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Xteink X4 Pro: A disclaimer
As much as I've loved all the Xteink devices I've tested, I'll be the first to admit that they aren't for everyone. Kindles are popular because they are extremely easy to use: Turn them on, connect to wifi, and you're good to go; you can order e-books from Amazon, and they will download automatically. The Xteink X4 Pro and its kin...not so much.
This Chinese-made device isn't too difficult to figure out, but it isn't exactly user-friendly, and it really comes down to two main issues.
The operating system
While it has improved greatly since I reviewed the first Xteink X4 last December, the stock operating system on Xteink devices is rather rough around the edges. Figuring out how to get it to do what you want can sometimes feel like a guessing game, and some of the tools designed to make it easier—like the companion app for iPhone and Android that ostensibly makes it easy to load files wirelessly (though you can also put the e-reader in "USB Mode" and plug it into your computer, which should recognize it as an external drive)—don't always work reliably.
Your books won't always look great, either—there is only one preloaded font, and though you can install others, I've never had much luck getting them to look good. Text alignment can look a bit off, with line breaks hitting in the middle of words and a lack of options like indents at the start of a new paragraph, or even the ability to render text in italics or bold. It's not outright unusable by any means; it just lacks polish.
There's a saving grace here, however, or there soon will be: Xteink devices are both very popular with the tech-savvy online community and simple enough that they're easy to flash with new software, and members of the large community of enthusiasts in the r/xteinkereader Reddit group have banded together to create a custom firmware platform known as CrossPoint, which gives Xteink devices both a cosmetic overhaul and features they might lack out of the box, from a more pleasing array of fonts to advanced reading stats.
CrossPoint isn't available to the X4 Pro just yet, but it's likely to be available soon. If you're interested in trying it out, it's as simple as connecting the device to your computer, navigating to the right website, and clicking one button. If you decide you don't like the results, you can follow the same process to switch back to the factory OS.
The DRM problem
Of much more practical concern than the iffy OS is the matter of finding books to read on the X4 Pro. On the plus side, because the device isn't tied to a particular retailer, you can theoretically buy books from anywhere and put them on it—except you often can't, because most e-books come with digital rights management software (DRM) that ensures a book can only be read on a device tied to the account that purchased it. As there's no way to buy books directly on the X4 Pro, you have to sideload them.
As noted, getting books on the device is slightly fiddly but easy enough, but first you've got to get hold of DRM-free copies. Unfortunately, almost all the e-books Amazon sells will have DRM, and anyway, Amazon no longer lets you download copies of your books for local storage (ditto Nook). Some retailers, including bookshop.org, ebooks.com and Kobo, sell DRM-free e-books if the publishers allow it. but you might have some trouble finding a particular book you want.
This leaves you with a few options: You can stick to reading DRM-free e-books from publishers who don't use it, or only read books in the public domain, or you can use a program like Calibre to strip the DRM from your e-book files before you sideload them (this isn't too hard, technical illegality aside, but it's an extra hassle.)
Xteink X4 Pro: Design and build
Size: At first glance, the X4 Pro looks a lot like the standard version, with a few key differences. Size-wise, though it has the same 4.3-inch screen, the X4 Pro is slightly shorter than the X4, perhaps about an eighth of an inch. Like the X4, the X4 Pro has a built-in magnet ostensibly intended to allow you to attach it to the back of your phone, but it is still too big to align to the back of my iPhone 14 without the bottom hanging off by around a quarter-inch. (This is fine, because I actually don't see the attraction in flipping over my phone to read off of the e-ink screen when I could just...not have my phone in my hand at all.)
Processor and storage: Like the other Xteink devices, the X4 Pro uses a simple ESP-32 processor, but it's slightly more advanced than the one on the X4 and X3, an dual-core ESP32-S3 that has a bit more power (512KB of RAM versus 400KB on the older models) for quicker file management and faster page turns. There's still no onboard memory; the device ships with a 16GB micro-SD card that can be swapped out for one up to 256GB.
Touch: The two navigation/page turn buttons on the bottom of the X4 have been replaced with a touch-sensitive home button on the X4 Pro. I found it easy enough to hold the device without accidentally pressing that button, and the bezels are large enough that it's also easy to hold without frequent accidental page turns (though you can lock the touchscreen while reading if you don't want to use it).
There are still physical buttons: There's a small power button that you long-press to turn the device on or off, as well as page-turn buttons on opposite sides. While many in the Xteink Reddit community have proclaimed a preference for the front buttons over the touchscreen, I love having the option myself—navigating the settings menus is a lot easier with the touchscreen and I can still turn pages with the side buttons while holding the e-reader in one hand.
Charging: Another change that has a lot of people up in arms: While the X4 charges via a standard USB-C port, the X4 Pro uses pogo pins and an adapter (the same internal space-saving system Xteink used for the smaller X3). I assume this was done for a practical reason—space is at a premium in a device this small, and they had to make room for the extra components and a larger battery—but it is ever-so-slightly annoying to have to keep track of a separate accessory (while my test unit was sent with a pogo pin charger, retail versions will include only a USB-C to pogo pin adapter). The magnet that connects the charger is also quite weak—more than once I set it down to charge and didn't realize it had become detached.
Screen quality: My biggest knock against the X4 Pro is that the screen isn't as crisp as the ones on the X3 and X4. It's not a resolution issue—the X4 Pro has the same roughly 220 ppi e-ink screen—but the extra layers for the touchscreen and front light inserted between the outer glass and the inner screen make text appear farther away from the surface of the device. There's also a sizable gap between the glass and the e-ink display that's quite visible around the edges of the screen (which also appears slightly darker). It's not too obtrusive once you get used to it, and less obvious if you aren't directly comparing it to another device, but it's a definite visual downgrade.
Xteink X4 Pro: Lighting
So how does the lighting look? The X4 Pro impressed me here. While it's not as bright or as customizable as the light on a Kindle Paperwhite, it's not bad at all. You can set the brightness from 1 to 10, and adjust the warmth on the same scale, taking it from a bright, blue-ish hue to something warmer and more soothing.
Xteink X4 Pro: Touchscreen
I was a little worried that a tiny touchscreen would be difficult to use, but I am again impressed by the functionality here. In short, the X4 Pro's touchscreen operates in much the same way as those on every other e-ink device I've used: It's fine. It's a little clunky at times, occasionally requiring an extra tap for your input to register, but it generally works well enough to navigate to your books and turn pages.
A touchscreen will also presumably open the door for reader-friendly features like highlighting, tapping words to look them up, and jumping directly to footnotes. Unfortunately, none of those features currently work via the native OS, but I expect support will be added eventually (probably much sooner if you're willing to install CrossPoint).
Xteink X4 Pro: Battery life
E-readers are known for sipping power, and the X4 Pro is no exception. It actually has a larger battery than the entry-level Kindle—1100mAh versus 900mAh—and if you do most of your reading with the touchscreen off, you'll easily go weeks between charges.If you prefer to keep the light on, you'll run down the battery noticeably more quickly. A few days during my testing, I read for around two hours or more with the front light at 70% brightness, and on those days I might see the charge drop by 10% or more. If you're a moderately heavy reader, expect to charge it every week or two. If you read less than an hour a day, you could easily go three to four weeks between charges.
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