If you’ve been thinking about buying an Xteink ereader, the X4 and X3 are both on sale for Prime Day, and the prices are incredibly reasonable for E Ink ereaders.
The Xteink X4 is marked down to $55.20 and the Xteink X3 is on sale for $63.20. Both are the “developer edition” so they are open to easily installing alternative open source software, which is a must for these devices if you want to read English-language ebooks (the stock software has a lot of problems, but the hardware is really nice for the price if you want a basic mini ereader).
The Xteink X4 has a 4.3″ E Ink screen with 219 ppi and the X3 has an even smaller 3.7″ screen with 259 ppi. There are some other differences as well. The X3 has a sensor that can turn pages by shaking the device, it adds NFC support, and it has a magnetic pogo pin charger, whereas the X4 has a standard USB-C port.
Both models have microSD card slots and they come with a 16GB card. Neither has a frontlight or a touchscreen; and neither supports ebooks with DRM so you have to sideload DRM-free EPUB ebooks.
As mentioned, the stock software has a lot of issues displaying English ebooks properly, and it often freezes up, but you can easily install CrossPoint software and it’s much better. I would not recommend either of these devices with the stock software, but they’re great portable ereaders with CrossPoint, as long as you’re comfortable sideloading and de-DRMing everything.
See my Xteink X4 review for a closer look at it in action. I haven’t posted a review of the X3 yet, but both devices are very similar.
The X3 has a nicer screen. The resolution is higher and the contrast is slightly better with a whiter background, and it doesn’t have the fading issue in direct sunlight. However, I personally like the slightly larger size of the X4 better. It’s easier for me to hold, and the button placement fits my hands better.
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