We’re big fans of Xteink’s cheap and tiny e-readers, which are so small you can snap it to the back of your iPhone for easily taking with you throughout your day. Problem is, even their best model didn’t have a front light, requiring you to always be in a well-lit space if you wanted to use it. That changes with the Xteink X4 Pro.
That’s right, Xteink finally made an e-reader with a front light, so you can continue reading your favorite book without having to turn any lights on. Whether you want to read in bed without turning on the mushroom lamp, inside your tent when you can’t sleep at camp. or anywhere else with inadequate lighting, the outfit now has an e-reader that’s suitable for the job.
The Xteink X4 Pro takes on a similar compact profile as the outfit’s previous e-readers, coming in at just 111 x 69 x 5.95 mm (height x width x thickness) and weighing a light 72 grams. It has a 4.3-inch E-Ink screen with 800 x 480 resolution similar to the original X4, so the display quality should be very similar. Of course, this one comes with the aforementioned front light, which comes with brightness and temperature adjustments, allowing you to fine tune the screen’s appearance to your exact liking.
Aside from the front light, the new e-reader’s display supports touchscreen controls, allowing you to tap, pinch, and swipe your way through the e-reader’s user interface. It also comes with physical buttons like its predecessor, so you can choose how you want to navigate through the system’s UI. Similar to the last X4, there are built-in magnets in the back that allow you to snap it to the back of a MagSafe iPhone, allowing you to carry your phone and your e-reader as one stacked pile.
The Xteink X4 Pro comes with 16GB SD card preloaded, so there’s enough space in there to store thousands of ePub and other-text based ebooks. If you like to keep larger PDF, comic book, and image files, though, you can swap it out for cards up to 256GB to give you more room for storage. They upgraded to a bigger battery from the 650 mAh unit on the original X4, by the way, with the new one coming with a 1100 mAh cell. While there’s no stated rating to how long it can last between charges, we imagine this can hold up to a week or so with its much larger battery. On the downside, it doesn’t use a USB-C port for charging, instead using an inconvenient magnetic adapter to replenish its power.
It comes with the same software from their previous e-readers, which has been the main sticking point in their previous products. Yeah, they don’t make good software. That’s why, they’re also giving users the option to install an alternative firmware from the folks at Crosspoint Reader, giving users a more mature digital reading experience.
If you want an e-reader that’s smaller than your wallet, the Xteink X4 Pro definitely seems like the best way to go. It’s available now, priced at $99.
