I tinkered with my micro e-reader and made it higher than a Kindle

I’ve loved utilizing the Xteink X4 since I wrote about it in January, however I will be the primary to confess it has issues. You do not have to carry the tiny magnetic e-reader for lengthy to search out them. It has a complicated variety of buttons, and it is laborious to foretell what they’re going to do. It will possibly’t truly persist with the again of most telephones until you are prepared to connect an extra magnetic ring or cope with it protruding out of the aspect of your cellphone. And it isn’t at all times one of the best to make use of, or notably good at displaying EPUBs.

Regardless of these points, individuals love the X4’s {hardware}, which stays comparatively low cost and uniquely sized among the many e-readers accessible from North American corporations. It is also, because it seems, pretty straightforward to customise, too. You needn’t spend lengthy on the Xteink Reddit to search out dozens of customized circumstances and mounts created for the X4. And people customizations lengthen to the machine’s software program, too. Xteink has up to date the barebones firmware the X4 launched with to be a bit extra visually interesting and higher at dealing with EPUBs, however many of the machine’s group seems way more thinking about a chunk of third-party firmware. It is referred to as CrossPoint, and it would simply be the best instance of how open-source software program can seriously change the usefulness of your devices.

Fixing the X4’s software program

Xteink’s up to date firmware cleans up the house display screen

The unique Xteink X4 interface was barebones, to say the least. Outdoors a easy dwelling display screen with shortcuts to the machine’s settings, the newest e-book you learn, a rudimentary menu for wirelessly syncing information, and no matter content material is saved on the machine’s microSD card, the remaining is cramped menus of textual content and the uncooked file system of the X4’s reminiscence. For what most individuals are utilizing the e-reader for, that is probably not an enormous deal, however as extra individuals have purchased an X4, and curiosity has grown in Xteink making e-readers in different sizes, it is comprehensible the corporate would wish to clear issues up.

As a part of updates which have rolled out in the previous couple of months, the Xteink X4 now seems much more pleasing to the attention and does a greater job of opening and displaying ebooks. Now once you first wake the X4 from sleep, you are greeted by no matter e-book you learn final, and a progress bar displaying off how far into the e-book you’re. The house display screen additionally has cleaned-up shortcuts for the e-readers varied options, and a a lot better workflow for wirelessly getting information on the X4 because of a brand new Xteink companion app. You do not have to dig too far to search out the identical file system and cramped menus the X4 launched with, however not less than the e-reader makes a greater first impression now and is a little more user-friendly.

That is all nice and good as a primary move, however Xteink is growing software program and {hardware} on the similar time. There’s motive to count on extra significant software program adjustments to take a very long time to reach. That is why loads of X4 house owners have turned to third-party, open-source software program to deal with the issues they’ve now, and tweak the e-reader’s interface much more to their liking.

CrossPoint is straightforward firmware that matches the Xteink X4

Clear menus and the flexibility to remain in sync with different third-party studying apps

You do not have to lurk within the Xteink subreddit lengthy to listen to about CrossPoint. The open-source various firmware is likely one of the hottest methods X4 house owners are opting to replace their e-reader, largely due to the options CrossPoint provides, and the way easy it’s to put in. CrossPoint is particularly designed for the X4 and its chip, and presents most of the core enhancements of Xteink’s newest official updates, together with a extra visually presentable dwelling display screen, and higher dealing with for EPUB information, notably relating to loading pictures embedded inside eBooks.

CrossPoint encompasses a easy dwelling display screen with the quilt of no matter e-book you open final on the prime, the e-book’s title, and the e-book’s writer. Choosing the quilt with one of many X4’s buttons drops you on no matter web page you had been studying final. Beneath that, there is a assortment of menu choices, together with a shortcut to your microSD card information, latest books you opened, a file switch choice for the a number of methods you may get information on the X4, and a shortcut to the settings menu.

The extra significant adjustments may be the methods CrossPoint tweaks the X4’s interface, labeling the e-readers many buttons so you realize which does what, permitting the quilt of no matter e-book you are studying to develop into the lockscreen of the X4 when it is asleep or powered off, and including the flexibility to sync your progress in books with KOReader, one of the crucial in style third-party studying apps (and one which’s frequently sideloaded onto Kindles and Kobos).

You do not have to be glad with the default options of CrossPoint, both. The open-source nature of the challenge implies that anybody can modify CrossPoint and create their very own model. There are already tweaks on the market altering CrossPoint’s dwelling display screen and introducing solely new options like a Tamagotchi-inspired digital pet. In fact, you do not have to develop your individual model to get rather a lot out of what is in CrossPoint by default, and putting in the firmware is comparatively easy:

1. Join your Xteink X4 to your pc over USB-C and wake/unlock it.
2. Head to the Xteink Flash Tools website.
3. Underneath Full flash controls, click on on Save full flash, and wait round 25 minutes for a full copy of the machine’s firmware to be created. Save that duplicate (the file can be referred to as “flash.bin”) in a secure place.
4. Scroll right down to OTA quick flash controls and click on on Flash CrossPoint firmware.
5. Anticipate the firmware to be written to your X4, then reboot your e-reader by urgent the Reset button on the bottom-right aspect of the machine, after which urgent and holding the sleep/wake button.

Open-source software program can breathe life into devices

Save your low cost handheld emulator and janky e-reader

There are unavoidable safety dangers to including third-party software program to your gadget, however these downsides include positives, too. An open-source challenge like CrossPoint may imply the X4 is supported with new options, or on the very least, bug fixes, nicely after Xteink has moved on to different {hardware}. For a tool this straightforward, you actually do not want all that a lot to have a very good expertise, however open-source software program can usually save poorly optimized devices, too. There is a rising variety of low cost Linux or Android-based handheld game emulators which can be vastly improved utilizing third-party launchers or firmware than no matter they ship with. Should you’re already saving some cash shopping for an affordable, bizarre gadget, why not make the leap and see if you may make it higher with software program somebody made simply because they cherished the machine itself.

Decision

220ppi

Storage

32GB (from included microSD card)

Xteink’s X4 is a compact, 4.3-inch e-reader with bodily buttons that is designed for use by itself or whereas magnetically connected to the again of a smartphone.