The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader • Hacker News Board

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#131

Post by wolvoleo » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 7:10 AM UTC

NikolaNovak wrote: post #112

sieve wrote: post #8

Got the X4. Put CrossPoint on it. Works like a charm. The http server accessible over wifi makes transferring books extremely simple. (Shame on the Kindle for locking everything down.) This is proof-of-concept that a microcontroller is more than enough for something like an e-reader. I have a Kindle and a Kobo. They are sturdy devices. But the X4 is the one that is a genuine e-reader. Would not get it as my one and o…

Question to X4 owners - what is the benefit over a smartphone? I have a kindle for beach and travel as a good compromise size; I use my 10" tablet when I really settle in for reading, or when I read technical books with graphs or books with photographs etc. For my adhoc reader I use kindle app on my phone. What is the unique selling point of something like X4? I notice it attaches to the phone which seems bizarre, ph…

I kinda prefer oled screens so for me a foldable phone is much nicer than a kindle. Especially at night.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#132

Post by jacek » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 7:12 AM UTC

I got it last week and I absolutely love it. There are just a two devices I've got in my life that I think are perfect. This is one of them, other being my Steam Deck. It is so small that I can actually carry it in my pocket all the time and read a few paragraphs whenever I have a minute or two. My scrolling time went down dramatically.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#133

Post by harperlee » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 7:51 AM UTC

NikolaNovak wrote: post #112

sieve wrote: post #8

Got the X4. Put CrossPoint on it. Works like a charm. The http server accessible over wifi makes transferring books extremely simple. (Shame on the Kindle for locking everything down.) This is proof-of-concept that a microcontroller is more than enough for something like an e-reader. I have a Kindle and a Kobo. They are sturdy devices. But the X4 is the one that is a genuine e-reader. Would not get it as my one and o…

Question to X4 owners - what is the benefit over a smartphone? I have a kindle for beach and travel as a good compromise size; I use my 10" tablet when I really settle in for reading, or when I read technical books with graphs or books with photographs etc. For my adhoc reader I use kindle app on my phone. What is the unique selling point of something like X4? I notice it attaches to the phone which seems bizarre, ph…

I won't hesitate to give this to my children, in a year or two when they are reading more fluently and don't need lots of pictures.

Price is also a factor here!

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#134

Post by nymalt » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 7:52 AM UTC

I've got the X3 (not having a usb-c hasn't been a problem at all for me). And I'll probably buy whatever they release next if the price keeps being in that range. The only thing I want is probably a better display (as in whiter, more DPI, colors), yeah and the battery life is awesome, I barely have to charge it at all, I don't want this to change! I really wish they just keep improving on quality of what's already there and not add new things like touch screen, android and whatnot.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#135

Post by ludvigcosma » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 7:54 AM UTC

I've had an x3 with crosspoint for a couple of months. Overall I love the device, it's making it easy to pull up the phone and read a couple of pages instead of doom scrolling. But a huge drawback is that it's unusable in direct sunlight since the screen fades away. Here is how it looks: https://www.reddit.com/r/xteinkereader/comments/1q5fhwf/dire...

I contacted support and they answered

"We would like to clarify that on e ink displays, text may appear lighter under very strong direct sunlight. Once the screen refreshes or you return to normal lighting conditions and turn a few pages, the text will fully recover. This behavior is related to the low power design of the display and does not cause any damage to the screen."

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#136

Post by Carbon1603 » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 7:57 AM UTC

naravara wrote: post #38

WillAdams wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to see a phone case which this inserts into --- bonus points if there's a way to use it as a status display for the phone for use in bright/direct sunlight.

The obvious innovation is to just make the back of the phone case an eInk display. No need for all the bulk when you can merely have an app on your phone that controls the case-display and the phone can output whatever reader app you want to it like a companion/IoT device. Or it can be a little bit bulkier and just be a dedicated ereader that is shaped like a phone case. Either way works.

So, Yota phone?

