A pocketable BOOX device joins a small but maturing category of pen on e ink devices that read like a Kindle and write like a notebook. Here is what you trade to get both in one object.
The pen-on-e-ink category is no longer a single-product curiosity. With BOOX's Go 6 (Gen II), a 6-inch E Ink reader that accepts pen and pencil input for the first time in this form factor, the handwriting e-reader just got a sub-$200 entry point, and it has joined a small but maturing field that already includes reMarkable, Kindle Scribe, Kobo Elipsa, and Supernote.
The new device, covered hands-on by New Atlas on June 12, 2026, runs BOOX's standard Android-based software on a 300 PPI monochrome display. At roughly 160 grams and 6.8 millimeters thick, it is closer to a paperback in the hand than to a tablet, and it pairs that size with a native Notes app stocked with planner and journal templates. The InkSense Plus Stylus is sold separately, so the headline price only describes the reading-first configuration.
BOOX's own product page lists the device with 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal storage, microSD expansion, Bluetooth 5.0, and a 1,500 mAh battery that the company says lasts "several days, if not longer, even with frequent use." That battery number is a vendor claim, not a lab measurement, and any real-world runtime will depend on front-light brightness, WiFi use, and how often the stylus wakes the screen.
What the category actually offers is a low-distraction alternative to app-based reading and writing. The Go 6 (Gen II) runs Android 11 with the Google Play Store, so a Kindle library, a Kobo account, or any third-party productivity app can sit alongside the built-in Notes and NeoReader apps. Handwriting, marking up book pages, and quick to-do capture all happen on the same screen, on a display that stays legible in direct sunlight and does not ping with notifications. For a reader who already carries a phone and a laptop, the appeal is a single object that does two narrow things well.
The trade-offs are real. A 6-inch screen is fine for a book page and adequate for a short list, but it is cramped for long-form note-taking, sketching, or reviewing a PDF. Android 11 is a generation behind current Android, which raises the usual questions about long-term security updates on a device pitched as a multi-year companion. The handwriting experience, by vendor description, will be slower and more deliberate than a tablet with a high-refresh display, and New Atlas reviewer Bronwyn Thompson framed it as a focus tool rather than a productivity accelerator. Because the stylus is sold separately, the effective price for the full reading-and-writing use case is higher than the sticker.
That positioning is what distinguishes pen-on-e-ink from a general-purpose tablet. The reMarkable 2, Kindle Scribe, and Supernote lines all trade app flexibility for a quieter, paper-like surface, and they do it at prices that put a 10-inch device in the $300 to $500 range. The Go 6 (Gen II) extends that trade into a smaller, cheaper, more pocketable object. Whether that smaller object earns a place in a carry rotation depends on whether a reader's handwriting habit fits in a 6-inch window and whether the Android 11 update path is acceptable for a device expected to last several years.
For now, the Go 6 (Gen II) is available for pre-order through the BOOX shop, announced the week of June 7, 2026, with shipping dates to follow. The interesting question is not whether BOOX's new reader is the right gadget. It is whether pen-on-e-ink, in this size and at this price, is finally small and cheap enough to stop being a niche and start being a default for readers who want to write by hand.