This simple trick transformed my disappointing Xteink X4 e-reader into a must-buy device

I’ve spent the last few weeks really digging into the Xteink X4, a miniature e-reader that fits onto the back of your phone.

As I expected, this $69 e-reader wasn’t the best e-ink device I’d ever used, but neither was it absolutely hopeless.

After two weeks of battling my way through rubbish software, I was ready to throw in the towel.

But then I took a chance and tried a trick I’d seen some other X4 owners rave about; I flashed some new software onto it.

And my word, it made an enormous difference. I’d say that this fix, which took less than an hour, has changed my tune entirely.

The Xteink X4 is now a must-buy for keen readers of every stripe.

The Xteink X4’s software stinks

I was prepared for the X4’s software to be basic, and I would have been happy with that. Basic is good, I can live with basic on a device like this. But I didn’t get “basic”, I got “bad.”

It’s functional, but that’s about as far as I’m willing to go with it. It’s achingly slow and a pretty terrible experience all round.

There are more settings to fiddle with than I’d assumed there would be, but there are limited ways to really change your reading experience.

The formatting was all over the place, and my e-pub files ended up with all sorts of big spaces and random hyphens.

That wasn’t even the worst part of the reading experience. That dubious title goes to the way it would randomly forget where I was, and catapult me into an earlier part of the book.

Combine that with the slow page turning, and my “read on a whim” device had become a “find where you left off” device.

It’s a real shame, because the device’s hardware is solid. It’s lightweight and easy to grip, and that means you can hold it naturally.

Having two pairs of page turn buttons plays into this too, and sometimes you’ll use the pair at the bottom of the device, and other times you’ll use the volume rocker-style buttons instead.

Admittedly, there’s not to puff here, but that’s because there’s not a lot to the X4. It’s a small device that does one thing, and it has the potential to do that well.

But the software? Oh boy, that software really does let it down. If only it could be fixed.

It can be fixed

Just as I was ready to give up, I stumbled onto an article discussing the X4 — and it mentioned installing community firmware to replace the shipped software. I was intrigued.

Looking into the process, it became clear it was incredibly simple. Just plug your X4 into your computer, load up a specific Chrome web page, push some buttons, then reset your device. And that’s basically everything you need to do.

Alright, so I did a few things wrong, but that was due to my ignorance.

First, I didn’t realize I needed to plug in the e-reader, not just my microSD card.

Then, when my device showed up as a debug device, I assumed it wasn’t working and spent ages troubleshooting it. But it worked just fine like that, and I shouldn’t have worried.

But when those issues were out of the way, flashing the new Crosspoint software was so quick and so easy that I’d recommend it for every X4 owner.

And what a difference it made. My X4 is now so much faster. Menus no longer pass by at a crawl, and turning a page felt much more like I would expect from an e-reader.

The settings make much more of a difference now, and the Wi-Fi transfer option, which I completely missed in my first hands-on with the device, can now be found on the device’s home page.

It’s hard to state quite how much better the Xteink X4 is now. Getting it to this point was so easy, and I barely had to do anything.

The Xteink X4 is now an excellent e-reader, and it’s easy to recommend it

I wasn’t expecting much from the Xteink X4’s software. I paid a relative pittance for it from AliExpress, and I ended up getting what I thought I’d get — a small e-reader with potential, but plenty of drawbacks.

And after a few weeks, I thought this was it. It was handy, but not worth wrestling with the software every time I opened it. I was ready to put it back in its box and move on.

But flashing the Crosspoint software has changed the game entirely. Thanks to this new software, the Xteink X4 has gone from a fun oddity to a must-buy for keen readers and technology fans alike.

Quite simply, it feels like a whole new device. A better device, even.

It’s not perfect. The lack of any sort of light means nighttime reading is better done on a larger device, but when I’m out and about? I always have my Xteink X4 in my pocket, and I can dive in to my books whenever I have an idle moment.

Yes, you can use your smartphone for reading on the go — but in my experience, there’s no replacement for a good e-reader. And now, thanks to Crosspoint, the Xteink X4 is a very good e-reader.