction. In the meantime Kindles have sat on Best Buy shelves for years. Kobo told Publishers Weekly in August that its US sales doubled in 2025 and doubled again in 2026, which is the kind of growth that earns shelf space.

Online, the picture is wider than the shop. Kobo says its eReaders are also sold through its own website, Staples and Target.

What is not on the shelf

Three models is a narrow slice of the range. The larger Kobo readers and the note-taking sizes are not named in the announcement, so a store visit will not help you decide between a Clara and something bigger. If you are weighing an eight-inch reader, you are still buying that one on trust, or from a review.

That matters more than it sounds, because screen size is the one thing people most often get wrong, and it is the one thing a shop could have fixed.

Go for the colour panel, and nothing else

One test justifies the drive. Pick up the Kobo Clara Colour and the Kobo Clara BW, put them side by side, and open plain text on both.

The Clara Colour uses a Kaleido 3 layer that renders colour at roughly half the density of the black and white text underneath it. That filter sits over the screen whether or not anything on the page is coloured. On paper it is a specification. In your hands it is the difference between sharp text and text that reads slightly softer and greyer. Only you can decide whether that trade is worth the covers and comic panels you gain.

Do the same with the Kobo Libra Colour if you are undecided about physical page-turn buttons. Two minutes of holding it one-handed, thumb on the button, tells you more than any amount of reading about ergonomics. Some people find the asymmetric grip perfect. Some find it heavy in the wrong place.

What a demo cannot settle

Shop lighting is bright, even and nothing like a bedside lamp, so the front light will look better in store than it does at home. Set the warmth to maximum before you judge it, because that is the setting most people end up living with.

Battery life is unknowable in the aisle. So is how the reader behaves with two thousand sideloaded books in the library. So is how quickly it wakes after three days asleep, and whether the page refresh grates across a four-hundred-page novel. Those are the complaints that turn into returns, and none of them surface in five minutes.

There is also a practical catch. When Kobo first appeared in Best Buy in early August, coverage noted that US stores did not yet have live demo units in the way Canadian stores do. Kobo’s own release describes customers being able to browse, touch and purchase. The two statements may reflect a rollout in progress. Either way, phone the branch before driving out, and ask specifically whether they have a working unit on display or only boxes on a peg.

The checklist to take with you

Set the font to the size you read at. Open a page of plain prose, not a cover. Turn the front light to its warmest setting and then to its coolest, and see which one you would use at night. Hold each device one-handed for a full two minutes. Press the page buttons on the Libra Colour. Look at a colour cover last, because it is the most flattering thing on the screen and it will bias everything you looked at before it.

And check Kobo’s own store price before you pay at the till. Kobo’s price match guarantee changed recently, so the arithmetic that used to favour buying direct may not hold.

Is the trip worth making

If you are choosing between colour and black and white, yes, and it is close to the only way to get a real answer. Photographs of e-paper are taken under studio lights and consistently make Kaleido look better than it is in a living room.

Anyone who already knows they want a monochrome reader gets a feel for the size and the buttons from the visit, which is useful but not decisive. Order it online and read the return policy instead.

Price, and why the store says “from $99.99”

The product page headline reads “From $99.99”, which is how several launch reports quoted it. Behind the page, the store data shows two versions of the listing, one shipping from the United States at $109.99 and one shipping from Hong Kong at $99.99. BOOX’s own list of popular products on the same site shows “BOOX Picco US$109.99 Sold Out”.

BOOX has not said when stock will return or which countries the Hong Kong version ships to. Shipping and import charges on the cheaper version are the buyer’s to check before counting on the $10 saving.

The hardware on the sheet

The Picco has a 3.97-inch monochrome touchscreen at 480 by 800 pixels, which BOOX gives as 235 PPI. It has physical page buttons and a front light with warm and cold adjustment. It measures 105.5 by 62 by 5.5 mm and weighs about 58 g, roughly the footprint of a credit card and a little thicker than one.

