I got an X4 (slightly larger model) less than 2 months ago and I already finished 9 books on it. It is always in my pocket and I started reaching for it instead of my phone during tiny moments of boredom. Sometimes it's just a few paragraphs when I'm waiting for a train, but it is also surprisingly good for longer reading sessions.
I have one and am very happy with it. I vibe coded a bilingual ebook reader, which is what I bought it for. However a Kindle is a way better deal and is much better as far as screen quality etc. But I like how small my XTEINK X4 Pro is.
<a href="https://archive.is/Lb2Bf" rel="nofollow">https://archive.is/Lb2Bf</a>
I had only heard about these things on HN, and thought they were primarily popular as a toy for people to hack on. I didn't realise they are so popular amongst "normies".<p>I have no current need for one as I am happy with my cheap second hand Kobo but it's great that they exist, especially with the open source alternative firmware. Hopefully they don't clamp down on that in future.
The fact that you can use it one-handed is the killer feature for me, both for reading and as a generic dashboard/remote control for stuff in my home.
I got one and it is a neat fun device.<p>And it's pretty hackable, with an open firmware, bunch of community involvement in developing third party alternatives for the default software.<p>I have even vibecoded random software to run on it.
<a href="https://archive.is/Lb2Bf" rel="nofollow">https://archive.is/Lb2Bf</a>
I'm tempted, despite being wedded to Kindle. I can search for and borrow a library bok on Libby in 30 seconds, then have it automagically appear on my Kindle; I doubt the experience is so seamless with Crosspoint, and of course the progress won't sync. But otherwise, an e-ink screen on the back of my phone is something I have always wanted. Hey Amazon, how about a Kindle counterpart to this?
Going back a decade or so, I bought a Yotaphone 2, which had a full-sized e-ink display on the rear. Fantastic for any text reading/writing in bright sunlight (I was based in Sydney at the time). Yotaphone is now dead, but I really don't understand why the idea hasn't been taken up by other makers.<p>Review (overly lengthy) from 2014:
<a href="https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/technology/phones/yotaphone-2-review" rel="nofollow">https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/technology/phones/yotaphone-...</a>
> but I really don't understand why the idea hasn't been taken up by other makers.<p>Same, but now that it quickly looks like smartphone-sized e-ink readers are the 2026 hardware trend, I can see them making a comeback now. Or as an "outside" screen on foldable phones.
- Libby on Xteink: <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/976390/xteink-x3-x4-x4-pro-e-reader-libby-plug-ins-drm-crosspoint-reader" rel="nofollow">https://www.theverge.com/tech/976390/xteink-x3-x4-x4-pro-e-r...</a><p>- There's KOReader sync in Crosspoint<p>But the biggest issue with Kindle is the vendor lock-in and the books don't even belong to you. There were many cases of Amazon deleting books with no refunds. That's why I am not getting any Kindle ever again.
"In a sense, it is that. Xteink sounds less like a real brand name than the kind of garbled text you’ll find in AI-slop memes."<p>I think it's a great name. To me it reads like "extend e-ink", crazy how perception can be so different.
The CEO of this brand once portrayed himself as a first-time entrepreneur, launching a small batch of products at extremely low prices, then raising prices and quickly rolling out new models. But earlier this year, one of his competitors publicly presented a series of allegations that were subsequently substantiated, including that he had actually been involved in multiple previous ventures with a highly questionable track record, and that some of the products' key specifications had been seriously misrepresented.
The company later apologized for the inaccurate specifications, claiming that the misinformation was unintentional. However, it offered neither a recall nor any meaningful compensation to affected customers. Soon afterward, the brand launched yet another new product, only for customers to discover after receiving it that the promotional images were also misleading.
At the end of the day, this brand's business model seems to be little more than assembling cheap off-the-shelf components and using aggressive social media marketing to convince people that they need its products.
So who is the original manufacturer of these readers?
Ok... but.. are there other companies with comparable consumer level products? If so, can you name some?
The crosspoint software lists a few different manufacturers devices:<p><a href="https://crosspointreader.com/devices" rel="nofollow">https://crosspointreader.com/devices</a>
Onyx Boox will be releasing one soon ("Picco" AFAIR?). But they break GPL.