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 only e-reader though as you tend to miss the size and backlight of the larger ones.
What would I want from future iterations?
- backlight even if it compromises on battery a bit
I'm with you on every bit. I love my Kobo Libra 2 and it lives on my nightstand table. It's an excellent reader. The X4 with CrossPoint is an alright reader, but I've been chewing through books on my morning commute because it fits in my jacket pocket and I can have it out on the train without bumping into other people.
It's not the best reader I own, but it's the best reader I have on me at any given moment when I'm not laying in bed.
> It's not the best reader I own, but it's the best reader I have on me at any given moment
This. The form factor is almost the right one for an e-reader. The battery lasts for weeks. It is so open that you could probably write your own firmware for it based on CrossPoint or similar for your own needs.
Needs some iterative development while ruthlessly culling requests for random features.
Not the commenter you were replying to, but I have both a Kindle and a X4. No, it does not, but searching for a unique enough phrase (just two or three words) on the current page gets you there fast enough.
Not being lighted is what has kept me from trying it. If they do add lighting I hope it is a front light and not a back light. Hard to beat a front lit e-ink display for reading. Bonus points for warmth settings.
I've looked at this device and I wonder how good the layout engine is. Screenshots never show text with any hyphenation going on which makes me wonder if it even supports hyphenation.
One of the images on the Amazon page for the reader has somebody holding one beside their laptop and if you look at the screen, it looks terrible. There are even words jammed together ("would be most suitable forthe job").
I love that it has physical buttons though. My reader is the Kindle Oasis and the buttons are one of my favorite features of the device. The Oasis layout engine and typography are both pretty good and I wonder if the X4 would end up feeling like a big downgrade.
i bought a pocketbook era lite recently, and it's a bit too locked down for my tastes - though usable. i kinda just want a dumb appliance. actually, i want a linux appliance. this probably sounds very "not productized" to a PM, but 99% of what's on there i don't want: a book store, games, etc.
i wish there was just an SDK for building apps (i'll vibe code towards a great epub experience, i'm fine with that). and, i'm fine plugging it in via USB or even SCPing files over wifi. but, it sends my reading progress to a server every time i use it which is highly annoying and concerning. however, the form factor is sufficient.
i guess i was hoping it'd be more aligned with steam's direction with their steam machine.
Go for the X4. Neither supports USB file transfer, so having USB-C charging is convenient without additional things to worry about. Bigger screen is also better if you're a fast reader. The faster you read, the more your reading speed is limited by the page turn speed.
For those who can afford it, I can recommend the Boox Note for the ebook reader. It comes with full Android, so you are not limited to books but can read news, Hacker News, and other doomscrolling that fills the Internet.
In a pinch, you can also connect it to a Bluetooth keyboard and use it as a development terminal. SSH terminal looks gorgeous on e-ink.
> It comes with full Android, so you are not limited to books but can read news, Hacker News, and other doomscrolling that fills the Internet.
That sounds like an anti-feature. When I first bought an ereader over 15 years ago, I intentionally chose one that didn't support Wifi for this very reason. I want it primarily for reading documents.
But then again, I guess Boox is meant more to be a tablet than an ereader.
Also, genuinely curious - does having Android reduce the time between recharges? As an example, I read a whole book over 7 days, and didn't need to charge my Kobo (and modern Kobo battery life is not great).
I want Kobo to release an 8" color, but don't know if they ever will. I was considering Boox as an alternative, but I worry about battery life and Android. I wonder if my worry is misplaced.
A problem with Boox that some here care about is their non-compliance with the GPL. Their devices run modified GPL software and they have (AFAIK) refused to release their modifications.
If you are looking for a more affordable option, I have a Musnap Ocean C. It's a little bare bones, but still pretty good. It's a color e-ink display and you can get an optional pen that lets you take notes. I only use it for books and documents, though. It's the best option under $300 that I have found if you want something that is color and can take hand written notes.
the point of having an e-ink reader (at least for me and anybody I know who actively use such device), is to read things, so keeping doomscrolling options is *not* an advantage..