Storage is a 16 GB microSD card that comes installed, and BOOX says the slot takes cards up to 2 TB. Wireless is 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. BOOX publishes no hours or days of reading for the 920 mAh battery. In the box are the Picco, the card, three screen protectors and a quick start guide with a warranty card. No charging cable appears on that list.

What it will open

BOOX lists these document formats: EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, AZW, AZW5, FB2, FB2.ZIP, FB3, FBZ, TXT, PDB, PRC, RTF, HTML, XHTML, HTM and CHM. Images in PNG, JPEG, WEBP, BMP and GIF are supported. A line under the list adds: “Formats above require transfer via BOOX Tiles app or web.” The only apps named are Pomodoro, Todo and Countdown.

PDF is missing, and on a screen this size that is not much of a loss, since a full page shrunk to four inches is hard to read anyway. The larger gap is protected books. Nothing on the sheet mentions Adobe DRM or LCP, and the Picco does not run Android, so the Kindle, Kobo and Libby apps cannot be installed. The eBook Reader, which follows the category closely, concluded at launch that it does not support books from Libby, Amazon, Kobo or other major stores unless they are DRM-free. In practice, the Picco reads the EPUBs you already own without protection, from publishers and stores that sell DRM-free, plus public domain libraries.

What runs underneath

BOOX calls the Picco the first device in a line it names Tiles, and its larger readers run Android. This one does not. ReadMe.Club, a site that covers e-readers, analysed the firmware and reported on 17 September that it is built on version 1.2 of CrossPoint, an open-source reading system written for small ESP32-based readers, and that it runs on an ESP32-S3 chip. BOOX has not described the software in those terms on its store page.

The same report carried BOOX’s position on custom firmware. The company does not support it and says that attempting it may void the warranty. That matters because similar ESP32 readers attract owners who flash their own software, and on the Picco that route is officially closed.

Where it fits against a Kobo or a BOOX Go 6

When readerpilot.com looked at pocket-sized e-readers on 7 September, the Picco’s formats, price and battery were all unknown, and the advice was to wait for them. Two of the three are now public, and they place the Picco in a narrow slot. It is a second reader for people with a DRM-free EPUB library who want something that fits in a jeans pocket.

For anyone who buys from a store or borrows from a library, a six-inch reader is the better buy. The Kobo Clara BW has the Kobo store built in and borrows from Libby libraries on the device. The BOOX Go 6 runs Android with Google Play, so Kindle, Kobo and Libby apps all install, at a higher price and a larger size.

If the Picco’s size is the draw, wait for the restock and a published battery figure. Also confirm that the Tiles app suits how you move files, because the app or web page is the only way books get onto it.

Buy it if a real share of your reading has pictures in it: comics and manga, cookbooks, travel guides, children's books, textbooks with charts. If you mostly read novels, the Paperwhite does that job at least as well and carries a longer battery rating, which is why our Kindle Paperwhite review still calls it the default.

This is a research-based assessment. Nobody at ReaderPilot has read on this unit. It rests on Amazon's product page and announcement, two independent reviews of the 16 GB model and reporting on the software changes since launch, each cited where it is used.

What the libraries have announced

The Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library in Indiana posted its notice on 4 September 2026. It says patrons will need their library card number and PIN to use Libby, the OverDrive website and Kanopy, the library’s film service, and calls this “a new OverDrive requirement”. It asks patrons to “know their library PIN in addition to their library card number before October 1st”, while the change itself arrives in early October.

Beauregard Parish Library in Louisiana gives the same window, “on or around Oct 1”, and explains that OverDrive “is increasing security around log-in access”. It also tells patrons what their PIN is likely to be by default: the last four digits of the phone number on their library account.

Auckland Libraries went first among the notices we found. Its post of 15 September said that from Wednesday 16 September 2026, borrowers must sign in with their library barcode and PIN or password.

We could not find a company-wide announcement from OverDrive. The wording comes from the libraries, and the dates differ from one library to the next. It is also not the first time. Boone County Public Library in Kentucky moved Libby to PIN sign-in on 18 November 2024. So the accurate picture is a rolling change, library by library, with no single date for everyone on Libby.

