Xteink X4 Pro Pocket E-Reader Review (2026): Fun but Limited

Aug 8, 2026 6:36 AM

Review: Xteink X4 Pro E-Reader

Xteink’s newest tiny e-reader is its best yet, but a unique software experience and lack of ebook store may be limiting for some.

Aug 8, 2026 6:36 AM

Courtesy of Xteink

Rating:

6/10

Lightweight and compact. Fun to use. Upgrades over the X4, including a touchscreen and home button. Can magnet-attach to some smartphones. App makes it easy to send web pages and files from your phone to the device.

No built-in store to access ebooks. Tiny screen means constant page turning. Learning curve for accessing and managing EPUB book files.

Xteink’s micro e-readers are the smallest e-readers I've ever seen.

When I think of a pint-sized e-reader, I usually think of the popular Boox Palma, which is still the size of a smartphone. But Xteink's line of e-readers is even smaller—so small that they're designed to snap onto the back of your phone, underneath your camera. Last month, Xteink launched the Xteink X4 Pro, an upgraded version of its existing X4 that adds a touchscreen, a home button, and an updated design, making it feel more like a mini smartphone or Kindle.

But even with a fresh design, the real hurdle of Xteink's e-readers remains accessing your books. There's no built-in shop, so the easiest method I've found is to have an EPUB file handy (or the URL to a long internet essay or article) that you can quickly upload through the app.

Both the Xteink X4 Pro and the Xteink app you'll use to manage it are very easy to navigate. The biggest hurdle is that you need to BYOB—bring your own books. Not everyone is ready to manage their books as files. The Xteink also has a very small screen that will have you turning to a new page after every two or so paragraphs, but it's still a fun option if you want something super portable to read on.

Small Wonder

Photograph: Nena Farrell

Video: Nena Farrell

The Xteink X4 Pro is pretty darn cute and has some solid specs for being so small. It has a 4.3-inch display with both a touchscreen and buttons for controlling the device; the buttons are silent and smooth to press. It also has a dual-tone front light, which older models don't have, letting you choose from warm or cool lighting as you read, like a Kindle Paperwhite. The display is clear and crisp, making the small letters easy to read.

The images it pulled from stories had more detail than I expected given the screen size (I could clearly see the sand lines on the rug from the photos in this story that I sent to the X4 Pro), though I would still describe the images as grainy. The letters are pretty small, but not so small that I needed the device next to my face. I could comfortably read with the X4 Pro in my lap, and the built-in front light helps maintain that true in darker rooms.

There are four font options built into the device but no ability to change the type size. If you want other fonts or sizes, you'll need to import your own through the app, or add additional software. With the default font, the X4 Pro usually fits about a paragraph and a half on each page, depending on length and spacing.

At 5.95 millimeters wide, the X4 Pro weighs only 72 grams and feels downright weightless in my hand. Its magnetic backplate is much stronger than the one on the base X4, which couldn't attach itself to my iPhone 16 Pro. (No MagSafe case is required.) The X4 Pro comes with 16 GB of storage, but you can expand it to up to 256 GB by swapping out the microSD card at the top of the device.

Photograph: Nena Farrell

Overall, the X4 Pro provides a pretty intuitive experience. (The lock screen does remind you which button does what, though, if you do forget.) The addition of a home button on the bottom middle of the device harks back to the original iPhone design, and the touchscreen will be instantly familiar to anyone who's used an e-reader. It's not as responsive, though; I sometimes needed to tap a spot multiple times to switch to a different menu or adjust the brightness. By the way, you'll access the brightness menu by swiping down from the top—it's the only hidden menu on the device.

In addition to the X4 Pro's stronger magnets and new front light, there's improved battery capacity over the X4—1100 mAh to the original's 650 mAh. Xteink doesn't give specific run-time promises, however, and results seem to vary depending on how much you're reading and whether you've installed additional software.