I've been using it for about 6 months. Very, very good - especially paired with anna's archive.
IT IS VERY FRAGILE! The eink screen on my first broke while in my backpack. The company is generous, I bought a new one and they gave 35% off and included all accessories (reading light, case, extra protectors). Highly recommend.
I got one, it's pretty cool that it's small enough to just magnet to the back of your phone. If your someone who needs to use a large font on their ereader to read its certainly not for you, but the screen size is good enough for regular sized text.
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.
I got the X4 and liked it enough that I used it a ton even though it turned out to be too big to Magsafe onto my phone. In fact, I liked it enough that I also got the X3 on sale so I can use it the way I originally intended to use the X4.
I've had the X3 for a month and I love it. It's so small I forget it's in my pocket and have almost washed it a couple times. I'm working on custom firmware for it, so I ordered an X4 when they had the 20% off sale to test on there too.
Hijacking … i have some random e-ink displays (from a bought product)… there seem to be 6 lines to the mcu (or 7, havent measured). Any 2026 tips on approaches to reverse engineer this to run on an arbitrary hobby mcu like esp32? Oh the mcu seems to be a WinnerMicro W100 Series MCU (arm m3)
I’ve been looking at these for a while, hoping the custom firmwares for it will become more popular, as I was considering getting this for my six-year-old.
The disabled usb is certainly a bummer. I wonder how they disabled it though – is there a hardware difference?
As someone who has resisted buying an e-reader for years because I "prefer physical books", I finally purchased a Kobo Clara BW and love it. Even though I usually only read one book at a time, having my whole library in a small form factor is really wonderful.
Have the X4, the size is perfect - I always have it in my pocket and can read a view pages whenever I am waiting for something. Reduced my phone usage / doom scrolling nonsense with it. Best 50€ spent in a long time.
I love this thing and I use it a lot more than my kindle and my kobo (with koreader). I really like the form factor and the fact that goes out of sleep almost instantly and goes to sleep equally as fast. It seeps battery. It is perfect the way it is.
I skimmed over the project a bit. It seems quite ambitious to aim to reimplement epub, considering that means supporting HTML, CSS, SVG and JavaScript.
Is there a ebook format that isn't just build arround the concept of a webbrowser?
While I agree in terms of modern browser expectations (and books absolutely should not need JavaScript), I think books in HTML makes a lot of sense. HTML was meant for sharing text documents, after all.
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 only e-reader though as you tend to miss the size and backlight of the larger ones.
What would I want from future iterations?
- backlight even if it compromises on battery a bit
- a bit more DPI
Everything else is good enough.
I'm with you on every bit. I love my Kobo Libra 2 and it lives on my nightstand table. It's an excellent reader. The X4 with CrossPoint is an alright reader, but I've been chewing through books on my morning commute because it fits in my jacket pocket and I can have it out on the train without bumping into other people.
It's not the best reader I own, but it's the best reader I have on me at any given moment when I'm not laying in bed.
> It's not the best reader I own, but it's the best reader I have on me at any given moment
This. The form factor is almost the right one for an e-reader. The battery lasts for weeks. It is so open that you could probably write your own firmware for it based on CrossPoint or similar for your own needs.
Needs some iterative development while ruthlessly culling requests for random features.
Does your reading position sync up between the two devices?
Not the commenter you were replying to, but I have both a Kindle and a X4. No, it does not, but searching for a unique enough phrase (just two or three words) on the current page gets you there fast enough.
Not being lighted is what has kept me from trying it. If they do add lighting I hope it is a front light and not a back light. Hard to beat a front lit e-ink display for reading. Bonus points for warmth settings.
All of this. It's a solid device. I like it. It won't replace my Kobo, but it has it's place in my tech lineup.
Will buy the next one if it has a light.
I got one last April, and love it: https://taoofmac.com/space/reviews/2026/04/04/1800
I also built two quick hacks for it that people might like:
- https://github.com/rcarmo/bun-readlater-epub
- https://github.com/rcarmo/bun-opds-server
[delayed]
I've looked at this device and I wonder how good the layout engine is. Screenshots never show text with any hyphenation going on which makes me wonder if it even supports hyphenation.