The Auckland switch and the missing loans

The Auckland change is the only one that has happened among these notices, and it came with a problem. The library wrote that it was “aware of an issue affecting some customers where checkouts and holds from before Wednesday 16 September may not appear in Libby or OverDrive.” Affected borrowers were asked to fill in a form so the library could restore the missing items, and the library said it was working “with the vendor” on a fix.

The post gives no timeline for the items to reappear. It does not say whether the loans were lost or only hidden, or whether a hold keeps its place in the queue after it is restored. If your library switches on 1 October, it makes sense to note down your current loans and holds beforehand, with the position shown for each hold. A screenshot of the Libby shelf is enough.

Finding your PIN before the switch

The PIN belongs to your library account, not to Libby. Libby’s help page on forgotten details, updated on 3 September 2026, suggests checking the back of the card for the number, which may sit under the barcode. For the PIN, it suggests trying “the last 4 digits of your phone number or your birthday”, and contacting the library if neither works.

If you have only ever used the card at the desk, you may never have typed the PIN at all. One way to test it is to sign in to your library’s own catalogue website with the card number and the PIN you think is right. Libby checks the same library account, so a pair that works there should work in Libby too.

When the switch reaches your library, Libby may ask you to confirm the card. Libby’s help describes a prompt to verify the card “before you can borrow or place a hold”. You find it under Menu, in the “For Your Attention” section, as “Verify Card”, and it takes the card number and PIN.

Kobo owners

Kobo e-readers can borrow from OverDrive libraries without a phone, and this is where the PIN matters most for e-reader owners. On a model such as the Kobo Clara BW, which supports Libby borrowing on the device itself, you link the library in the reader’s settings with a QR code or a web address and a code, then enter your “library card number and PIN/password (if required)”, in the words of Kobo’s help page.

Kobo’s help also says that signing in with an email address and password “is no longer a option”, and that you need to switch to the card number and PIN. If you linked your library to your Kobo years ago with an email login, check the borrowing section of the settings on the reader before your library’s switch date.

Kobo has not said whether a reader that is already signed in will be asked to sign in again when a library changes its method. Neither Kobo nor the libraries have addressed it, so a prompt after 1 October should not come as a surprise.

Kindle owners

A Kindle has no library borrowing on the device. In the US, Libby delivers a loan to a Kindle through your Amazon account, and you choose Kindle delivery in the Libby app. The PIN change affects the Libby side of that, the sign-in that lets you borrow in the first place. None of the libraries’ notices mention Kindle delivery, and we have not found anything to suggest it changes.

What is still unconfirmed

Three things remain open. There is no list of which libraries are affected, and OverDrive has not published one. There is no single date, since the notices we found range from 16 September to “early October”. And the Auckland loss of loans and holds has no public explanation, so there is no way to know yet whether other libraries will see the same thing.

Your own library’s website or newsletter is the reliable source for your date. If it has not said anything, ask at the desk or by email whether a PIN change is planned for Libby, and confirm your PIN in the same conversation.

What was reported, and when

The report, published on 20 September 2026, says Kobo and cloudLibrary are testing an integration with a small number of Canadian and United States libraries during September. A broader rollout to three devices is said to follow in October: the Kobo Clara Colour, the Kobo Clara BW and the Kobo Libra Colour.

cloudLibrary is a platform public libraries use to run their digital lending, in the same way OverDrive runs lending behind Libby. Plenty of library systems use it. Until now, none of them could push a book straight to a Kobo.

Why this matters more than it sounds

Kobo’s headline library feature has always been OverDrive, built into the reader, with your card stored in the settings. It works well, and it is the reason a lot of people chose a Kobo over a Kindle in the first place.

The catch is that it only helps if your library uses OverDrive. When a library system switches vendors, a Kobo owner does not get a slightly different app. They get dropped back to the Adobe Digital Editions route, which means a desktop computer, a cable and a file with an .acsm extension. Kobo documents that path in one line: “Use Adobe Digital Editions to copy the .acsm file to your eReader.” It works. It also asks a reader in 2026 to own a laptop and understand digital rights management plumbing to read a library book.

A “Send to Kobo” button would collapse that into one tap. That is the whole significance of the story.

