Xteink’s tiny e-readers have gone viral among book lovers on social media, and for good reason: what could be more delightful than an e-reader that can fit in your wallet? Xteink has the answer. The Chinese hardware maker has now improved upon its existing e-readers with the Xteink X4 Pro , a swift response to widespread feedback from users who really wanted a touchscreen and a front light.
If you haven’t seen Xteink’s existing X3 and slightly larger X4, let’s catch you up to speed: they’re likely the smallest e-readers you can buy, small enough to magnetize to the back of your phone or toss in your pocket on your way out the door. Ideally, having this device on hand will help you read a few pages of a book instead of scrolling Instagram while you’re waiting in line at the store. Though the X3 and X4 were promising enough to cultivate a cult following, I wouldn’t call them user friendly — their button-based navigation is clunky. Still, the idea of a magnetic, pocketable e-reader was so promising that I couldn’t wait to see what Xteink would do next.
Fortunately, the wait for a fix wasn’t long. The addition of the touchscreen and front light makes the Xteink X4 Pro more viable as a device that you can use as your main e-reader, rather than just an on-the-go companion to your Kindle. At 72g and 5.95mm thin, the X4 Pro is about the same size as the X4.
Every night before I go to bed, I turn off the lights and read on my Kindle until I’m sleepy enough to close my eyes. But with the added front light, the X4 Pro has firmly wedged itself into my nightly routine — during the review period, I almost exclusively read on the X4 Pro before bed, using the front light on the dimmest setting (which is still a bit brighter than I’d like for bed time reading), with the color temperature tinted slightly warm. I’ve since reverted back to my Kindle solely because I’m re-reading the Odyssey, and let’s face it, it would be pretty annoying to read poetry with line breaks on a 4.26 inch screen.
When I read with the X4 Pro before I fall asleep, I feel like I’m mimicking my old bad habit of scrolling in bed . You can interpret this as either a good or a bad thing. On one hand, this goes to show just how comfortable and easy it feels to read on the X4 Pro — you can turn the pages either by tapping on the side of the screen or by using the side buttons, which gives you more flexibility with how you want to hold your X4 Pro. But also, like a phone, the e-reader is so small that you have to hold it closer to your face to read than you would a Kindle. I worry this might impact my sleep, though it’s still far easier to fall asleep after looking at a dimly lit e-ink screen than an iPhone.
Like other e-ink devices, the X4 Pro has pretty great battery life — I’ve been using my device most days for about three weeks, and I’m only down to 60% battery. Naturally, the light means that the battery will dwindle a bit more quickly than its predecessors, but I barely notice the difference. What people will notice, however, is that the X4 Pro charges using a magnetic pogo charger, while the X4 had a USB-C. This isn’t a big deal to me, since the device has to charge so infrequently, but if you’re really passionate about the universality of USB-C, this could be a dealbreaker.
The X4 Pro also comes with updated software, which is a big upgrade from the previous models, but the device also will continue to allow users to load open source code. The process of uploading content via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is doable, though it remains a bit clunky — I find it easier to just remove the micro SD card and use the provided micro SD to USB adapter to add files from my computer.
If you’re used to more mainstream e-readers, it’s also worth mentioning that you’re probably not going to be able to read library e-books on the X4 Pro. Xteink can’t integrate directly with apps like Libby, and even if you borrow an e-book from the library, you won’t be able to add it to your X4 Pro (libraries use protected versions of .epub files that you can’t copy). But if you buy an .epub file from a publisher, you’ll be able to add it to your Xteink device without a problem. (Just don’t try buying books on Amazon. It’s a walled garden, so you can only read Amazon ebooks on Amazon devices, even though you literally purchased the book! Booooo!)
The Xteink X4 Pro costs $99, and at launch, it’s only available on Xteink’s website.
