First Review: XTEINK X4 Pro, the X4 V2 Hands On - is it a worthy upgrade? : Joshua Lowcock

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The XTEINK X4 is available direct on Amazon.com
The XTEINK X3 is also available on Amazon.com
Next day delivery for Prime. Unlocked and Faster shipping than AliExpress!

Exciting news, I managed to get my hands on the XTEINK X4 Pro aka XTEINK X4 v2. I’ve written about the leaks and previews, but now I have my hands on the X4 Pro and have been itching to share my first impressions. It seems the XTEINK X4 Pro will result in end-of-life for the X4 series, which is now currently sold out and unavailable on Amazon.

I will post photos and videos after the pre-release embargo ends (July 21st).

Initial Thoughts on XTEINK X4 Pro

Let’s be honest, it looks cool. The X4 Pro is slightly smaller than the X4, mostly because it loses the bottom buttons. It’s also a smidge thinner, which is probably because we lose USB C for a pogo plug. The screen still has the eInk crispness. The microSD card has shifted to the top, there are still page turn buttons, but these are side mounted. I think there will be more than a few people happy there are still some physical buttons.

I won’t lie, the X4 Pro does look cool and there is still the ‘wow’ you experienced with the X4 and X3 when you see such a compact device.

Unboxing the XTEINK X4 Pro

What’s in the box:

XTEINK X4 V2 Pro
32Gb microSD Card
USB C to Pogo cable

This is a Chinese model, so not sure if US versions will differ. The MagSafe is built in and works. As yet, there’s no case.

First Impressions, Putting the X4 Pro to Use

This is a hard one to write as we’re still a few weeks out from ‘official’ release. XTEINK are clearly working out the bugs on the software and this software release definitely has all the feel of a beta . The touchscreen is laggy, which I am not sure if it’s software or hardware. I’ll try to refrain from complaining (too much) about the touchscreen, it works but I prefer the X4’s buttons.

XTEINK have definitely gone for a cheaper touch screen. You can see the touch screen layer from certain angles. It’s like small microdots on the screen. I haven’t seen an implementation this ‘bad’ since the early days of touchscreen devices. This cheap touch screen could also explain the lag.

I would not buy the XTEINK X4 Pro yet until they fix the touch lag. The touchscreen is definitely sluggish. It’s a far cry from the snappiness of the buttons on the X4/X3 and very inferior to the experience of a kindle or kobo. I’m honestly surprised and I really, really hope software updates fix it. For those who have been on the X4 journey, you will know that the early versions of XTEINK software were not great.

Navigation is mostly by the touchscreen, but there is a home button discretely hidden in the front middle. Kind of in the middle of where the buttons were on the X4.

The backlight/front light works. You can adjust both brightness and color temp, as well as turn it off. I opted to turn it off, as I experienced some wildly fast battery draining issues. I’m trying not to read too much into that, it could be (another) software bug. There’s some light leakage around the bottom of the X4 Pro, not a lot, but noticeable.

On buttons, the XTEINK X4 Pro does have page turn buttons. These are on 1x left (back) and 1x right (forward). I prefer to read my X4 in landscape mode, so not a fan of the button placement especially given the touch screen software still needs work.

I need to do a sunlight test (to see if they fixed that screen fade issue by properly shielding the electronics). I’ll keep updating this review as I put it through its paces. But we’re heading into 4th of July weekend here and I’ll be away from the computer for a few days.

Where can you buy the XTEINK X4 Pro?

At the moment, it’s only available to early buyers out of China who pre-ordered. I worked in China and have friends there, which is helping me out enormously with early access to a lot of Chinese tech, not just XTEINK’s. Please don’t buy the X4 Pro AliExpress, I think a lot of the sellers are speculating mass release in China and actually don’t have stock. The XTEINK X4 Pro WILL be available from Amazon, US regulatory approval is pending, so just wait a few more weeks. I don’t know if we’ll have the developer/non-developer issues either, which is another reason to wait for the official release.

I can tell you that the XTEINK X4 Pro will release officially in the US late July. The official XTEINK X4P / X4 V2 Pro model number is 2BTR9-X4PRO. I’ve been told US pricing is expected to be around $97. Yes, not the budget pricing we all enjoyed on the X4. That puts the X4 Pro at about a $30 price premium over the X4. Is a front light worth that much to you? If it is, I think a Kindle when it’s on sale would be a better deal.

Crosspoint on the XTEINK XV Pro

No, not yet. I’ve had a few people contact me. I am not going to try to sideload Crosspoint. Aside from it will most likely fail or risk bricking the device, there’s too many hardware changes to warrant even a test. The X4 Pro has touch, front lights, a real time clock. It’s not simple a drop in a new screen on the X4 upgrade, so the Crosspoint developers will need both time and access to the device before they can start building for it. I am hoping that given the official partnership between XTEINK and Crosspoint, we’ll get an update on this soon.

Final Thoughts

Is it worth the upgrade? To be honest, I prefer my X4. The X4 Pro software is still a little buggy, battery life drained in minutes and I don’t need the front light (want, sure, need…. not really). To be clear, I said ‘need’ vs ‘want’. The price premium, loss of USB C (ugh! pogo plug charging!) well, it all adds up to the X4 Pro is a nice idea, but I can’t help but think the XTEINK S4 might be a better option and it’s shipping in China soon. I should also get my EEGOGO soon, and it will be nice to compare each of them.

I’d honestly hold on the X4 Pro for now. You’re not missing anything, yet.

If you have an X4, I’d wait for the S4. If you don’t have a XTEINK device yet, I’d still wait – as I think the S4 (if the price is right) will be a better deal and offer better features and usability for most people.

Hope this helps someone else.

FYI, the XTEINK X4 is now available direct on Amazon.com and the X3 is now available on Amazon too!

Please feel free to link back to this page or any of my other XTEINK posts.

Some of my other posts about XTEINK devices:

XTEINK X4

XTEINK X4 V2 Pro