Software Story

Photograph: Nena Farrell

Video: Nena Farrell

All Xteink e-readers, including the X4 Pro, come with base software that's pretty easy to navigate. The X4 Pro simplifies it even more. When you open the device, you'll see the covers and headlines for the books or content you've recently opened, with a little “Recent” title hovering above it. Next to this, there's the word “All,” which you can tap to see folders called Pushed Books and Pushed Images, plus two folders in Chinese that translate to Built-In External Fonts (there are four to choose from) and Built-In Preview Books (the latter didn't work for me). Books and images you send to the device will appear in the Pushed Books and Pushed Images folders, organized by file type. Xteink devices are compatible with TXT, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, JPG, and PNG files.

The X4 Pro also syncs with URLs you can send using the Xteink app, but it will manually reformat them to be readable on the device. I uploaded a recent article I wrote to both the X4 Pro and X4, and while both did a solid job, the X4 Pro did a little better. It improved some of its translation—the base X4 replaced all apostrophes with the hexadecimal code “',” which is a pretty long addition, while the X4 Pro accurately inserted an apostrophe. The X4 Pro was also able to pull in images and label the story with the header image on its homepage instead of just the name.

ScreenshotXteink app via Nena Farrell

ScreenshotXteink app via Nena Farrell

You can tap the hamburger menu in the upper-right corner for a quick menu that includes books and pictures like you'd find in the All menu. There's also Cloud Sync, which lets you see what's being uploaded or was uploaded over Wi-Fi from the app; USB Drive, which turns on USB Drive mode to upload files instead of Wi-Fi; and Settings. The app is very straightforward, but you'll need to create an account and pair your device by scanning the QR code displayed on the Xteink.

The X4 Pro still tells me I need to pair it to an app (there's a floating box whenever I'm in the Settings menu, even though I've already paired it), but the app remembered which devices I had, and has no issues sending material to the device.

Because most ebooks from major stores are Digital Rights Management (DRM)-protected and can’t simply be copied over, you'll need DRM-free EPUB files if you want to upload books to an Xteink device. These are versions of books you can legally upload, whether it's through Cloud Sync or USB upload. You'll also likely want software designed for e-book management, like Calibre, to organize these files on your computer.

The Xteink devices are unlocked, so you can also upload your own software or even games to use on them. Popular options are CrossPoint and Crossink, open-source reading software you can install on the Xteink for a different experience. However, regardless of what software you're using, there's still a roadblock you're going to hit: where the books come from.

Content Gap

Photograph: Nena Farrell

There's no built-in bookstore for the Xteink as you'd find on a Kindle or Kobo. Xteink devices also aren't directly compatible with the Libby app, a popular way to get e-books from your local library. You need to obtain those DRM-free e-books and prepare them for uploading yourself. There are a few popular sites for this: Standard Ebooks offers entirely free, public-domain books, while eBooks.com has a DRM-free section you can shop from.

For many readers, especially those seeking a convenient reading experience or wanting to read specific titles, this adds a layer of hassle. But I did find the X4 Pro to be particularly well-suited for anyone who reads fan fiction on the popular website Archive of Our Own, colloquially known as AO3.

AO3 allows readers to download stories directly from the site as EPUB files. I tested the Xteink X4 Pro with a fic, as the site's works are called, and it took a few minutes at most to download the EPUB file to my iPhone's Files, open the Xteink app that was already synced to my X4 Pro, and upload the story onto my device.

While the Xteink couldn't import any cover images (you'd need software like Calibre to add covers to EPUBs, whether it's fan fiction or something else), the X4 Pro did bring over art that was added into the story itself, which the base X4 was unable to do. It's a black-and-white screen, but still fairly detailed.

This could also be a good fit for folks who love a long online essay, since it was convenient to send a URL through the Xteink app to the device. But other than that, unless you're savvy with additional software, you'll very likely prefer a Kobo or Kindle if you want something that comes with an easy-to-use ebook store and syncs with the Libby app.

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