This tiny e-reader is so small it would get misplaced in your pocket

The enchantment of Amazon’s Kindle is that it is an inexpensive solution to learn books, and for individuals who learn at a voracious tempo, a extra moveable solution to do it, too. The success of the Kindle kicked off an explosion of E Ink units that led to the panorama of e-readers and E Ink tablets we now have right now. And new units spring up on a regular basis, and loads of them in way more adventurous shapes than what Amazon presents.

One such various is the Xteink X4, an e-reader that is as low cost or cheaper than the Kindle, and radically smaller than the everyday paperback-sized units Amazon sells. In truth, the Xteink X4 is so small it could actually match on the again of some smartphones. The e-reader is greater than a bit quirky, however it’s shortly develop into certainly one of my favourite methods to learn books, as a result of it is so small it is exhausting to search out excuses to not carry it with me.

The Xteink X4 is the scale of a MagSafe pockets

And the X4 has bodily page-turn buttons, too.

If the Xteink X4 hasn’t appeared in your social feeds or YouTube suggestions in its temporary interval of viral fame, this is an introduction. The Xteink X4 includes a 4.3-inch E Ink show with a decision of 200ppi (notably decrease decision than the 300ppi of the Kindle Paperwhite). The gadget options one button on the entrance for going again or confirming menu objects, and one other for navigating the X4’s easy interface. On the facet, there is a button to energy the gadget on and off, and one other that turns pages. And alongside the underside of the gadget, there is a USB-C port for charging and a microSD card on the facet for loading book information.

The skinny, 5.9mm gadget e-reader contains Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antennas for wi-fi connectivity and comes with a 650mAh battery that lasts over every week on a cost, even with common use. The remainder of the X4 is decidedly barebones. While you first activate the e-reader, you are greeted with a easy interface with simply 4 menu choices: Learn, which opens the final guide you opened, Folder, which shows all of the information you’ve got added to the X4’s included microSD card, Settings, which helps you to modify what the X4’s buttons do and different choices, and Sync, the place you handle the gadget’s web connection and switch content material wirelessly. That is it. No retailer for downloading books, and no suggestions for what it is best to learn subsequent. In case your principal expertise with e-readers is coping with commercials, that is already a reasonably large change.

The opposite studying curve to cope with is navigating the X4 itself. The compact e-reader does not characteristic a touchscreen, so any enter you need to make has to occur with the X4’s skinny buttons. That may take some getting used to, however when you do, studying books with the little factor is a pleasure. The display has a decrease decision than the Kindle Paperwhite, however is sweet sufficient for studying. Pages refresh pretty shortly, and higher but, the X4’s buttons are delightfully clicky, which makes the expertise much more tactile. You aren’t getting the flowery formatting choices of different e-readers, but when all you care about is content material, this can be a nice supply car.

The Xteink X4 is an ungainly gadget

This e-reader’s one trick does not fairly work.

An enormous promoting level of the Xteink X4 is the actual fact it could actually magnetically connect to the again of a cellphone and act as a extra “enriching” various to scrolling in your cellphone. Feeling distracted by no matter’s blaring at you out of your pocket-sized OLED display? Simply flip your cellphone round and browse from a nice E Ink display for a spell. There are a number of issues with this concept because it’s presently executed, sadly.

At 4.3-inches, nestled under an iPhone’s digital camera plateau, the X4 is definitely longer than most iPhones apart from Apple’s largest Professional fashions. The identical goes for some entry-level Android telephones, too, just like the Pixel 9 and Pixel 10. The alignment of the magnets within the X4 additionally implies that, at the least on my iPhone 16, it will not connect to the again of my cellphone until it is horizontal, quite than vertical, which defeats the aim of attaching it in any respect. Xteink contains adhesive magnetic rings you can follow the again of your cellphone or case to bypass these points, and plans to deal with magnet placement extra completely within the smaller X3 it’s going to launch in some unspecified time in the future sooner or later. Nonetheless, the truth that the X4’s one particular characteristic won’t work in your cellphone is disappointing.

Then there are the problems with book formatting. The way in which the e-reader shows EPUB information is tough across the edges with out customization in an book administration app like Calibre. Not unreadable by any means, however you will lose among the customized chapter headings and different stylistic touches which are seen on a Kindle or Kobo. Add within the studying curve for truly utilizing the X4, and the expertise is certainly not as clean as a Kindle. For $69, you are paying for a novel expertise, not essentially a refined one.

Xteink’s gadget might be viral sufficient to final

Fortunately, there’s already a small group of individuals attempting to assist the Xteink X4 that fill within the gaps the place the gadget’s creator got here up brief. There are web sites dedicated to finest practices for utilizing the e-reader, customized instruments for changing EPUBs into XTC information, a file kind that appears to protect extra book formatting on the X4’s diminutive display, and 3D-printable equipment.

Decision

220ppi

Storage

32GB (from included microSD card)

Model

Xteink

Display screen Measurement

4.3-inch E Ink

Xteink’s X4 is a compact, 4.3-inch e-reader with bodily buttons that is designed for use by itself or whereas magnetically hooked up to the again of a smartphone.

The Xteink X4 is way from good, however these initiatives make it enjoyable to tinker with. Past that, a small E Ink display that simply slips in a pocket or a jacket is simply enjoyable to maintain in your particular person. Anybody who has their very own assortment of ebooks could have plenty of enjoyable attempting it out.