In a moment of retail therapy, I decided to buy the Xteink X4 for $69. If the X4 had (1) a backlight and (2) a higher-resolution screen, I could see it breaking into my daily routine. Without those two things, I think it’s destined for my junk drawer.
The Good
The X4’s form factor is very cool. It’s about a third the weight of my phone. I love the shape and the physical buttons; I hope more e-readers come out in this space.
CrossPoint Reader is an exceptional open-source project and a huge improvement over the stock firmware. If you’re interested in the X4, CrossPoint is an awesome free upgrade.
The Bad
The X4 does not have a backlight. With no backlight, I’m stuck using a Kindle to read at night.
The X4’s height is pretty much equal to my Kindle’s width. I much prefer reading in landscape mode on the X4 - in portrait mode the lines are way too short. Unfortunately, the resolution on the X4 is 220 ppi (vs 300 ppi on the Kindle Voyage). Text on my Kindle is crisp; on the X4, it’s jagged. It’s certainly readable, but it bothers me quite a bit.
The X4’s Wi-Fi is surprisingly weak - I have to be in the same room as my wireless router to connect. I don’t have this issue with my other devices.
It’s a little annoying that I have to mount the SD card on my computer to delete files.
The Support Systems
Downloading books from Calibre-Web onto the X4 via OPDS was smooth.
The X4 motivated me to self-host wallabag so I could save articles as epub files to read on the X4. I’m unsure if I want to replace Obsidian Web Clipper with wallabag. I’ll keep thinking on that one.
For now, I’m going to take a break from the X4 and enjoy the crisp text on my Kindle.