A Tiny E Reader

Hacker News Top Products

Summary

The author shares their experience with the XTEINK X4, a very small e-reader with excellent build quality, running the minimalist cross point firmware, and using OpenDyslexic font for comfortable idle reading.

No content available
Original Article
View Cached Full Text

Cached at: 05/16/26, 12:39 PM

# A Tiny E Reader Source: [https://nthp.me/blog/2026/a-tiny-e-reader/](https://nthp.me/blog/2026/a-tiny-e-reader/) I like books\. You’d probably know that if you’ve seen my[bookshelf](https://nthp.me/books)page\. But, I don’t like physical books\. Yeah they do look good on a physical shelf, and I do like that part of them\. I just don’t like reading them\. The main issue for me, is that not every book is printed the same way\. Different fonts, font sizes, spacing, page color, etc\. With me being mildly dyslexic, physical books can be a dice roll\. This is what I love about ereaders\. You can make every book, look the same[1](https://nthp.me/blog/2026/a-tiny-e-reader/#fn:1)\. So when I saw a[post](https://moddedbear.com/i-love-reading-on-the-xteink-x4/)on a super tiny ereader, I was mildly interested\. And picked one up on a whim\. ## Smoll --- The little ereader in question is the XTEINK X4\. Fantastic name I know\. And it is small\. Here it is next to my Kobo Libra Color\. ![](https://nthp.me/blog/2026/a-tiny-e-reader/comp.jpeg)Despite the size, it’s built really well\. Being made out of glass and metal\. My only real complaint is that the dual action buttons don’t have a pivot\. Reading on the X4 is actually not that bad\. Now to be clear, I’m not running the stock firmware\. I took one look at it and said, no\. There is a really nice and simple third party firmware out there for this called[cross point](https://github.com/crosspoint-reader/crosspoint-reader)\. ![](https://nthp.me/blog/2026/a-tiny-e-reader/home.jpeg)Cross point is about as simple as you can get![](https://nthp.me/blog/2026/a-tiny-e-reader/text.jpeg)I had to bump the text size up, and thankfully cross point ships with the[OpenDyslexic](https://opendyslexic.org/)font\. My goto font choice for ereaders\. ## So, Why? --- Like I said, I picked this thing up on a whim\. I had no illusions of sitting down on the couch, and getting though a whole series on this thing\. But the idea of flipping through a few pages when you aren’t doing anything, kinda appealed to me\. Be it in the line at Chick\-Fil\-A, or just taking a piss\. While I like that idea of “idle reading”, I don’t keep my main read on it\. I’ve never had an issue with reading two/three books at the same time\. So my main book/series is on my Kobo, for when I want to sit down, and immerse\. And I keep a side book on the X4\. For when I’m taking a piss, or waiting in line at Chick\-Fil\-A\. Is that me trying to find a use for a impulse purchase… Most likely\. But it is pretty neat\.

Similar Articles

The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

Hacker News Top

A review of the Xteink X4, a £40 e-ink reader small enough to stick to a phone. It highlights the device's lightweight design, decent stock firmware, and a thriving custom firmware scene with options like CrossPoint, Papyrix, and Inx.