Reviewing the Xteink X4 – A Personal Reading Renaissance

So I’m a fan of books. Big books, little books, readable books and even the obscenely-difficult-at-least-for-me books (I’ve never read more than 50 pages of Infinite Jest, it’s a BEAST), having books around is… comforting. Digital books have been a wonderful addition, and carrying around a library with me has both brought down my reading costs and any closet space for those pesky “clothes” I’ve heard so much about.

But last year, Amazon announced that you wouldn’t be able to download your books to your computer anymore, which was the way the average person could make sure they didn’t lose their digital purchases. Anything purchased after that, or if you didn’t back up your purchases in time, and they were just a “license” to read. And as someone that loves some full shelves, that simply doesn’t sit right with me. When I bought them, I assumed that meant I would always have them, like a physical book. I’ve been in that ecosystem for around 15 years after buying my first Kindle Fire tablet in 2011, so I had a solid library built up that I could “lose my licenses” to read from.

So, I backed up my purchases on my computer before the deadline, and decided to retire my various Kindle models. Reading on my smartphone was never as satisfying, so I’ve read less since I stopped carrying an e-ink device with me. It took a year, but I’ve finally found the replacement that works for me.

After seeing an ad for the Xteink X4 on YouTube and Facebook and wherever-else, I was dubious as to whether or not it was a scam. I’d been burned before, having paid for a budget computer through Kickstarter and the product evaporating into thin air well after the deadline for receiving a refund, so I’m hesitant with my dollars when buying from merchants overseas with unknown brand names. So I did some digging, scrolled through the reddit community, watched multiple tech reviews from both big and small creators. After hours of watching and reading, and multiple weeks of contemplation, I pulled the trigger.

The device is a simple one: an e-ink display that easily fits in a pocket, and does nothing but let you read books. It’s not complicated at all, and that’s to its detriment; it’s limited in what formats it can display, the display is fine but not exceptional, at times in lower lighting it can get quite difficult to read. It can be improved in so many ways, some of which the community that’s sprung up behind it has taken on with their open-source firmware Crosspoint. I did flash Crosspoint onto my device, but the default setup is perfectly serviceable and receiving updates to keep any bugs to a minimum.

That’s the perfect way to describe the X4 as a whole: minimum.

It feels dated, using physical buttons instead of a touch screen. It’s underpowered, it’s laggy, and button presses can take a second to register (if you tap within that second, it may not register at all). The screen is clear enough, but a sharper grayscale would be nice. It has no backlight, so reading in low-light areas is near-impossible. Only two reading formats are available, limiting what can even be put on the thing. If I had paid the standard $100-ish price for a new, entry-level Kindle, I’d return it in a heartbeat.

For $69 however, I acknowledge those drawbacks, and I remember what I need and don’t need. The pages “flip” perfectly fine, and plenty fast enough. I can wait a few seconds for it to boot out of sleep mode. I can make the font bigger, and there are three different fonts to choose from. I would read in the dark on my smartphone, but there are so many distractions on my phone and e-ink is more comfortable to read on, so keeping a light on is just fine. All of my purchased books were converted (if they needed to be) to EPUB format, which may take a moment to index to display properly, but again… it’s a tradeoff I’m fine making. It fits in my pocket between my phone and my Traveler’s notebook. I can take it literally everywhere with me with the same ease as loose change.

As many books as I have or want or may EVER want (since I doubt I could ever fill up its included 32GB microSD card with only novels), and no one can take them away. And they’re so easy to add: take out the microSD card, plug it into a computer, drop the files in, put the card back in the device. Or, I can hook it up to my local wifi, and from any device with the files I can plug in a specific URL and upload them that way. Simple, low effort, perfect from quickly adding something new.

And the best part? The battery life. Since e-ink only uses battery when it’s shifting the screen, all e-ink devices have incredible battery life, and this is no different. I charged it when I got it, and with regular use since it arrived (I’d say at least 30 minutes to an hour every day) the battery was all the way down to… 65%. For a small, 650 mAh battery, a fraction of what the standard smartphone uses, that’s damn impressive. I’ve charged it up since because I don’t like seeing a lower number, but yeesh, I could’ve gone multiple MORE weeks without plugging it up!

The only serious critique I really have is the lack of a backlight. Much of my reading is done at night, so not needing the light on is a luxury I would take full advantage of. Maybe in a future model they’ll add one; I’m not much of an engineer, but with how far backlighting engineering has come, I can’t imagine it would add much bulk or weight to the already featherweight product. It was able to include a gimmick of magnetically sticking to the back of an iPhone (which is neat I guess), so they compensated for that, which tells me a light was perfectly possible.

With that minor request aside, this is a sweet little ereader I’m glad I dropped a few dollars on. For some added context, I only read maybe three books in the last year, while I’ve already read four on this within the last month. Having it available to kill time in a line, while eating lunch at work, or in a spare moment waiting for my laundry to wrap up, it’s been lovely to rediscover my love of actually consuming books. My phone is better for small games, social media, taking calls, nearly everything else… but e-ink is still more comfortable on the eyes. And keeping this with me has been a boon to my reading enjoyment.

Is it a necessity? No. But is it adorable, useful, and cheap? Hell yeah. And it’ll be in my pocket wherever I go until it craps out. (Or until a backlit one is available. Either-or.)

Stand Tall friends, and I hope however you’re reading, it’s as satisfying as the X4 has been to me. And don’t be like me and bother everyone about it everyday. Just write out your thoughts in a blog post. (Trust me on this, it’s easier.)