How it is described as working

According to the report, you open a title in the cloudLibrary app or on the cloudLibrary website, borrow it, and press Send to Kobo. The book then arrives on the reader over Wi-Fi.

One detail is easy to skip and shapes the whole experience. The Send to Kobo button is described as living only inside the cloudLibrary app and website. Anyone who normally browses their branch’s own online catalogue would still have to go to cloudLibrary to send anything across. That is a meaningfully different shape from the OverDrive integration, where you browse and borrow on the device itself.

The limits, as described

The trial reportedly comes with five conditions, and none of them is trivial.

Borrowed titles disappear from the Kobo when the loan expires. Renewing a book in the cloudLibrary app or website does not push it back to the reader, so you have to send it again. Your reading position does not sync between the cloudLibrary app and the Kobo, so reading in both places means tracking your page yourself. A cloudLibrary account can be connected to only one Kobo account. And the trial covers e-books only, with no audiobooks.

That last pair matters for anyone with more than one reader in the house or anyone who switches between phone and e-ink during the day. The position-sync gap is the sharpest of them, because Kobo spent this year rebuilding progress sync for its own titles. A library book that does not carry your place is a step back from what Kobo owners have learned to expect.

Kobo’s own documentation today

This is where the caution comes in. Kobo publishes a short help article about cloudLibrary, and as of 20 September 2026 it reads as a disclaimer rather than a feature announcement: “The CloudLibrary app is not created by Rakuten Kobo. Rakuten Kobo does not provide support on how to use CloudLibrary.”

That article links onward to a cloudLibrary support page about downloading books for offline reading, and that link currently fails to resolve. cloudLibrary’s own e-reader help page describes the Adobe Digital Editions process and does not mention Kobo at all.

So neither company has published documentation describing Send to Kobo, an October rollout, or the device list. What exists is credible trade reporting with specific operational detail, which is usually how a quiet beta surfaces, and nothing official standing behind it yet.

Which devices are named, and which are not

The three readers named are all current colour-capable or recent models. The Kobo Clara Colour sits at the small end of that group at six inches, the Clara BW is its monochrome twin, and the Libra Colour is the seven-inch model with page-turn buttons.

Nothing has been said about older hardware, about the Sage, or about the Elipsa line. Whether a feature like this needs new firmware that older readers will also receive is exactly the sort of thing a support page answers and reporting cannot.

How far the feature reaches

It is not a replacement for the OverDrive integration. If your library uses OverDrive, nothing here changes for you and Libby remains the better experience, because you can browse and borrow without leaving the device.

Nor is it, on the evidence so far, a full in-device cloudLibrary catalogue. The described flow starts on another screen. Whether Kobo eventually builds cloudLibrary browsing into the reader the way it did with OverDrive is an open question, and the report is explicit that it remains to be seen.

What to do now

Check which platform your library uses before you get excited. Your library’s website will say, and the answer decides whether any of this touches you.

Owners of one of the three named readers whose library is on cloudLibrary have nothing to do except wait until October and watch Kobo’s help centre for an article that does not currently exist. For a book this week, the Adobe Digital Editions route still works and is documented.

If you are shopping for a reader right now and your library runs cloudLibrary, do not buy on the strength of this. Buy on the reading experience, the size and the store, and treat a working cloudLibrary integration as a bonus that may arrive. Features announced through a trial have a habit of shipping late, shipping partially, or shipping in one country first. Once Kobo publishes a support article naming the devices and the conditions, the story becomes advice. Until then it is a lead worth tracking.

The change, in Kobo’s words

Customer emails from Kobo said it had updated the policy, that the update removes the additional 10 percent discount previously offered on top of the competitor’s price, and that the guarantee will now only match the verified competitor’s price. Kobo issued no press release.

The help page supports it. Kobo’s current description says that if you buy an eBook and then find the same book or audiobook cheaper on a competitor’s website, you can ask Kobo to credit the difference, excluding taxes. No extra percentage appears anywhere in the text.

One caveat belongs here. The page carries no effective date and no revision note, so the exact day the wording changed on Kobo’s site is not known. What I can confirm is the current text and the absence of the bonus from it.

