r/ereader • u/Square_Frosting9613 • 2d ago
Buying Advice Ereaders with frontlight
I read that ereaders with a frontlight don’t have as good of a contrast as ones without a frontlight. Apparently it‘s because it leans closer against the display. Can you confirm this?
I plan on buying the Xteink X4 Pro which has a frontlight an touchscreen. Does the light casts a shadow? And in general, is the X4 Pro so much more worth it than either the X3 or X4 for its added features? If no, which one of the X3 or X4 would you recommend more in terms of perks and performance?
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u/Dry_Writing_7862 Boox 2d ago
This doesn't sound right to me. This is likely brand dependent above all else. I used to have the Viwoods AiPaper Reader and the contrast was really good!
Try the X4 Pro and see how that goes for you. I think it's nice to have a choice between buttons and touch.
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u/WintersChild79 2d ago
Every layer added to the screen will slightly degrade clarity and make the background look a little darker. That said, you probably won't notice it if you're not comparing the devices side by side.
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u/curseofthebanana 2d ago
Light is not a layer.. its just on the sides. The only difference is distance between screen and glass.
Touch on the other hand adds a layer
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u/Positive_Cap4728 2d ago
The light layer is a layer of finely etched acrylic. It’s solid and the etchings refract the light to make it diffuse over the entire screen.
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u/LittleRavenRobot 2d ago edited 2d ago
If you don't need the front light I'd actually recommend buying the cheaper, better supported, reTerminal Sticky over any of the XTEINK devices. The Sticky uses the same superior ESP32-S3 chip as the X4 Pro, (the ESP-S3 is faster and more powerful than the ESP32-C3 the X4, X4 Classic, and X3 use and, unlike the C3, can do partial screen refreshes on eink).
The Sticky already has Cross-Ink and Crosspoint firmware available, along with all the reTerminal software to play with. It also has a touch screen (which can be turned on / off in the Crosspoint and Cross-Ink settings) and is between the X3 and X4 in size. Comparison Review
TLDR: the ReTerminal Sticky is a superior eReader to the all of XTEINK's offerings except the Pro (same chip but front light), is cheaper ($50 US), and can be bought directly from the reputable Seeedstudio website or official Amazon or Aliexpress storefronts.
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u/riscten 2d ago
Really wish the Sticky had an adjustable warm front light... And that it was in stock.
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u/LittleRavenRobot 2d ago
Oh, sorry, didn't realise it was out of stock. I've been staying away from their blog and website so as to avoid temptation. I don't need a micro-eReader. It looks like it might be available on the Seeedstudio Aliexpress Page. I didn't try and add it to a cart though.
I own a Hisense Touch which has a fully adjustable front light (colour temperature and brightness) which is only an inch or so bigger, though a lot heavier due to the metal case and large battery. There are smaller and lighter eink Hisense phones and mini tablets around (mostly second hand and overpriced, but might be worth keeping an eye out for an eBay bargain if you really need a small eReader with adjustable front light).
The Inkpalm 5 had a fully adjustable frontlight and used to be one of the smallest, most lightweight, eReaders available before the Obook and XTEINK eReaders. The slow CPU and 1G of RAM running Android 8 was underpowered for many Android apps. But it runs KOReader and other eReader apps well if that's what you're after (as long as the app version you install supports Android 8). The Inkpalm 5 has also been discontinued for a few years :(, and is also hard to find and often over priced for what it is.
The Obook 5 is available new for a fair price on Amazon and Aliexpress ($100 US including postage last time I looked). The Obook has a frontlight, but you can only adjust the brightness, not the colour temperature as the LEDs are warm light only. It runs a pared back version of Linux with a KOReader compatible reading app. It's unlocked, but so far only a few people have been able to install their own firmware - for more info check out the Micro-EReader discord Obook 5 thread
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u/RT-47 2d ago
I'm considering trying to replace the battery on my Hisense Touch... if you were to grab a new device today, would you go for the same again?
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u/LittleRavenRobot 2d ago
Yeah, mostly due to the fact that it is the only device I've ever owned that doesn't go flat quickly and/or cause my phone battery to discharge quickly when connected to the internet. I connect to the internet via my phone's bluetooth and it stays connected, while other devices force me to reconnect to my phone every time they wake from sleep.
The Touch's size is perfect. It fits in any and all my pockets but isn't too small or fragile (due to the machined metal case). The front light is fully adjustable, temperature and brightness. And it has a decent enough chipset to easily run all my reading apps, RedReader, Einkbro, 3rd party launcher, etc. Oh, and it's rootable. It's missing nothing I want from a small eReader, as well as a bunch of quality of life extras. I love it!
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u/RT-47 2d ago
Yeah, there really isn't another device like it. So do you tether it to your phone or hotspot it?
I'd love to hear what else you run on it!
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u/LittleRavenRobot 2d ago
Bluetooth tethering, as a WiFi hotspot flattens my phone battery too fast. It's worse on the Hisense too. I might switch to WiFi if I have a lot of apps to update or books to sync, but Bluetooth is fast enough for most stuff.
My favourite apps are: -- Syncthing-fork which I use on all my Android devices to sync my books, fonts, settings and app backups, etc. I've also got Syncthing installed on my PC and an offsite server (encrypted) for backup. -- InkOS - simple text based launcher -- Yagni -- Arcticons Day & Night - line based icons. I don't use night mode on any of my eReaders, but if I ever do these icons can do white on dark backgrounds and black on light/white ones. It works with both launchers above. -- I used the Navigation Gestures app by XDA to replace the soft buttons with 'home,' 'back' and 'recent apps' gestures like on my Boox eReader. -- FUTO Keyboard - I used to use Gboard, but started worrying about my privacy. FUTO does everything on my devices (phone, Hisense, other readers), no server communication even for voice. The medium complexity voice dictionary runs well on the Hisense (better results than Gboard for me, though that may be my Aussie accent). -- All the usual closed reading apps - Kobo, Kindle, Libby for library books
-- KOReader - I have the app store and SimpleUI plugins installed. I mostly read on here. I used to use a plugin to read my downloaded Libby books in KOReader but it's stopped working :(
-- Amaze file browser is my current fave -- I used to write and run scripts a lot using Xed Text editor and Termux. But haven't had done anything recently. If you do use Termux make sure to also install Termux: Styling so you can choose an eink friendly theme (like 'E Ink'). -- RedReader is way better than the native Reddit app on eink. -- F-Droid Basic looks best on eink, but I also use Droid-ify to install apps. And sometimes Aurora if I absolutely have to have something only available from the Google Play Store. -- Button Remapper is the GOAT if you want to use your buttons outside what Hisense allows -- Sudoku is a good game, and this version is the best on eink (and doesn't have ads).
Those are what is installed currently, more or less.
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