I have been a fan of e-readers for many years, but I must admit I never thought I needed a page-turning device. Earlier this year, I reviewed the Kobo Remote, a wand-like gadget that lets Kobo owners turn the pages of their e-books without holding their e-reader.

It is fun to use if you want to prop up your Kobo and get under the covers, or the way I have used it with my sleeping newborn in one arm and remote in the other, flicking through non-fiction at 3 am.

It’s a niche product, which is why I was keen to try out a more fun-looking rival page turner – I was surprised another one even exists. The Boox Tappy works with more devices and looks much cuter than the Kobo Remote, with two typewriter-esque buttons to flick through e-books.

Boox is a Chinese brand that makes e-readers, and the Tappy works most seamlessly with them. Paired over Bluetooth, the Tappy by default will change pages in Reading mode – left button for back and right for forward – but it can also switch to Multimedia mode, which will skip tracks in an audio app, and Browsing mode, where the buttons will scroll up and down webpages.

This works well when connected to an Android smartphone in the Kindle and Kobo apps; you just have to change the settings so the volume buttons turn pages. This is because the Tappy controls the volume by default. Frustratingly, the Libby library app does not support this.

Connected to an iPhone or iPad, the Tappy can only adjust the volume – or so I am told. I couldn’t even get my iPhone to pair with it.

Such are the pitfalls of the Tappy. It does not turn pages when connected to a Kindle or Kobo e-reader, which surely is the product’s largest potential market.

Boox’s e-readers are competitors to these market leaders, and they offer good specs, even if often at higher prices (many support pen input and have more features). But they are fiddlier to use for most people because Boox doesn’t sell e-books via its devices; it only has a store with free books in the public domain.

If you want to read books, you need to buy EPUB file e-books and drag and drop them from a PC to the device. That means I think the Boox Tappy is a good purchase for keen readers with an Android phone who live in the Kindle or Kobo app. Just like the Kobo Remote, that makes the Boox Tappy is a niche interest gadget.

As I said, though, it’s cute! It comes in green or yellow (which looks more cream to me) and has “tap it” written on the inside next to the two buttons, which by default are, inexplicably, a coffee cup and a heart … you love reading on your coffee break? I switched them to the noughts and crosses options in the box, though these are still an odd choice for what are forward and back buttons.

A silver switch on/off switch on the side is the only other moving part, while pressing down both buttons either puts the Tappy in pairing mode or switches modes when connected to a device. It can be recharged via USB-C.

That’s the Boox Tappy. It costs £25.99 from Amazon, which is cheap enough for this to be an impulse purchase for some e-book fans, or a cheap birthday gift for the reader in your life. It dovetails in and out of stock, though.

I can see myself using it on a train or plane with my Android phone propped up on the tray table or to blitz through some pages while I’m eating lunch at the dining table, but most e-reader owners won’t need a Tappy. But I am glad to see Boox is trying to inject some whimsy into technology, something Amazon struggles to do with its always very serious Kindle line.