Boox Picco: a 58-gram e-reader that clips to the back of your phone, from $99.99

If the point of an e-reader is to stop you picking up your phone, Boox's answer is to make one that rides along with it. The Picco is a 3.97-inch monochrome ePaper device weighing roughly 58 grams; preorders are open now, and pricing starts at $99.99.

An included magnetic ring case lets you stick the Picco to the back of a smartphone, which is the whole pitch: a reading device you carry without deciding to carry it. Boox claims it's about the size of a playing card, though it is obviously quite a bit thicker.

There is one real cost to that size. The Picco doesn't run Android like most Boox devices do, using a custom interface instead, which means no Kindle app and no access to the other reading apps people normally install on a Boox tablet the moment they take it out of the box.

The display runs at 480 x 800. Inside is a 920mAh battery, and Boox says it should last anywhere from a few days to potentially weeks depending on how it's used. A 16GB microSD card comes in the box and storage expands up to 2TB, which is thousands of books either way. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are both there, and the software adds Pomodoro, To-Do and Countdown timers alongside the reading.

It is by a wide margin the smallest e-reader Boox makes. The company's existing small-form model, the Palma, has a 6.13-inch screen.

Picco also opens a new product line called Boox Tiles, which the company describes as an expansion of its ecosystem beyond traditional eReaders and ePaper tablets, into form factors meant to push ePaper into more parts of daily life. The device was teased back in July and formally revealed at IFA 2026 as the first Tile. The launch has been read as an almost direct response to the success of Xteink's pocketable e-readers.

One thing to watch on the order page: Boox's own announcement says shipping is expected to begin by November, while October dates have also circulated around the launch. The screen measurement moves slightly too, with 3.94 inches appearing alongside the official 3.97.