A new pair of compact e-readers just made Kindle look even more restrictive

• BOOX officially unveiled the new Poke 7 and Poke 7 Pro compact e-readers after teasing the lineup last week.
• Both models feature refreshed designs, 6-inch 300ppi monochrome e-ink displays, expandable storage, and BOOX’s open Android approach.
• The lineup is set to launch in China on May 21, with a global launch unconfirmed.

BOOX has officially unveiled the new Poke 7 lineup, just days after the company teased the redesigned e-readers online, and hours before their official release in China. As we noted last week, the biggest change this generation is a fresh look bringing in a little personality.

The new lineup includes the standard Poke 7 alongside a higher-end Poke 7 Pro, giving BOOX’s compact reader range a standard/Pro split instead of the standard/budget split of the previous generation. Both devices feature refreshed hardware that looks considerably more modern than previous Poke models. The ribbed back design should theoretically improve gripability. It’s also just refreshing to see an e-reader that doesn’t look like another generic black slab.