GoKawiilis the Verge’s weekend editor. He’s covered the tech industry for over 18 years and knows a thing or two about synths.
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Boox teased the Picco, its take on the buzzy Xteink X4 e-reader, back in July, but provided almost no details. Now, thanks to some reporting out of IFA, we’ve got a bit more info, though sadly still no price. Unlike the Xteink devices, the Picco will not have magnets on the back for attaching to a phone. The 3.97-inch e-paper display, however, will be touchscreen, which The Verge’s Andrew Liszewski called a “welcome upgrade” on the X4 Pro. The Picco has physical page-turn buttons, and they can be customized with different actions for short and long presses.
There’s apparently no onboard storage, and it relies entirely on a microSD card to hold books. But in addition to adding files to the card, you can transfer reading material to the Picco directly over USB-C (which the Xteink devices lack) or even WiFi from a companion app.
The Picco won’t run Android, like Boox’s other devices, and will instead run a stripped-down, Linux-based OS. The company is including a handful of additional apps like a timer, a todo list, and a reading stats tracker. But, it’s unlikely that Boox will open its firmware like Xteink has, so it might be a less hackable and customizable device.
There’s still some things we don’t know, like price, battery life, Bluetooth support, or if it will include a player for audiobooks. But all should be revealed in November, when it’s expected to launch.