GoKawiil
Tech News
Xteink makes small, pocket-sized e-readers that can be enhanced with a free, alternative operating system replacing the stock software. This custom firmware reportedly unlocks additional features and improves the reading experience beyond what the devices offer out of the box.
Chinese startup Xteink is following up its compact X4 e-reader with the Xteink S4, a 4.3-inch E-Ink device that ditches the previous proprietary Linux OS for Android 11. This change lets users sideload apps like Kindle, Kobo, and KOReader instead of being limited to DRM-free EPUB files. The S4 also bumps up specs with 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, and a 1,400mAh battery, more than double the X4's 650mAh cell.
A writer purchased a cheap, tiny Xteink X3 e-ink reader after discovering the open-source CrossPoint firmware and quickly loaded books and custom fonts onto it. While experimenting with greyscale sleep-screen images, they found that dark grey rendered as pure black and light grey as near-white, and later noticed ghosting artifacts from previous screens appearing in the viewer app but not on the sleep screen.
A hobbyist bought the Xteink X3 e-ink display for its programmability and, frustrated by having to upload files through a clunky hotspot-based web page, decided to make it work like an actual printer. By implementing the Internet Printing Protocol and advertising the device as an AirPrint-compatible printer named 'penguin' via Bonjour, they enabled sending documents directly from a MacBook's Print dialog to the e-ink screen.
A reviewer tested the Xteink X3, a credit-card-sized, magnetic e-reader from a little-known China-based brand that sells for $69 on Amazon and currently ranks among the platform's top new e-reader releases. Despite a cheap, plasticky feel and some quirks, the reviewer used it to read Robert Caro's massive book The Power Broker and finished three books in a month, up from just one in the prior two months, while daily iPhone screen time dropped by 25 minutes.
Boox showed additional details of its Picco e-reader at IFA, a compact rival to the Xteink X4 with a 3.97-inch touchscreen e-paper display and physical page-turn buttons that support customizable short and long presses. The device skips onboard storage in favor of microSD cards, but adds USB-C and WiFi transfer options absent from Xteink's hardware, and runs a stripped-down Linux OS rather than Android, bundling apps like a timer, todo list, and reading tracker.
Lexar announced its Muse Ultra-Slim Portable SSD, arriving later this year in 512GB and 1TB capacities, measuring just 3.8mm at its thickest point and tapering to 1mm at the edges. The drive achieves this by dropping a standard USB-C port in favor of a proprietary magnetic SnapLink cable connecting via pogo pins, while still delivering read speeds up to 1,050MB/s and write speeds up to 1,000MB/s, enough for 4K ProRes video capture at 120fps on compatible iPhones.