But the biggest issue with Kindle is the vendor lock-in and the books don't even belong to you. There were many cases of Amazon deleting books with no refunds. That's why I am not getting any Kindle ever again.
What's the point of getting a DRMed e-book from a library, and then converting it? You are not supporting the author, you are not supporting the library, and you are not even being a good boy, legally. (You also typically get worse files than you'd get through other means)
I got an X4 (slightly larger model) less than 2 months ago and I already finished 9 books on it. It is always in my pocket and I started reaching for it instead of my phone during tiny moments of boredom. Sometimes it's just a few paragraphs when I'm waiting for a train, but it is also surprisingly good for longer reading sessions.
I was thinking of getting one for exactly the use case you've described here but then I thought, "why don't I just get my phone out and read the ebooks directly on that?"
Can you explain to me why one of these is better for this please?
It's a mental thing. The phone is the doorway to all the things, and the reader is the doorway to reading. When I'm being intentional about my phone usage (not always, but most of the time), I defer to devices that are focused.
The phone's reader app is quite good. I use Librera FD and quite enjoy the scroll mode.
But then I'm subject to the bright screen, all of the colors, all of the notifications, and everything else that the phone brings. The calm of the X4 is quite nice.
On the reader, the entire thing is one reader app. On the phone, the reader app is one of many that lives in the phone. Easier to switch apps than switch devices, so I guess it's easier for some to stay away from certain activities by having a dedicated device for certain purposes.
It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't used an e-reader, but e-paper screens just look more natural, they also don't require a backlight so they can be easier on the eyes. Combined with a matt display, you can comfortably use them in direct sunlight without having to faff about with brightness or finding shade.
Also e-readers have way less distractions than a phone.
I first stared reading ebooks on my Palm Vx. I went on to a Nook, Nook Color, some no names, Kobo. Five years ago, I became disabled and no longer had a free hand to carry an ereader and did not want to carry a bag just to carry an ereader/book. I started reading on my phone.
Last April, after seeing a comment on the X4, here on HN, I decided to get one. I prefer the display and I can advance a page by pressing the button, rather than swiping the screen. It's always with me, in het same pocket as my phone/
Something that others haven’t mentioned is that you can flash an open source OS/reader software (Crosspoint, among others) so you can change the UI and experience for your preferences. I like having an e-reader that lets me modify how it works.
Personally I much prefer e-ink when I read for more than 10 minutes or so. The LED light from my phone just makes my eyes tired, while e-ink + "backlight" (guess it's really "kind of from the front light" in reality) just feels like reading normal paper.
The font rendering in the official firmware isn't that great though, especially compared to even a old phone screen. I had much better text rendering with 3rd party firmware.
It's easier on the eyes. LEDs and related technologies give me eyestrain after a while; eInk devices don't (and many, like the X4 model, have front-lighting, also easier on the eyes than backlit screens.
The phone has doomscrolling available which is higher immediate value and negative long term value. I just have to grab this and i am locked into long term value
In addition to some of the other great answers, it is cheap enough to lose. The unexpected breakage/theft of a cellphone ranges anywhere from annoyance to world ending disaster. So, I have to be a lot more deliberate in protecting my valuable phone.
The tiny ereader contains no secrets or valuables, so I feel fine pulling it out in an area where I might otherwise be reluctant to use my phone.
None, I use a Kobo for ebooks and mostly buy "real" paper books. But I was thinking this sounded like a great (and cheap) use case but then I thought why not just use my phone...
I don't have any social media apps on my phone anymore except "Hack" for HN... as you imply, too much temptation to distraction. I haven't missed them at all.
It's not snobbery, reading and listening activate different parts of your brain and you'll experience them differently. Just like reading an interview transcript is different to listening to an interview.
Experiencing the story through someone else reading the words to you is different to reading though. I'm not sure why people are so weirdly defensive about this.
E-ink devices place no demand on fine-motor skills the way turning a page does. I'll stand by by bet.
I'm not defensive about the fact that the experience of reading vs listening are different - I challenge the (often implicit) insinuation that one is inherently superior to the other in all circumstances. I do both and know the trade-offs for each. My comment was inspired by the old, but very similar "real books vs kindles" debate.
Yeah, the connector they've made is absolutely bananas, wonder what they were thinking? Was there a 3rd-party docking ecosystem they were expecting to be spawned by this, or something? The magnetic connector by itself makes no sense, unless I severely misunderstand how it's supposed to be used in practice.
Just for improved thinnness; they're able to reduce about 2 mm from the thickness with the pins (and you can still technically use them for data transfer depending on how it's wired to the SoC).
Same, got it about 6 months ago, flashed crosspoint, and have since sold my entire family on the X4. The innovation of getting respectable book formatting running on ESP32 is remarkable. Impressive work.
The portability is such a game changer compared to the usual kindle-like devices. Compared to my kindle which I have to put in my backpack or only when I have big coat pockets in the winter, this can be put in my pocket and taken everywhere.
I wish they have a magsafe case with 1-2 card holder slots, then it would just be a perfect wallet replacement.
The problem with using it as a wallet replacement is if you want to read whilst in public queues etc. and that would be fairly easy for a thief to swipe. If you're just holding the Xteink then you're less of a target.
Although I would argue that I already see many people using phone cases with card slots or magsafe card holders. This is a safer option because the xteink costs less and it makes your phone less likely to be swiped.
My setup now is simply my transport card duct taped on the outside of the xteink case. For payments and music and such I'd still use my phone, which is in the other pocket.