One of the images on the Amazon page for the reader has somebody holding one beside their laptop and if you look at the screen, it looks terrible. There are even words jammed together ("would be most suitable forthe job").
I love that it has physical buttons though. My reader is the Kindle Oasis and the buttons are one of my favorite features of the device. The Oasis layout engine and typography are both pretty good and I wonder if the X4 would end up feeling like a big downgrade.
The alternative firmwares give you a lot more options in this, stock is OK in layout
Custom firmwares support hyphenation
i bought a pocketbook era lite recently, and it's a bit too locked down for my tastes - though usable. i kinda just want a dumb appliance. actually, i want a linux appliance. this probably sounds very "not productized" to a PM, but 99% of what's on there i don't want: a book store, games, etc.
i wish there was just an SDK for building apps (i'll vibe code towards a great epub experience, i'm fine with that). and, i'm fine plugging it in via USB or even SCPing files over wifi. but, it sends my reading progress to a server every time i use it which is highly annoying and concerning. however, the form factor is sufficient.
i guess i was hoping it'd be more aligned with steam's direction with their steam machine.
> i wish there was just an SDK for building apps (i'll vibe code towards a great epub experience, i'm fine with that)
That seems to be what crosspoint-reader is: https://github.com/crosspoint-reader/crosspoint-reader
I've been eyeing the Xteink Reader but cannot decide between the X4 (4.7" diag) and X3 (3.7" diag).
FWIW, the X3 requires a pogo pin cable, while the X4 requires a standard USB-C.
Anybody got any recommendations?
Thanks!
Go for the X4. Neither supports USB file transfer, so having USB-C charging is convenient without additional things to worry about. Bigger screen is also better if you're a fast reader. The faster you read, the more your reading speed is limited by the page turn speed.
I picked the X4 over X3 because the usb-c is convenient for charging (which you barely need to do)
I love it and use it every day.
For those who can afford it, I can recommend the Boox Note for the ebook reader. It comes with full Android, so you are not limited to books but can read news, Hacker News, and other doomscrolling that fills the Internet.
In a pinch, you can also connect it to a Bluetooth keyboard and use it as a development terminal. SSH terminal looks gorgeous on e-ink.
> It comes with full Android, so you are not limited to books but can read news, Hacker News, and other doomscrolling that fills the Internet.
That sounds like an anti-feature. When I first bought an ereader over 15 years ago, I intentionally chose one that didn't support Wifi for this very reason. I want it primarily for reading documents.
But then again, I guess Boox is meant more to be a tablet than an ereader.
Also, genuinely curious - does having Android reduce the time between recharges? As an example, I read a whole book over 7 days, and didn't need to charge my Kobo (and modern Kobo battery life is not great).
I want Kobo to release an 8" color, but don't know if they ever will. I was considering Boox as an alternative, but I worry about battery life and Android. I wonder if my worry is misplaced.
A problem with Boox that some here care about is their non-compliance with the GPL. Their devices run modified GPL software and they have (AFAIK) refused to release their modifications.
Sounds like the opposite of what I want for my ebook reader.
If you are looking for a more affordable option, I have a Musnap Ocean C. It's a little bare bones, but still pretty good. It's a color e-ink display and you can get an optional pen that lets you take notes. I only use it for books and documents, though. It's the best option under $300 that I have found if you want something that is color and can take hand written notes.
the point of having an e-ink reader (at least for me and anybody I know who actively use such device), is to read things, so keeping doomscrolling options is *not* an advantage..
I've been using it for about 6 months. Very, very good - especially paired with anna's archive.
IT IS VERY FRAGILE! The eink screen on my first broke while in my backpack. The company is generous, I bought a new one and they gave 35% off and included all accessories (reading light, case, extra protectors). Highly recommend.
