Boox Bets Android 16 Will Outrun Its New Hardware

BOOX put Android 16 on three new e-ink devices on Sept. 15, 2026, and only the 10.3-inch Note Air6 C is on sale. The 8.52-inch Note Mini C is listed at the same $579.99 as that notebook, and the phone-shaped Palma 3 is $339.99, both still marked available soon.

The screens differ. The software stack does not.

Android 16 Across a Palm, a Mini, and a Notebook

BOOX said the Note Air6 C, Note Mini C, and Palma 3 all debut with Android 16, Bluetooth 6.0, an upgraded eight-core chip, and the company’s BSR refresh layer. The Play Store is built in, and the Sept. 15 announcement puts that against every closed e-reader on the market, with more than 2 million apps as the pitch.

The devices run Android 16, and the built-in Google Play Store gives users access to more than 2 million apps, offering flexibility no closed-ecosystem e-reader can match.

BOOX, Sept. 15 product announcement

That line is the product. Color Kaleido 3 panels, a new aluminum Palma, and a first 8.52-inch Note are the cases around it. Android 16 sits one generation behind the current public release, which is still a jump for e-ink hardware that has often shipped two or three versions late and then stayed there.

People already buy BOOX to run the Kindle app, Libby, ChatGPT, and the rest of Play on a paper-like screen. A Scribe that cannot load those apps is the box this lineup is priced against. The stylus is not the upgrade. Current Android is.

BOOX showed all three in its launch event.

Three Devices, One Price Logic

The Mini C is not a cheaper Air6 C. It is the same money for a smaller color panel, which only makes sense if the OS, the apps, and the 4nm chip are what you are paying for.

THE ANDROID 16 LINEUP

All three share 6GB of RAM, a 4nm eight-core processor, Bluetooth 6.0, a microSD slot rated up to 2TB, a fingerprint power button, and 10GB of OnyxCloud. The Mini C and Palma 3 chips are listed at up to 2.9 GHz. BSR, the refresh layer BOOX first showed in 2022, is on every model.

$579.99 Buys the Note Air6 C Today

The Air6 C is the only unit you can order. It replaces the Note Air5 C, which still lists in the US at $529.99 on Android 15 and Bluetooth 5.1, so the new notebook costs $50 more for a newer OS, a 4nm chip, and Bluetooth 6.0. The Note Air6 C hardware specifications put a 10.3-inch Kaleido 3 panel at 4,096 colors, 2480 x 1860 (300 ppi) in black and white, and 1240 x 930 (150 ppi) in color, with a warm and cold front light.

The chassis is 225 x 192 x 5.8 mm and about 440 g, the same weight class as the Air5 C. The cell is 3,700mAh. Dual speakers and a microphone sit in the body. The finish is a purple-tinted black, and the magnetic folio comes in Umber and Graphite. In the box you get the Pen3 stylus (4,096 pressure levels, spare nibs in the barrel), a USB-C cable, and a card-tray tool. The pogo-pin keyboard folio is a separate add-on; it can charge the tablet through its own USB-C port.

BOOX says BSR high-refresh cuts page-turn time by up to 40 percent against the last generation. Firmware V4.3 is the other half of that claim.

WHAT FIRMWARE V4.3 ADDS

• Dual Notes: Annotate two documents side by side on a split screen.
• Calendar Memo: New brush types and a Lasso tool land in the calendar pad.
• On-device AI: The 4nm chip is rated for live voice transcription, document summary, and OCR scanning.
• Tablet UI: Android 16 brings widgets, a dock, and faster app switching on the 10.3-inch panel.

Talk Insights, the meeting-transcript tool, is a lab toggle and needs the network. It does not ship as a wide-open feature, and it is the first place the software bet gets fenced.

The Mini C Costs as Much as the 10.3-Inch Model

The Note Mini C is the first 8.52-inch device in the Note line, built for one hand. BOOX names students, journalists, consultants, and people who work in transit as the users, and it cites Teams, Outlook, Slack, and OneDrive as the apps it wants open on a color e-ink panel in a lounge or on a train.

The Kaleido 3 glass is 2048 x 1536 (300 ppi) in black and white and 1024 x 768 (150 ppi) in color, again 4,096 hues, with the same dual-tone front light. The body is 187.7 x 156 x 6 mm and about 300 g, 140 g lighter than the Air6 C and 0.2 mm thicker. The cell drops to 3,150mAh. There is no keyboard cover. The included InkSight magnetic stylus has a side button, and the folio is orange.

