Xteink just released their 3rd new reading device this summer, the Xteink S4, and it has an interesting combination of features. Most notably, it’s the first Xteink ereader to run Android, but there’s a catch…
From everything I’ve read, it sounds like the S4 is only going to be available in China, as Xteink reps have said there are no plans to release it internationally, but that’s not going to stop people outside of China from buying it anyway, and Xteink seems like the kind of company that changes course every 5 minutes so who knows what next month will bring.
The Xteink S4 has a 4.3″ E Ink screen with a frontlight and a touchscreen like the new X4 Pro, and somehow it has a USB-C port unlike any of Xteink’s current international models, but it lacks a microSD card slot. Instead, it comes with 32GB of internal storage, minus the Android OS. And the Android version isn’t remotely recent. It’s Android 11.
A lot of people are excited over the prospect of an Xteink ereader that runs Android, but I’ve been testing Android E Ink ereaders since 2011 (or whenever the first ones started coming out—I can’t even remember anymore) so I know that slapping Android on a low-spec Xteink device is most likely going to result in a miserable user experience, unless your standards are really low or your needs are exceptionally basic.
Xteink can’t even get their standard software to work properly so I doubt their Android software is somehow going to be magically better. Android software requires a ton of work to run smoothly on E Ink because it was never designed for E Ink screens in the first place. The amount of ghosting and flashing and faded or illegible text can be really irritating on some Android ereaders, especially since 99.9% of Android apps aren’t designed for E Ink screens, which most people fail to consider.
There’s also the fact that they’re using Android 11 on the Xteink S4, and that’s been outdated for a long time now. Usually the Android version doesn’t matter a whole lot on ereaders, but how much longer will apps realistically support Android 11? The Kindle and Kobo apps already require a minimum of Android 10 to work.
Plus there’s the fact the S4 has low-end hardware with only 2GB of RAM so it’s going to be slow and frustrating to use for anything but the most basic tasks. That won’t stop people from lining up to buy it, though. And I’m sure Xteink’s army of social media influencers will absolutely rave about it. I can understand the appeal of having access to a wider selection of content and apps, but the execution of Android on E Ink is usually poorly done, especially the first time around, and especially with inadequate hardware.
Nonetheless, it’ll be interesting to see where Xteink goes with this. But I would advise not getting your hopes up. If you really want an Android-based ereader you’d be better off getting one from an established company like Onyx that has been making Android ereaders for over a decade now, and even their software still has some issues.
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