I got one, it's pretty cool that it's small enough to just magnet to the back of your phone. If your someone who needs to use a large font on their ereader to read its certainly not for you, but the screen size is good enough for regular sized text.
It's also cool that it's chip is just an ESP32.
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.
Love my X4. Shameless plug, I also built an iOS/Android app to manage books and also send web articles over to Crosspoint
https://crosspointsync.com/
Thank you. I'm not the biggest fan of the Crosspoint web interface, so I'll definitely give this a try.
I got the X4 and liked it enough that I used it a ton even though it turned out to be too big to Magsafe onto my phone. In fact, I liked it enough that I also got the X3 on sale so I can use it the way I originally intended to use the X4.
I've had the X3 for a month and I love it. It's so small I forget it's in my pocket and have almost washed it a couple times. I'm working on custom firmware for it, so I ordered an X4 when they had the 20% off sale to test on there too.
As a crazy person with both, I have mixed feelings between them.
In favor of the X3:
- Crisper text
- Whiter display
- Slightly better battery life
- Top-mounted power button (subjective)
In favor of the X4:
- Larger display
- Plain USB-C charging
- Slightly better custom firmware support
- Backward and forward button on the same side (subjective)
link the custom firmware!
I got the X4 a few weeks back and installed https://github.com/uxjulia/CrossInk and it has been a dream.
Hijacking … i have some random e-ink displays (from a bought product)… there seem to be 6 lines to the mcu (or 7, havent measured). Any 2026 tips on approaches to reverse engineer this to run on an arbitrary hobby mcu like esp32? Oh the mcu seems to be a WinnerMicro W100 Series MCU (arm m3)
there are 4 or 5 command sets, you can safely try them all. for that few wires, it'll be spi
I’ve been looking at these for a while, hoping the custom firmwares for it will become more popular, as I was considering getting this for my six-year-old.
The disabled usb is certainly a bummer. I wonder how they disabled it though – is there a hardware difference?
Crosspoint is very popular and very easy to flash onto the device.
Locking and preventing flashing of firmware only happened in China.
As someone who has resisted buying an e-reader for years because I "prefer physical books", I finally purchased a Kobo Clara BW and love it. Even though I usually only read one book at a time, having my whole library in a small form factor is really wonderful.
The no USB flashing doesn't appear to be the case if you get it straight from OEM. It is a bit pricier than amazon.
https://www.xteink.com/products/xteink-x4
Have the X4, the size is perfect - I always have it in my pocket and can read a view pages whenever I am waiting for something. Reduced my phone usage / doom scrolling nonsense with it. Best 50€ spent in a long time.
I love this thing and I use it a lot more than my kindle and my kobo (with koreader). I really like the form factor and the fact that goes out of sleep almost instantly and goes to sleep equally as fast. It seeps battery. It is perfect the way it is.
been using on the back of my phone for a few months, my most satisfying hardware purchase in a long time
what phone does it fit on? I have the X3 coming today for this very reason. The x4 is just too big and the magnets misplaced to fit on any phone I own
CrossPoint 1.4.0 came out 2 hours ago:
https://github.com/crosspoint-reader/crosspoint-reader/relea...
I skimmed over the project a bit. It seems quite ambitious to aim to reimplement epub, considering that means supporting HTML, CSS, SVG and JavaScript.
Is there a ebook format that isn't just build arround the concept of a webbrowser?
HTML and CSS is enough for 99% percent of epubs, and that's the only subset of epub standards that Crosspoint tries to support
While I agree in terms of modern browser expectations (and books absolutely should not need JavaScript), I think books in HTML makes a lot of sense. HTML was meant for sharing text documents, after all.
epub is overkill for a vast majority of books.
A format that only supported
- headings
- paragraphs
- emphasis (bold/italics)
- bullets
- inline images
is good enough. A simple container with a TOC pointing to text blocks/files within it that can be processed very cheaply.
Unfortunately, with something like epub, you lose all the simplicity because you want to support every single feature even if rarely used.
I love my X4. I throw it in my backpack or pocket when I take the dog to the park and read a few pages when we sit in the shade.