- Boox has teased a tiny ‘Picco’ e-reader
- It has only a 3.97-inch screen, which probably makes it a rival to the Xteink devices.
- It has a front light and a microSD card slot and may run Android, but many questions remain
Today, e-readers offer a lot more than Kindle and Kobo, both in terms of brands and form factors, and one of those brands is ready to offer a new, truly small form factor to keep you reading.
Boox (via GoodEreader) has just teased the Boox Picco, which will be the first device in a new line of ‘Tile’ products. It has just a 3.97-inch screen, making it much smaller than even the phone-sized Boox Palma 2 Pro. In fact, it’s even slightly smaller than the recently launched Xteink X4 Pro.
Until now, Xteink has had the microereader market almost to itself, and this latest model has a 4.3-inch screen. It’s debatable whether an even smaller screen is better or worse, but the Boox Picco may have some advantages over the X4 Pro.
In particular, there’s a good chance it runs Android, as Boox devices typically do. This would mean you could install apps like Kindle and Kobo, rather than having to download books like you do with Xteink e-readers.
Beyond that, we know that the Picco has a monochrome e-paper display, a front light, and a microSD card slot, all of which is in line with the Xteink X4 Pro.
Great potential but many unknowns.
I love the idea of Xteink devices but my main hesitation when purchasing one is the lack of Android, so now I’m going to wait and see if this is a better alternative. But that may not be the case, as there is still a lot we don’t know about the Boox Picco.
On the one hand, arguably the USP of the Xteink devices is their ability to attach magnetically to the back of phones, and there’s no telling if the Boox Picco will be able to do the same. Still, this seems like an obvious inclusion, so either through built-in magnets or an optional magnetic case, I think it’s likely.
Additionally, it remains to be seen how attractive the Picco’s price will be – the Xteink X4 Pro costs $109 / £84 / AU$159, so Boox probably can’t afford to charge much more than that if it wants to make this a success.
Also, while Android is likely to exist, it’s not guaranteed. Being such a small device, Boox could opt for a simpler operating system.
Even if you run Android, there is a high chance that you are running a very old version, as is often the case with Boox devices. That would potentially make it less secure and therefore something where I would be reluctant to log into my accounts. It would also mean that apps could stop supporting it in the coming years.
Still, I’m cautiously hopeful that this could be the little e-reader of my dreams; There is no information on the release date yet, but I hope we know more soon.
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