Forget the Kindle Colorsoft—the publish of the Xteink X4 final fall felt akin the archetypal really engaging item to happen to e-readers in years. A cheap, slightly clunky Chinese equipment alongside a 4.3-inch screen, its absolutely pocketable size (and a astute promotion gimmick—"You can nexus it to the rear of your phone alongside a magnet! Never intellect that that isn't really a applicable or sensible way to read!") quickly attracted an online cult following of tinkerers.
Xteink has since translated its viral social media achievement into mainstream awareness (including safety in The New York Times), quickly releasing a flurry of new devices, including the Xteink X4 Pro, which brought familiar features akin a forefront ray and touchscreen into the mix. And the competition has certainly taken notice.
Boox, another Chinese company—albeit one that has been about for additional than a decade—previously informed a akin trajectory alongside the Palma, its own weirdly shaped e-reader. First released in 2023, that phone-shaped equipment appealed to readers who wanted item that was easier to transport than a full-sized Kindle and didn't tie them to the Amazon ecosystem. Yet equal as the business prepares for the initiate of the Palma 3 this fall, it's plainly not consenting to let Xteink eat its lunch—hence the publish of its own itty-bitty e-reader, the 3.97-inch Boox Picco.
Why all small e-readers are so similar
First revealed in a astonishment notice rear in July, the Picco is plainly modeled on Xteink's success—and alongside fine reason, considering in many ways, the devices are identical by necessity. All e-reader screens are made by the identical company, E-Ink, which method that all of these micro-readers—the Xteink X4, the X3, the X4 Pro, and, yes, the Picco—use the identical display alongside the identical 480x800 resolution. They additionally run on similar, uncomplicated ESP32 processors (though there's a bit additional assortment between models there) and create akin trade-offs, akin abandoning onboard retention in favor of a microSD cardstock slot. Like the X4 Pro, the Picco includes a temperature-adjustable forefront ray and a touchscreen for navigation.
Firmware isn't equal really a differentiating factor: Part of the logic for Xteink's first achievement was the fact that its simplicity made it uncomplicated to hack. No sooner had it established a following than a collection of fans developed a tradition firmware, called CrossPoint, that corrects most of the issues alongside Xteink's undeniably underbaked native functioning system—there's equal a website that makes flashing your audience alongside CrossPoint a matter of a sole click. Early on, there was doubt concerning whether the Picco would run on Android akin Boox's another devices, including the Palma. But no: Not lone is Boox's equipment not a full-fledged Android device—it really runs on a modified type of CrossPoint itself. Wild.
So, the components and firmware are darn akin on paper. How does the Boox Picco measure up in genuine life? Boox sent me a pre-release component to test out, and following a day of messing about alongside it, I can study that it's beautiful great. Do I akin it additional than the X4 Pro, its closest competitor in conditions of features? I haven't fairly decided.
My first thoughts concerning the Boox Picco
Whatever their inner similarities, the Picco and the X4 Pro are beautiful distinct at a glance. The Picco initially looks and feels much additional refined, alongside a two-toned rear panel and an aluminum example and buttons that recall the iPhone 5, of all things. With a 3.97-inch display, it's slightly larger than the 3.7-inch Xteink X3 but smaller than the 4.3-inch X4 and X4 Pro. Its 5.1mm thickness additionally sits between those devices (the X3 is 5.1mm thick, and the X4 Pro, 5.95mm). These differences are mostly inconsequential, though: Depending on your settings, all volition display concerning the identical figure of words onscreen at the identical time, and all volition disappear effortlessly into any pocket.
Personally, I'm motionless trying to decide if I akin the awareness and form aspect of the Picco—its straighter edges don't sit in my hand fairly as comfortably as the Xteink devices, and I favor the clasp placement on the X3 and X4 Pro that places onward and rear leaf rotate buttons on contrary sides of the equipment to the Picco's sole right-side rocker button, which is small adequate that I occasionally click to go rear a leaf whenever I average to go forward.
The Picco is additionally a lot lighter than the X4 Pro—58g versus 72g. It feels nearly too ray to me. Most of the importance difference is apt downward to the fact that the Picco lacks the X4 Pro's inner magnets; the Boox equipment won't be capable to break into a magnetic case or clip to the rear of your phone (though, again, I inquiry why you'd desire to do that), but any the reason, the lighter build makes the Picco awareness slightly intangible to me.
Yes, the Boox Picco has USB-C
Judging by the ongoing turmoil in the r/xteink subreddit, the biggest differentiating aspect for many users volition be the fact that the Picco charges and transfers records via a norm USB-C port, a characteristic Xteink has since dropped from all of its devices in favor of magnetic pogo pins, which requires a distinct cable or an adapter. Considering their power division existence is measured in weeks equal alongside regular reading, this wasn't a big agreement to me, but many of group really attention concerning it. Opting for USB-C was certainly a fine call on Boox's end.
The Picco has improved native firmware—but does that matter?
While the X4 Pro can effortlessly be flashed to run CrossPoint, it currently ships alongside Xteink's own functioning system, which is motionless a bit of a activity in progress. Out of the box, the Picco is immediately much additional usable, owing the two to Boox's cognition at construction devices for a earth market and to the fact that it's fair a type on CrossPoint, which most everyone who has used one of these wee readers already loves.
While the fun item concerning CrossPoint is that there are hundreds of distinct forks that add or obtain distant features to lawsuit all user, the type that comes on the Picco is beautiful darn good, all things considered. It displays your books well; it includes thoughtful options akin a dreary manner and the choice to rotate off the touchscreen; and it offers multiple options for getting records onto the device, including via connecting to a smartphone that's on the identical wifi network, via the new BooxTile website/cloud app (not yet launched as of this writing), or by plugging it into your device to act as an external USB drive.
It's not yet apparent how much it volition matter that the Picco has nicer firmware, however. Given it uses the identical essential processor as the Xteink row (though one that is a bit small mighty than that in the X4 Pro, which has dual cores and 2GB of onboard RAM), it's extremely apt the Picco volition additionally be flashable alongside tradition software. In theory, this volition average that you volition shortly be capable to choice and choose your own features from any figure of options readily accessible online.
How to buy the Boox Picco
Whether you're curious in comparing the Picco to your Xteink equipment or are looking to buy your archetypal small e-reader, you'll have to be patient: The Picco is not yet accessible for pre-order, immediately from Boox or anyplace else. Rumors propose a November release, although Boox has yet to provision a date. In the meantime, you can choice up the X4 Pro on Amazon. Whichever you choose, you'll be paying the same: Both devices arrive in at $99, about $50 small than the entry-level Kindle.
Covering e-readers, social media, entertainment, and more.