I am planning updating my Kindle Paperwhite from 2016. I love the idea of having a smaller e-reader I can have always in my pocket, but I worry about it being too small. Do you have another e-reader or have used any before? How would you compare them?
Go with a Kobo. I switched to the Libra Colour and not going back. Physical buttons, sideloading without any trickery, first party support for alternative firmwares and frontends.
Also not owned by a man who can RENT VENICE for his wedding.
I also have an Xteink X3 and it's always with me. With a screen protector and/or case, I can just shove it into any pocket or put it on the back of my phone with the Qi2 magnets.
Yes. I had Kindle DX (2010) and Kindle Paperwhite (~2016?). I still have and use Onyx Boox Air (2?). As X4 has no touchscreen layer and no backlight, the contrast is best. Resolution not as good as Boox, but no complaints there. The only downside is no backlight, but not a problem for me. Buying a new eink reader I would for sure avoid color screens. Their contrast is worst by far.
I have an X4 as well, but shamefully I have to admit I find myself browsing HN much more than reading on X4, despite being a reader of physical books and kindle
I bought a 6 inch model for $60 (it's now double the price) from another brand a couple months ago and I love it. A 4 inch screen is just too small IMHO.
I got a kobo clara bw and a xteink x4 that I gave to my kid. Im quite happy with the kobo, it’s a much better experience for reading imo despite not having buttons. The touch screen is usable after all. I started dumping things into epub format, for example lyrics/chords, things that I want to read, etc. chatgpt is quite helpful with formatting epub files.
I considered buying an X4 for the portability (and to be honest installing and tinkering with crosspoint sounds fun).
But the kobo can fit in my jeans pocket and is about the size of a normal paperback page. I feel like the X4 would be too small and might be frustrating.
I got it last week and I absolutely love it. There are just a two devices I've got in my life that I think are perfect. This is one of them, other being my Steam Deck. It is so small that I can actually carry it in my pocket all the time and read a few paragraphs whenever I have a minute or two. My scrolling time went down dramatically.
I tried it on my Samsung phone. Keeps crashing, "recovery" just deletes everything and you start over from scratch. No session lasted more than 5 minutes.
I've been a Kagi user for months now and was really looking forward to testing this. However, I cannot find the download link. The page does not really contain any information on an actual release.
EDIT:
I found this in the docs:
> The alpha version of Orion for Linux is currently only available to [Orion+ supporters](../orion-plus/orion-plus.md) and can be downloaded from the [Billing Dashboard](https://kagi.com/settings/billing) under the Orion browser section.
So I still can't test this. Only for Orion+ supporters.
My bar for super-rough is Servo, which doesn't have password autofill… and doesn't render the Orion page right.
Orion is less rough, but the color scheme doesn't work, and it doesn't have an omnibar (as in: type in the address bar, enter, and it shows search results).
BlockTube is a must - can block specific channels from showing up, videos with "Journaling" and "changed my life", hide videos watched over 50%, etc.
Enhancer for Youtube is also super useful: disable shorts entirely, autoplay next only on playlists, tweak number of videos per row, default playback speed, default theater mode, etc.
As another commenter said, Youtube is one of those sites that really requires multiple plugins to be useful :/
I can't watch without enhancer anymore. I always have my mousewheel on the speed control to regulate the pacing myself, because most people can't pace. Also, when I am looking for a specific second long clip in an hour long video, it is very helpful that I can set the speed to something like 8x.
> They should switch to an SOC with mainline Linux support so you don't have to throw it out in three years.
Starting 20th of June this year (so 3 days ago) every new phone released in European Union will need to have software updates for at least 5 years from the date of the end of placement on the market. This might be the first one released under new regulations. Also looking at Fairphone's history it looks like they really support their phones for a long time.
The problem is that it's not really up to Fairphone. Qualcomm and Google have to collaborate to provide the artifacts that Fairphone packages and signs for their devices. If for any reason they're unable or unwilling to do that there's nothing Fairphone can do. (and they have pretty consistently failed to do this after just a couple years. In the past it sounds like Fairphone has managed to hack around it with varying degrees of success.)
This is why using SOCs with poor support and closed drivers like this is a terrible idea.
It is for all the phones sold in EU. So Qualcomm has to provide them for all other providers too. They might release updates for Fairphone SoC as well.
I agree that the platform should be open. I played with PostmarketOS on one of my old devices and I really wish I could just install Linux on my other devices to make it really usable for the years to come.
I wonder if I am alone in thinking 5yr is way too short. It should be 10, if not 20 years.
This is software, not hardware. It is ridiculous to pretend it is ok for a phone to artificially stop being useful after just 5 years simply because the vendor won't give software support or even provide the necessary documentation, source code and keys for the community to do.
True, longer would be better. And if the platform was truly open, we could just treat phone like PCs. You can still install Linux on a 20 year old machine and it will work.
At least this is 5 years from "the end of placement on the market". So more realistically it should be around 7 years from release.
> An important note: We are enabling the Assistant for all users in phases, based on regions, starting with USA today. The full rollout for ‘Assistant for All’ is scheduled to be completed by Sunday, 23:59 UTC.
I would absolutely pay for the development of an independent, open source, privacy oriented and user friendly browser. I would never pay for the shitshow the Mozilla Corporation is.
I would find $5-$10 per month perfectly acceptable.
For now maybe donating to Ladybird [1] and Servo [2] makes more sense?
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