If you’ve ever owned a dedicated e-reader with a grayscale e-ink screen (as opposed to a tablet with a backlit LCD screen), chances are it was one of the many variations of the Amazon Kindle. Barnes & Noble still makes Nooks, but few people buy them, and you’d have to have done your research to even hear about wannabe Kindle killers from companies like Kobo (a Canadian company owned by Japanese retail giant Rakuten).

But if you don’t venture beyond the latest version of Amazon’s e-reader, you’re missing out on some of the best devices on the market, even if they’re from companies you’ve never heard of, like Onyx International, a Chinese tech company that’s been making e-ink devices since 2011. I remember the first time I saw someone reading on an Onyx Boox tablet on the subway and assumed it was a cheap knockoff (come on… Boox?). I was wrong. Companies like Kobo and Onyx not only routinely trump Amazon when it comes to variety and innovation in their e-readers, their devices are also simply better: not tied to a proprietary operating system or specific e-book store, and far more flexible and customizable, with no need to jailbreak the built-in software like you would a Kindle.

That said, I’ve spent the past month testing the Boox Palma, the phone-shaped, Android-based e-ink device that Onyx released last year. It’s the best e-reader I’ve ever used.

I’ve owned many e-readers over the years, ever since my parents got me a third-generation Kindle (the one with the keyboard) in 2010. I’ve always found the proportions of the standard 6-inch e-reader’s screen a bit odd: too boxy to feel like an actual book, and too large to fit easily in a pocket. I tried a larger 7.8-inch Nook Glowlight Plus for a while, and while the extra screen was nice, it was hampered by sluggish software and issues loading library books.