- cross-posted to:
- opensource@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- opensource@lemmy.ml
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/49429587
URL for the crowdfunding: https://www.crowdsupply.com/oddly-specific-objects/open-book-touch
Specs:
- Display: 4.26" e-paper touchscreen, 480 × 800 px, warm + cool frontlight
- Processor: ESP32-S3 dual-core, Wi-Fi + Bluetooth LE
- Memory: 16 MB flash, 8 MB PSRAM
- Formats: EPUB and plain text, no DRM
- Storage: microSD card slot
- Interface: USB-C with integrated LiPo charging
- Dimension: 78 × 120 × 10 mm, about 85 g
- Open source: MIT-licensed firmware, open hardware (to be released at shipping)
It also has a replaceable 800 mAh battery, I found it cool :)
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Why buttonless? I like buttons.
Heck, a scroll wheel would be a killer feature so I don’t smudge the screen with my disgusting oils
Buttons and scroll wheels cost more than touchscreens at this point… 90s me wanted touchscreens on everything, and me since maybe 2015? has been firmly “bring back buttons”
…whenever they started replacing useful things that SHOILD be buttons always (car) with touch things. Absolutely not bueno.
Buttons and scroll wheels cost more than touchscreens at this point…
It’s not that they cost MORE, they can be sub-cent per unit if you buy enough of them:
Of course they cost MORE than putting all their functions on a tiny touch screen that’s already gonna be on the device!
Beyond manufacturing the device to be able to use separate physical moving pieces, you’ve also got costs supporting pieces that break in warranty, units damaged in shipping due to moving parts being tossed around, etc.
My Kobo only has a power button and it’s perfect for my needs.
But I want buttons. Without buttons I always do the wrong gesture.
Why is “buttonless” being said like a good thing?
It’s a fact? It has no buttons. God or bad
Yes, but my point was that it was stated in a way like a feature being touted as opposed just a statement of fact, Maybe my impression was wrong, but “buttonless” immediately put me off from the device.
Might be listed as a warning for those of us that prefer button interfaces
That screen is absolutely tiny.
I actually just got one of these things (https://www.xteink.com/products/xteink-x4) that has a 4" screen (WITH BUTTONS) for $55 on Amazon and I kinda love it. I think my perfect phone would be something this size with GrapheneOS support and a headphone jack.
got an x3 this week. love that i can keep it in my little shirt pocket, etc. reading more already vs scrolling. buttons for the win, really. the bezel left right and top are, imho, perfect.
The x3 is actually slightly newer too, but I was already wary of the 4" size so I went for the x4. It ended up being just fine though.
yeah. my x3 seems to fit fine in my notebook holder next to my 3x5 craft paper notebooks. or shirt pocket. i might change to x4 once they start shipping again but i have already read a bunch on the 3 … its size may work out fine. i daily carry an iphone 15 the small one… and i think thats similar in size to the x4?
The x4 is smaller than any semi-recent smartphone I am familiar with, but maybe. The x4 is smaller than a 3x5 card, so this has me doubting that the x3 is truly smaller.
I just put mine next to an identical remote to confirm it is in fact larger :)
That’s also a rather massive price difference what seems to be similar devices?
I’m impressed for the price, but no way would I have considered paying $150 for it. I was concerned about the size, but I already finished a book on it and it was perfectly fine.
Security on android ereaders is definitely disappointing. My Boox palma 2 only supports pins, not passwords. And unfortunately I don’t think a pure eink would work for me. The xteink has me curious if you could make firmware to “leech” off grapheneOS’ security by doing something like an SMB share to avoid having potentially pirated books unencrypted.
What I’d personally love to see is an X4 sized device with NFC, wireless charging, and Lora for meshtastic.
The x4 doesn’t run Android at all, so I don’t think GrapheneOS is even remotely on the table. The open source firmware I use on my (https://crosspointreader.com/) does support using Calbre over wifi though.
Yeah that seems like a really uncomfortably small screen to read on.
I guess there is a decent market for small readers, but man I’ve gotten so used to reading on my 10" boox tablet that reading on a standard 6" kindle makes my brain hurt, probably couldn’t manage on a 4".
I wouldn’t mind if my phone was 4,2" but I want a bigger screen for reading books. Like the size of A5 or even A4 paper.
Why would you pay $150 for a 4.26" ESP32- based eReader when you could get a 4.26" ESP32-based eReader for $70 or less? The XTEink X4 is already available.
And you have open firmware for it: https://hackaday.com/2026/04/05/pocket-sized-e-ink-gets-a-firmware-upgrade/
I recently picked up an Xteink X4 for $55. Flashed the Crosspoint firmware on it. Crosspoint just works and has no bloat. I love being able to set the device and send books via the self-hosted web interface. Sending books via wifi from Calibre works too.
Buttons on the reader are nice. I actually prefer not having a touchscreen for something so small. I do wish it had a front light though. This turned out to be the less-expensive-non-Android-just-an-ereader alternative to Boox that I was searching for. Loving it so far.
I did this as well, got it for the same price. The 4" screen wasn’t the issue I had feared it to be.
Can it access OPDS feeds?
According to the documentation it does have ODPS. I haven’t tried it out yet.
Front light
You can find a comparison on the CrowdSupply page. Xteink X4 does not let you easily replace the battery, for example.
