Any and all advice, guides, and reviews are unbiased and based on my personal experience. If you buy through affiliate links, I may earn commissions, which helps support my website. This does not have an impact on posts or my opinion of any reviewed products. If you find this post helpful and want to say thanks, please buy me a coffee or take a look at my book on Amazon. It keeps this page ad-free. Thank you!
Great news! The XTEINK X4 is now available direct on Amazon.com
Next day delivery for Prime. Faster shipping than AliExpress!
If you’re thinking of buying an XTEINK X4 (grab one now on Amazon!), I love mine – it’s fun, hackable, and despite the limitations it helps me read more distraction free as it’s small enough to be always in my pocket.
In December, XTEINK announced the X3, a smaller version of the X3. Pre-orders have sold out and ship February 2026. I didn’t pre-order, but now wish I did. The big selling point of the X3 is smaller form factor and higher DPI (see table below) but they abandoned USB C for a pogo plug cable. I really don’t like pogo cables, as it’s just not as convenient as USB C and adds a ‘replacement cable’ risk but there are X3 replacement cable options. Which one is right for you? Given the X4 is available now, I’d recommend the X4 but based on Chinese social media updates from XTEINK, the X3 looks awesome.
Here’s the features of the X3, my thoughts are after the “|” symbol:
- Smaller and lighter, just 55 g with a 3.7-inch display | better if you want to stick to the back of your phone
- Higher resolution at 250+ PPI | should improve readability
- Built-in gyroscope for motion-based page turning | interesting, potentially useful for the custom firwmare community
- NFC support | feels like a novelty
- Magnetic Pogo Pin charging (cable included) | ugh… not a fan
- Time display and battery percentage | cool, but battery percentage can be done with Crosspoint firmware
- Expanded smart features such as cloud content push, subscriptions, weather, calendar and more (Overseas app is still under development.)
There’s a lot of me sounding negative ha! but the smaller size and weight and better resolution is good to see. I’m keen to hear from others on how this translates into the reading experience. I do have a YouTube short preview of the X3, thanks to some friends in China. The X3 pre-orders started shipping February 5th, 2025, new orders ship end of March 2026. If you missed the pre-order, you can order the X3 now and it ships at the end of March.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Cm4tBV5AiSg
the X3 and the XTEINK iOS App
With the the X3 you can use the iOS App to push to web pages, articles, and articles to your X3. The native XTEIN KApp suports weather and calendar makes the X3 a great companion device to eInk writing tablets like the Remarkable. The official XTEINK iOS app is already available if you’re interested in having a play and get a preview of what XTEINK is thinking.
To register and use the app (email) you need to be on OS 5 or higher. There’s an XT Cloud setting, plus the ability to import content (links, books, comics, PDFs, and create albums).
Replacement X3 Cable Charging Cable
On the XTEINK discord server, multiple users have confirmed this adapter works. It’s a sub US$10 adapter that attaches to any standard USB C cable. So don’t panic if you lose the charging cable!
Finally, for those interested, the following comparison table gives a quick rundown of how the X3 vs X4.
XTEINK X3 3D Printed Case
The best (current) 3D printed case for the XTEINK X3 case is this 3D Printed XTEINK X3 flip case.
| X3 | X4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Display Size | 3.7" | 4.3" |
| Resolution | 480x800 | 480x800 |
| Pixel Density | 220 PPI | 250 PPI |
| Size | 98 x 64 x 4.98 mm | 114 x 69 x 5.98 mm |
| Weight | 55g | 74g |
| E Ink | Yes | Yes |
| NFC | Yes | No |
| Gyroscope | Yes | No |
| Backlight | No | No |
| Internal Storage | microSD | microSD |
| XTEINK Cloud | Yes - Enhanced | Yes |
| Battery | 650mAh about one week | 650mAh about one week |
| Charging | Custom | USB C |
| Available | Shipped Feb-26 | Now |
Let’s see what XTEINK brings us when they ship! The versions in China are on early versions of the firmware (v1.09).
Do I want one, yes? Will I get one? Absolutely!
If you’re going to get the X4 instead, I wrote a great getting started guide for X4 owners.
If you’re wondering about the XTEINK S4, which is a rumored upcoming device which will be Android based, but still lightweight and small. Supposedly there will be an announcement in early 2026. They have been testing this since around August 2025 (according to this post). It has new software and looks like a big upgrade on the X4. That said, if it approaches the base kindle price, it would be a hard sell even with the small size.
Hope this helps someone else!
FYI, the the XTEINK X4 is now available direct on Amazon.com
Some of my other posts about XTEINK devices:
XTEINK X4
- The best tools, hacks, and more for XTEINK X4 owners
- Ultimate XTEINK X4 FAQ (Unofficial)
- XTEINK X4 troubleshooting, fix common problems and issues.
- How to change the XTEINK language from Chinese to English
XTEINK X3
XTEINK S4
XTEINK Wallpaper eInk Card
XTEINK YouTube Videos
Any and all advice, guides, and reviews are unbiased and based on my personal experience. If you buy through affiliate links, I may earn commissions, which helps support my website. This does not have an impact on posts or my opinion of any reviewed products. If you find this post helpful and want to say thanks, please buy me a coffee or take a look at my book on Amazon. It keeps this page ad-free. Thank you!