What the guarantee gives you now

The mechanism is the same as before, minus the sweetener. You buy from Kobo, you find the identical title cheaper elsewhere, you submit a request, and Kobo issues account credit for the difference. The credit is store credit, not a refund to your card.

Kobo’s published conditions are specific:

• You must have bought the eBook from Kobo within 7 days of submitting the request.
• The competitor’s title must be identical, including the same ISBN.
• It must be priced in the same currency as your original purchase.
• The competitor must be an authorised eBook retailer located in the same country as you.
• The lower price must not come from an advertising error, a misprint, a combination promotion such as a gift with purchase, an after-sale rebate, a preferred-customer rebate or a similar discount.
• Credits are not redeemable for cash, and there is a limit of one credit per item.
• Kobo verifies and issues credits within 3 business days of an authorised request, and only to the account holder who made the purchase.

Availability is regional. Kobo lists Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and parts of Europe: Portugal, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Readers outside that list have no price match to lose.

The arithmetic, and the part Kobo does not spell out

Work a simple case. Say you paid 14.99 for an eBook and then found the same ISBN at an authorised competitor in your country for 11.99, in the same currency. The formula now is plain:

credit = Kobo price – competitor price

That gives 3.00 in account credit, excluding taxes. Under the old policy you also received a further 10 percent. Kobo’s public pages never set out what that 10 percent applied to, so it is unclear whether it was 10 percent of the difference, which would have been 0.30, or 10 percent of the competitor’s price, which would have been 1.20. The gap between those two readings is large, and no current Kobo page resolves it.

What is certain is the direction. Every successful match from now on returns less than the same match returned a month ago.

Why the tax line matters more than it looks

Kobo’s page states that the credit excludes taxes. That single word carries real weight for readers in tax-adding markets, because the amount you were charged at checkout includes tax and the credit you get back does not.

So a match rarely restores you to the position of having bought at the lower price. It moves you closer. The old 10 percent used to close part of that remaining gap, and with the bonus removed, the shortfall sits entirely with the buyer. Anyone who price-matched as a routine habit will notice the difference across a year of buying.

What the guarantee does not cover

The published terms describe eBooks and audiobooks. Kobo’s price match page says nothing about matching prices on eReaders or accessories, so treat hardware as outside the scheme and shop for it on price and timing instead. If you are weighing up a device, our specification page for the Kobo Clara BW sets out the hardware side of that decision.

Pre-orders follow a separate track. Kobo covers them under its Pre-order Price Guarantee, and you can only request a price match for a pre-ordered title within 7 days following the book’s official on-sale date. That window runs from the release date. The day you placed the pre-order does not count, which catches people out.

Buying habits after the change

The practical advice shifts a little. Checking a competitor after every purchase used to carry a small built-in reward, because even a tiny price gap returned the difference plus a bonus. Now the return equals the gap exactly, minus tax, so the effort only pays on titles where the difference is real money.

Two habits still earn their keep. Check before you buy, since a lower competitor price is worth more as a purchase decision than as a credit request. And keep the 7 day clock in mind, because the guarantee expires quietly and Kobo does not remind you.

What Onyx has published

The Palma 3 keeps the phone-shaped format that made the line unusual. Onyx lists a 6.13 inch ePaper glass screen with a flat cover lens, a resolution of 824 by 1,648 and 300 pixels per inch. Inside sit an octa-core processor with BOOX Super Refresh technology, 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, plus a microSD slot. The store description adds that the chip is built on a 4 nm process and that Google Play ships on the device.

Connectivity runs to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 6.0. The body measures 159 by 78 by 7.8 mm and weighs about 195 g. A 3,950 mAh battery sits behind a 16 MP rear camera with an LED flash. Onyx also lists a power button with fingerprint recognition, volume and page-turn buttons, a smart button, a USB-C port that doubles as an audio jack, a speaker and dual microphones. The software line reads Android 16.

