Tiny $70 Xteink X3 e-reader puts Silicon Valley to shame

No matter really you publication it, The Power Broker is a superior undertaking. The paperback weighs arsenic overmuch arsenic a brick; to debar lugging astir each 1,344 pages, group person trim it isolated astatine the spine and chunked it into sections. Others person organized in-person Power Broker marathon readings that tally continuously for 3 afloat days. I decided to effort thing else.

Over the past respective weeks, I’ve spent 10 hours paging done Robert Caro’s masterpiece connected an e-reader the size of a in installments card. It’s magnetic, and mini capable to connect to the backmost of my iPhone without adding immoderate existent bulk to my pocket. (Yes, this does mean that I person a surface connected the backmost of different screen.) It’s called the Xteink X3, and astatine a glance, it looks for illustration a inexpensive gimmick: much physics junk made by chartless brands and sold connected Temu and TikTok Shop—the benignant of point influencers are ever hawking. (Can I liking you successful a programmable LED chapeau for $11.60? Or really astir $20 AirPod look-alikes made by “Fhumsh”?)

In a sense, it is that. Xteink sounds little for illustration a existent marque sanction than the benignant of garbled matter you’ll find successful AI-slop memes. (Speaking of which, the charismatic website of the China-based institution is afloat of AI-generated photos of group posing pinch the device.) And indeed, since the X3’s merchandise connected Amazon successful May, TikTokers and YouTubers person raved astir really the instrumentality is simply a bargain and you should bargain it correct now—just click the nexus successful bio.

From our August 2026 issue: The extremity of reference is here

And truthful I did. On Amazon, the X3 is $69 and tops the “hot caller releases” database for e-readers, beating retired a slew of Kindles. In person, the Xteink is galore things: plasticky. Flawed. Finicky. Nevertheless, it is the azygous champion portion of exertion that I person purchased successful years. In the 2 months earlier getting this cartoonishly mini e-reader, I vanished only 1 book. In 1 period pinch the X3, I publication 3 books without moreover really trying—and my iPhone’s mean regular surface clip dipped by 25 minutes.

The X3 is awesome because of its size, not successful spite of it. (For once, “fun-size” really lives up to the billing.) Because this is specified a runt of a device, you tin instrumentality it to your telephone and person an e-reader successful your pouch astatine each times. As a result, I’ve recovered myself reference connected my greeting commute, successful statement astatine a museum, moreover while waiting done Netflix ads. The show connected my Xteink whitethorn beryllium astir half the size of the smallest Kindle, but the matter is large capable to easy read. Even aft 3 consecutive hours of inching done The Power Broker, my eyes weren’t strained.

The device’s size really helped maine create a different narration to reference altogether: Because each “page” connected the Xteink amounts to conscionable a paragraph aliases two—and sometimes less—I’m compelled to decorativeness it. And now that I’m onto the adjacent page, I mightiness arsenic good decorativeness that 1 too. A YouTuber who precocious reviewed the Xteink had the aforesaid experience—she referred to the uniquely addictive acquisition of utilizing the instrumentality arsenic the “TikTokification of reading.” I cognize really terrifying that sounds, but see the outcome: Whenever there’s moreover a mates of minutes of free time, I now person a patient replacement to doomscrolling connected Instagram. I don’t moreover person to put my telephone down. Flip complete the Bad Screen and occurrence up the Good Screen.

For each of its charm, the Xteink is simply a beautiful basal portion of hardware. For $70, you get what you salary for. Other celebrated e-readers now travel pinch AI-powered recaps, high-definition displays, and Android operating systems. Meanwhile, the Xteink has nary touch screen, colour display, aliases backlight for reference successful the dark. (Xteink precocious launched the X4 Pro, a somewhat larger and much costly exemplary that has a reference ray and a touch screen.) Just reference a book connected the instrumentality isn’t needfully seamless: The preloaded package is horrific and can’t moreover show book covers aliases decently format immoderate text. Unlike pinch a Kindle, you can’t larboard complete books from Amazon pinch 1 click.

In spite of itself, the Xteink X3, successful each of its 3.7 inches of glory, has go a viral hit. Online, group person posted photos of their Xteink connected trips to the Austrian mountains aliases the Aegean Sea; 1 anesthesiologist says he tucks it into his scrubs. People are mounting the Xteink X3 to their room hood to show recipes and are making each sorts of bespoke accessories, including 3-D-printed reference lights and a lawsuit that looks for illustration a weapon (I’m serious). Fans person built their ain open-source firmware, Crosspoint, that considerably upgrades the device. The type I downloaded displays reference stats and an array of fonts, and it lets maine screenshot pages arsenic I read. Late past month, Crosspoint added the expertise to entree books connected Libby, the celebrated room ebook app.

The champion point astir the Xteink is not immoderate 1 feature. It’s that this mini e-reader is nosy successful a measurement truthful fewer gadgets are anymore. Despite each our advances, the consumer-electronics scenery of 2026 is predictable and banal. Our laptops, smartphones, and tablets are thinner and much powerful than ever, but that feels for illustration a anemic substitute for innovation. Next week, Apple is poised to motorboat 1 of its astir hyped products successful years: a folding iPhone. But moreover folding smartphones are aged news; Samsung released its type successful 2019. After shelling retired hundreds aliases thousands of dollars for a caller gadget, you mightiness still person to salary for subscriptions and strengthen annoying ads. Sometimes, your purchases aren’t moreover really yours. Amazon precocious removed the expertise to download ebooks you already ain and transportation them to non-Kindle devices.

In different words, we request much gadgets for illustration the Xteink: cheap, simple, and customizable. With fewer exceptions, these products are now coming retired of China. Neck fans from brands specified arsenic JisuLife and Civpower person go sensations for helping group strengthen the summertime heat. Anker’s portable projectors and earbuds are some Wirecutter-recommended. Silicon Valley has near a gaping spread successful the gadgets markets, and Americans are much than consenting to look elsewhere.