Why I Just Spent a Stupid Amount of Money on a Phone-Sized E-Reader

Look, I have told you before that I am doing everything I can to kick my smartphone and social media addiction. But I am also incredibly weak when it comes to online shopping, which means right now, I am in the middle of rationalizing a massive impulse buy.

For a long time, I have been reading books on my iPhone. The size is perfect, it fits right in my pocket, and it feels good in my hand. The problem is the friction. Even without notifications popping up, my mind constantly drifts. I will be three pages into a chapter and suddenly think about some random task I need to handle. Before I know it, I have closed the book app and I am wandering around the digital wasteland.

I needed a change. I wanted a dedicated e-ink screen that is easy on the eyes, boosts my evening sleep recovery, and packs a battery that lasts forever. So I finally pulled the trigger on a device I have been eyeing for months, and it sounds completely ridiculous. I bought a high-end e-reader that is the exact same size as my smartphone*.

The Rise of the Single-Purpose Device

On paper, it sounds idiotic. Why spend hundreds of euros on a gadget to do something your phone already handles perfectly?
If you hang out in the Every Day Carry bubble, you already know the answer. There is a massive trend right now toward single-purpose devices. It is the same reason people carry a dedicated flashlight in their pocket even though their iPhone has a perfectly fine flash. A real flashlight is just better at being a flashlight, it feels great to use, and it does not drain your phone battery. I decided to apply that exact same logic to my books.

The device in question is the Boox Palma 2*.
It is a premium, pocket-sized e-ink device running Android, complete with a crisp screen, a fast processor, and solid build quality. Because the retail price is pretty hard to stomach, I managed to snag a refurbished unit directly from their site to give my conscience a break. Look, judge me if you want, but sometimes you just have to treat yourself to a great tool.

Why a Minimalist E-Reader Needs Android Apps

Now, I had a very specific set of requirements for this thing.
It had to be smartphone-sized, it needed Wi-Fi, and it absolutely had to run third-party apps.
You might wonder why someone trying to escape phone addiction would want a device with internet access and apps. The secret lies in the screen technology. It is a slow-refresh e-ink display. Even if I wanted to waste time watching videos or scrolling social media, the experience would be absolute garbage.

The Wi-Fi and app support are strictly for utility. When a random thought hits me mid-chapter, I need to be able to log it without picking up my actual phone and falling down a rabbit hole. More importantly, my entire digital library lives in BookFusion, which syncs seamlessly across all my devices. Whenever I highlight a killer passage on the Palma 2, BookFusion automatically pushes those notes directly into my second brain in Obsidian. I absolutely require that workflow to keep my head clear and my knowledge organized.

Systems Over Discipline

This is all part of a larger battle to replace garbage phone habits with high-value behavior. Right now, my digital boundaries are tight. I use a physical device called the BRICK to lock myself out of social media until 8:00 AM every morning so I do not rot in bed scrolling Instagram. At night, the lockdown hits again at 9:00 PM. No Instagram, no Reddit. If I touch my iPhone past that hour, the only non-essential thing I allow myself to do is play chess and messaging apps.

The Palma 2* is the missing piece of the puzzle during the day. Whenever I get that twitchy, subconscious urge to pull my iPhone out of my pocket and look for a cheap dopamine hit, I force myself to reach for the e-reader instead.
People love to say this stuff is easy if you just use a little discipline. Frankly, I do not have it. Or better yet: I refuse to waste precious willpower on fighting my phone when I can just build a bulletproof system to handle it for me.

The results speak for themselves. My screen time has plummeted to an all-time low, and I am tearing through books faster than I have in years. A huge part of that is the Palma 2* lock screen, which constantly displays the last page I was reading. When the device is sitting next to me on the desk, seeing that text makes it incredibly easy to just pick it up and read a few sentences.

This setup is a massive win for my mental health, but it is also a win for you. Reading more means I am actually finishing books, which translates to a steady stream of fresh, opinionated reviews right here on Thoughts of Mayhem. The system works.

Drop a comment below if you are still trying to rely on raw willpower to beat your screen time, or let me know if you have embraced the single-purpose device trend.

_{*Disclaimer:
Some of the links on this page are referral links, meaning that if you make a purchase through them, both you and I may receive a small benefit (such as a discount, credit, or bonus). This comes at no extra cost to you. Prices remain the same whether you use the link or not. These links simply help support my work while also giving you something in return. I only recommend products or services that I genuinely believe in.}

_{If you would like to support me, you have the option to „buy me a coffee„, but that is absolutely not a requirement and you should only consider it if you have nothing better to do with your money!}