The price, and why two numbers appear

Onyx sells through one storefront with regional variants. The Palma 3 currently carries $339.99 for the United States and $319.99 for Hong Kong, and the product page displays the lower of the two as a From price. No discount is attached to either figure, and neither variant could be ordered on September 18, 2026.

Set that against the rest of the family. Onyx lists the Palma 2 Pro at $399.99 for the United States, and that model remains available. The Palma 2 is the awkward one. Onyx’s store data carries $269.99 for the United States while a comparison table on the Palma 2 product page still shows $249.99. The company’s own pages disagree, so treat any Palma 2 figure as unsettled, and do not use it to work out how much the Palma 3 went up.

Changes since the Palma 2

Put the two specification sheets side by side and the list of differences is shorter than the launch coverage implies.

The screen resolution, pixel density, memory, storage, camera and battery capacity all carry over unchanged. Three years of Android versions, a newer Bluetooth radio and a slightly narrower, slightly thinner body make up the visible upgrade. The weight moved the other way, by 25 g.

The panel question Onyx has not answered

Several reports describe the Palma 3 as using an E Ink Carta 1300 screen. Onyx does not say so. The specification sheet reads only “6.13 inch HD ePaper glass screen with flat cover-lens”, and the marketing copy says “the latest-gen B&W ePaper technology with sharper contrast” without naming a generation.

That silence stands out because Onyx names panel generations elsewhere. The company describes the Palma 2 as a Carta 1200 device, and it describes the smaller Go 6 as a Carta 1300 device. You can compare the published hardware on our specification page for the BOOX Go 6, which sits in the same pocket class at 6 inches and does carry a named panel. Until Onyx prints a generation for the Palma 3, the Carta 1300 claim stays unconfirmed.

Stylus support needs the same caution

Reports this week said the Palma 3 adds stylus support. Onyx’s product page contains no reference to a stylus, a pen, handwriting or the InkSense accessory, and the box contents list only the device, a USB-C cable, a card tray tool, a quick start guide and a warranty card.

The company does sell a Palma with pen support, and it is the Palma 2 Pro. That model’s description names InkSense Plus stylus support directly, alongside a Kaleido 3 colour screen, Android 15, 8 GB of memory and support for 2G through 5G networks. Anyone buying a pocket BOOX specifically to write on it should look there, not at the Palma 3, at least until Onyx publishes something different.

Where the Palma 3 sits in the line

Three Palma models now share a storefront at three prices. The Palma 2 Pro at $399.99 is the colour, cellular, pen-capable one. The Palma 3 at $339.99 is monochrome, Wi-Fi only and the newest software. Onyx’s store shows every Palma 2 variant as unavailable, so the older model is not a live alternative for most buyers.

So the decision comes down to what you want the device to be. In my judgement, readers who want a distraction-light Android reader will prefer the Palma 3 mainly for its software age, because an Android 16 device starts its app-compatibility clock three versions later than an Android 13 one. Readers who want colour, a SIM or a pen have no reason to wait for it at all.

What to confirm before you order

Onyx has not announced a shipping date, and both regional variants show as unavailable. Watch for three things when that changes. First, a named panel generation on the specification page, which settles the Carta 1300 question. Second, the United States price at launch, since the listed $339.99 is a pre-release figure and pre-release figures move. Third, whether the device reaches Onyx’s Amazon storefront, because that route usually decides how quickly buyers outside Asia can get one.

One more point deserves attention from anyone upgrading. The Palma 3 is 25 g heavier than the Palma 2 while keeping the same battery capacity, the same screen and the same memory. The added mass comes from the redesigned body, so nobody should expect longer runtime from the newer model.

Apple publishes all the headline facts. The iPad 11-inch weighs 477 grams in the Wi-Fi version, and its display is an 11-inch Liquid Retina LCD running 2360 by 1640 at 264 pixels per inch, rated at 500 nits. Inside is the A16 chip, with a 28.93 watt-hour battery.

This review is research based. No unit was operated by this site. Every figure comes from Apple's own technical specification page for this model, and the reasoning about what those figures mean for reading is set out so you can disagree with it. If your starting point is a dedicated e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite review on this site is the natural thing to read alongside this.