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#137

Post by pjerem » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 8:05 AM UTC

functionmouse wrote: post #98

harrisonjackson wrote: post #72

I have the X4 and the X3 (newer smaller one). I will get whatever the next version is if it has a backlight or more DPI / support for smaller font. X4 is great - has usb-c charger and with the cover feels like an easy to pocket and bring everywhere reader. Does not fit on the back of an iphone. I assume the magnet layout works with popular android phones though. X3 is also great, actually fits on the back of the phon…

the next version will unfortunately be a generic Android reader. This device is good because, by chance, out of a thousand devices, one of them has to be better than all the rest. This product is not good by design or merit, but by chance. Same goes for lots of popular cheap Chinese tech, like the Miyoo Mini+ for example. Better than it has any right to be, and the people making it don't have a clue; every change to…

Good catch. I have the Miyoo Mini+ and that's exactly my feeling : it's not good, it _happen_ to be good because somehow, they made it the good form factor and especially, they put a 640x480 screen which allows you to play most retro consoles at native resolution or at integer (x2) scaling.

And the firmware is shitty but the community firmware is good.

And when you follow what the company does, you understand that the biggest selling point (the screen) is just there for reasons that are totally unrelated to creating a great product. It happened to be there because they randomly (economically, I guess) choose this screen and it happened to be good and have the right resolution for retro gaming.

None of their previous models had this advantage but more than that, none of the models that followed kept the advantages that made this device a banger.

It's exactly like if the company behind the device never understood how and why they created a community behind their devices.

For the xteink, I wouldn't be surprised for the next ones to be shittier, closed, and bloated, and probably for no reason.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#138

Post by kilian » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 8:11 AM UTC

ludvigcosma wrote: post #135

I've had an x3 with crosspoint for a couple of months. Overall I love the device, it's making it easy to pull up the phone and read a couple of pages instead of doom scrolling. But a huge drawback is that it's unusable in direct sunlight since the screen fades away. Here is how it looks: https://www.reddit.com/r/xteinkereader/comments/1q5fhwf/dire... I contacted support and they answered "We would like to clarify tha…

Apparently the cable to the screen is to blame and the workaround is a piece of tape to block UV light reaching that component: https://www.reddit.com/r/xteinkereader/comments/1qlyq3s/this...

Personally, I've found that just moving the screen out of the sun (for example by turning it upside-down, or holding my hand in front of it) when refreshing a page is enough to prevent it.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#139

Post by ryzvonusef » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 8:16 AM UTC

I have been trying to move away from doom scrolling, and the vice I've replaced it with is online webnovels and webcomics.

Reading from RoyalRoad or WebToons is hardly mentally stimulating, but I feel it's at least better than random tweets or vertical short form content. There are quite a few stories that I've come to really enjoy and look forward to reading when the new chapter comes out.

It's not like I've stopped reading books, but there is a lot of time between releases of a book series and each book requires quite a lot of time commitment, whereas a single web chapter require much less time to read.

Also, kinda sad but... tbh as I get older I've gotten a bit calcified in my literary habits; I'm now a bit reticent and less eager to discover new book series and have decided to stick to a few authors I'm more comfortable with (time requirement to discover if I like a new one is just too much). With web stories, just a few chapters let me know if I like the vibe, and picking/dropping stories has much less friction.

A device like the X4 would be ok for epubs downloaded from the internet, but for stuff like what I read now, due to its lack of internet connectivity [1] would mean I'd be reading LESS.

I'm not saying it SHOULD have internet... its purpose as a doomscroll-killer makes it obvious why it won't... just that these things have unintended consequences.

[1]: afaik, it has wifi but not an internet browser or app support that would allow constant linking/updating from such web sources.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#140

Post by mellosouls » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 8:27 AM UTC

Would like to get it if I knew where he'd got it for £40! Its twice that including delivery to UK from the maker.

I'm guessing Ali-Express with the hope you get a genuine one.