Thanks for mentioning the comparison. It was farther down than I had previously scrolled. TL;DR frontlight, touchscreen, user-replaceable battery, but also bigger bezels, double the price, and looks to be 3D printed instead of injection-molded. Comes with open firmware instead of just allowing it, but that’s a non-factor to anyone with a little computer knowledge, which I suspect includes basically every potential buyer of this sort of device.
The XTEink X4 Pro has a front light and a touchscreen, but needs a magnetic adapter to charge (comes with one and they’re cheap to replace, but still an extra thing to lose). It’s $110 MSRP.
I’d be inclined to get the cheaper one and port the firmware if the new one is better, or someone else will almost certainly make a new one that takes the best features of both.
Lots of people complaining about buttons, but most people are fine without them.
This thing will fail because of the tiny screen, not because of the lack of buttons.
Sad choice.
I doubt the screen size is an issue for most. The Xteink X4 is about 4 inch and is flying off the shelves right now
Fair, it is selling very well now. But strong sales after a viral release doesn’t neccisarrily mean a market norm. Could be an interesting market trend if it starts a shift to smaller, though.
Hi, if you don’t mind sharing; What do you feel is the conversion feature from kindle? I am developing on a platform with novels and want to develop user centric features; I have feature where you get assisted highlighting of words with auto scroll so you can “follow the word” and read.
I have the architectural design in place to incorporate tts for example but would love feedback from the reading communities
Yeah I’ve got a buttonless reader that I got as a gift and I’m thankful to have it but it sucks. Give me buttons.
Especially as it gets older and slower now I’ll give it swipe or tap and wonder, did it register and it’s just taking a while…? should I try again? five more times?? oh you’ve really got to let your finger linger I guess? no? huh that worked last t–oh! It’s going! Oh shoot this is way too far… so now I just have to swipe… back…, -_-
brushes against the screen “What the hell did I just hit? Where is my screen?”
taps against the spot 50 times “Respond!!”
so… a used kobo??
If they are targeting the tiny ebook reader niche, they’re going to have to do better on features and pricing than the upcoming refresh of the XTEINK devices.
But XTEINK is actively working to combat the flashing of open source software. It seems they had a spike in sales and interest due to their affordable hardware, but if they continue to lock aftermaket software out tech savvy people will be looking for different options.
Update: I just saw that CrossPoint has has an affiliate link, and that if you buy the reader direct from the manufacture you can still get unlocked USB devices. It’s only on the international stores like AliExpress that you may get a crippled version. https://github.com/crosspoint-reader/crosspoint-reader
Do you have a link to an article or something about that?
I was interested in them but all the listings on AliExpress expressly said they didn’t support custom firmware. I started looking into it and it seems to be something theu did after they got popular.
Here’s some info, but a lot of it is scattered around online communities: https://pocketink.io/blog/xteink-locked-or-unlocked-buying-guide/
Thanks! I bought one months ago and flashed crosspoint at the time.
But nice that you can still flash them via SD card even if they are USB locked. I guess it would be difficult to fully lock them given they just run an ESP32
Update: I just saw that CrossPoint has has an affiliate link, and that if you buy the reader direct from the manufacture you can still get unlocked USB devices. It’s only on the international stores like AliExpress that you may get a crippled version. https://github.com/crosspoint-reader/crosspoint-reader
Exactly, I just got a 4" model and it was 1/3 this price and has buttons and also had better open source firmware I could load on it.
They aren’t even doing better than the current generation. Their version is more than double the price of the X4 and has the same screen and SoC.
What’s wrong with Kobo?
One never knows. Better to have alternatives today than to hope nothing goes downhill in the future.
If you’re honestly asking, one thing I just read is that you need an account to use it. Not sure if that is a downside for many.
There are ways to skip logging-in, as I did it on my Kobo.
No you don’t. I’ve used mine without for the better part of a year.
Kobo does not need any account to use. Out of the popular mainstream eReaders, it is one of the most open. You can add non-drm ebooks to it without any issues unlike the Kindle.
I’ve been using send.djazz.se to wirelessly transfer books to my Kobo, as well as the open source Calibre program on my laptop.
No accounts required.
“I just read this” in a review of someone very upset about requiring an account, while the signup server was offline over Christmas. I’m very sorry I came off so “confidently”, I thought writing “I read this” is a reasonable indication that this is second hand knowledge not first hand. Hearsay in a court of public opinion you could say. I guess this confidence is just my natural charisma which is my undoing again lol
It might also be that this is only true for the regional distributor in my country. I suspect my country is the original inventor of enshittification.
You do?
I reset one recently, I would have thought that the account would have been reset like the rest. Anyway it works fine with my calibre archive.
I flashed my Kobo and have a pretty similar experience now. Except with a decent size screen.
Why did I read that as 150 buttholes?
Okay, but… Isn’t pocketbook good enough?
Damn, at 10mm thickness that’s a chubby little SOB, nearly twice as fat as my leaf 2. And with a tiny 4.26" screen on top of that, yikes…I love my 7" screen, I’d hate to read on a screen smaller than that.
Still smaller than a novel and too thin and you can get hand cramps.
I’ve found the 6mm thickness is perfect for my hands, granted I have a medium-sized male hand and not a huge grappler. 10mm thickness is a little too thick IMO for a nice feeling, but not a deal breaker. The very small screen is a definite deal breaker for me though.
That’s what she said
If course she did, no one likes reading on a small screen, it’s terrible.
But can you get books to read on it? I suspect that these gadgets will get locked out of the market by the thugs.