Two changes behind the price gap

The side-by-side comparison BOOX publishes for its colour notebooks is unusually blunt. Against the Note Air5 C, the Note Air6 C lists an upgraded octa-core processor and Android 16 in place of Android 15. That is the entire difference.

The company footnotes the chip detail: the Note Air6 C uses an upgraded octa-core processor built on a 4 nanometre process node. A smaller process usually means better performance per watt, and BOOX publishes no clock speed or benchmark for either generation. So treat this as a generational refresh of the silicon whose gain nobody has measured.

What stayed the same, and why that matters

The carried-over list is long. Both models use a 10.3 inch Kaleido 3 colour panel at 300 ppi for monochrome and 150 ppi for colour. Each ships 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage with a microSD slot. They hold a 3,700 mAh battery, measure 5.8 mm thick, weigh about 440 grams, and support the same magnetic stylus and magnetic keyboard cover. A fingerprint lock, an adjustable front light and auto-rotation appear on both.

If you already own the BOOX Note Air5 C, that list is the answer to your question, because the reading and writing experience is built on hardware that did not move. A faster chip helps app switching and page rendering, and Android 16 extends the software runway. Neither changes how the panel draws text or how the pen feels.

The Note Mini C complicates the choice

BOOX published a second colour notebook on the same day, and its pricing is the detail most coverage has wrong. In the BOOX store the Note Mini C lists at $579.99 in the United States, which is the same price as the Note Air6 C, not lower. The Hong Kong listing for both sits at $549.99.

The Mini C is a different machine. It uses a smaller 8.52 inch Kaleido 3 panel, runs the same upgraded octa-core processor and Android 16, and carries the same 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. It is 6.0 mm thick and weighs about 300 grams, so it is 140 grams lighter. Its battery is smaller at 3,150 mAh. It supports an InkSight active stylus instead of the magnetic stylus, and BOOX lists no keyboard cover support for it at all.

That last point decides a lot. If you intend to type on the device, the Mini C is out, and the Note Air6 C keyboard cover bundle runs $656.99 in the United States, or $77 above the standard bundle.

Talk Insights does not work everywhere

One new software feature deserves a regional warning that product pages bury in a footnote. Talk Insights provides real-time transcription and is enabled through Settings and Lab Features after a firmware update. BOOX states that it requires an internet connection and is available only in selected regions, listing the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Australia, and in selected languages including English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, French and Arabic.

European buyers should read that carefully. A feature promoted in launch coverage may not appear on a device bought in a market outside that list. BOOX also notes that recording quality varies with environment, speaker volume and distance, which is the sensible caveat for any on-device transcription.

Update support is the quiet argument

BOOX commits to free firmware updates for all models for more than three years from the product launch date. Apply that and the picture clarifies.

The Note Air5 C reached the store in October 2025, so its guaranteed window already has almost a year spent. The Note Air6 C starts its clock in September 2026. For a device that costs several hundred dollars and depends on an app store, an extra eleven months of committed updates is a real part of what the $50 buys, arguably a larger part than the processor.

The move from Android 15 to Android 16 works the same way. It is not about features you will notice on day one. It is about how long third-party reading and note apps keep supporting the platform underneath.

So who should buy which

• Buying a colour E Ink notebook for the first time and want the keyboard option: take the Note Air6 C.
• Want the lightest colour notebook and will never type on it: the Note Mini C saves 140 grams for the same money.
• Already own a Note Air5 C: keep it. The panel, pen, memory and battery are identical, and the gains are a faster chip plus a longer update window.
• Own a Note Air3 C or older: the jump is far larger, and the Note Air6 C is the sensible target.

The honest summary

This is a maintenance release wearing a new model number, and BOOX does not pretend otherwise in its own comparison table. That is not a criticism. The Note Air5 C hardware was strong, and refreshing the chip and the Android version while holding the price close is a reasonable way to keep a product current.

Buy it for the right reason. The Note Air6 C is a good first colour notebook and a poor upgrade from last year’s model. Anyone hoping the new number signals a better screen, a faster pen or longer battery life should read the comparison table before ordering, because none of those numbers moved.