Same $579.99. Same 6GB and 64GB. Same Android 16. You give up 1.78 inches of panel, 550mAh of battery, and the pogo keyboard, and you keep the Play Store. That is a software price, not a screen price. Until BOOX names a ship date, it is also a price you cannot pay.

A Metal Frame Around the Same Palma Battery

The Palma 3 is the pocket model, still 6.13 inches, still 824 x 1648 at 300 ppi, still black and white. BOOX calls the series “Quiet Tech,” a second screen for people who want to step off phone feeds. The new chassis is an anodized aluminum frame with a paper-textured fiberglass back, in black or white, and it is Palma 3 listed as available soon with no day attached.

It is 159 x 78 x 7.8 mm and about 195 g, 25 g heavier than the first Palma and 0.2 mm thinner. A 16MP rear camera with LED flash handles document scans, dual mics handle voice memos and speech-to-text, and a customizable smart button sits beside the volume and page-turn keys. InkSense Plus handwriting works if you buy the stylus. It is not in the box. Storage is 128GB plus microSD.

The cell is still 3,950mAh, the same capacity as the original Palma. BOOX says that is days of reading on one charge. The money went into metal, Android 16, and the 4nm chip, not into a bigger battery.

THE PALMA ANDROID PATH

1. October 2023: First Palma ships with Android 11, a plastic shell, 170 g, and a 3,950mAh cell.
2. October 2024: Palma 2 launches at $279.99 with Android 13 and a fingerprint reader.
3. October 2025: Palma 2 Pro adds a Kaleido 3 color panel, Android 15, 8GB of RAM, 5G, and a $399.99 US price.
4. September 15, 2026: Palma 3 is announced at $339.99 with Android 16 and aluminum, still monochrome, still 3,950mAh, with no cellular radio listed.

The $60 step up from the Palma 2 launch price buys a metal frame and three Android versions. It does not buy the color panel or the 5G radio from the Palma 2 Pro, which still costs more. BOOX is not trying to out-spec last year’s color Palma. It is trying to make the cheap-feeling plastic phone into a quieter object that runs current apps.

What Closed Readers Still Will Not Install

Amazon still sells the Scribe as a closed notebook. The color Scribe Colorsoft starts at $629.99, which sits $50 above the Note Air6 C and leaves you inside Amazon’s own software, with no Play Store. reMarkable still ships a locked notebook OS. SuperNote keeps third-party apps on a short leash. Those products win on focus, writing feel, and a simple home screen. They lose the moment you want Kindle, Kobo, OneNote, Slack, and a browser on the same paper-like panel.

That gap is why a color Scribe owner looking for a way to run coding tools on e-ink gets pointed at BOOX. The Note Air5 C already carried Android 15 and Play. These three devices move that stack to Android 16 and put it on a new 8.52-inch size and a metal Palma. The closed brands have not matched that move.

The cost of the open stack is the thing people buy e-ink to escape. Notifications, app clutter, and a front light that still wants a charge cable. The Palma 3 is another pocket notebook with a USB-C port. BOOX is betting you will take the apps anyway.

Talk Insights Stays a Lab Feature for Now

The Air6 C page is clear that Talk Insights needs the latest firmware, an internet connection, and a lab-feature toggle. It is limited to select regions and languages. The Talk Insights regions and languages list names the US, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Australia, and English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, French, and Arabic. Recording quality depends on the room, the speaker, and distance from the mics.

BOOX also says it will ship free firmware for more than 3 years from each product’s launch date. That promise matters more than the Android 16 badge, because older Palma units were left on Android 11 and Android 13 while new chips moved on. A 4nm board that ships current and then freezes is the same trap in a nicer frame.

WHAT WE KNOW

• On sale: The Note Air6 C is $579.99 and listed as available now from the BOOX shop and Amazon.
• Same software: All three devices ship Android 16, Play Store access, Bluetooth 6.0, and a 4nm eight-core chip.
• In the box: Air6 C includes Pen3; Mini C includes InkSight; Palma 3 includes neither a stylus nor a case.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• Mini C date: Priced at $579.99 with no order window beyond “available soon.”
• Palma 3 date: Priced at $339.99 with the same “soon” label and no preorder day.
• Update path: The 3-year firmware pledge is on the shop page; it does not say these units will move past Android 16.

Until those two dates land, the wager is half on a shelf. You can buy the 10.3-inch notebook with Android 16 today. The smaller color tablet at the same $579.99, and the metal Palma at $339.99, are still a press release.