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Joel Cunningham[19659005]
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        <p><span>. Joel Cunningham</span>
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                                        Deputy Editor
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        <span>Experience</span>

    Check Out Full Bio
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    September 22, 2026

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AirPods Pro for scale; no, this isn’t an audiobook gamer.
Credit: Joel Cunningham

Tabulation


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    Forget the Kindle Colorsoft-- the <a href="http://%22https://shop.boox.com/products/palma3%22" target="_blank" title="open in a new window" rel="noopener">release of the Xteink X4 last fall seemed like the very first really fascinating thing to occur to e-readers in years. A low-cost, a little cumbersome Chinese gadget with a 4.3-inch screen, its completely pocketable size( and a wise marketing trick--"You can attach it to the back of your phone with a magnet! Never mind that that isn't really a practical or sensible way to read!"rapidly brought in an online cult following of tinkerers. </a>

Xteink has actually given that equated its viral social networks success into mainstream awareness(consisting of protection in The New York Times ), rapidly launching a flurry of brand-new gadgets, consisting of the Xteink X4 Prowhich brought familiar functions like a front light and touchscreen into the mix. And the competitors has actually absolutely taken notification.

Boox, another Chinese business– albeit one that has actually been around for more than a years– formerly experienced a comparable trajectory with the Palma, its own strangely shaped e-reader. Launched in 2023, that phone-shaped gadget appealed to readers who desired something that was much easier to bring than a full-sized Kindle and didn’t connect them to the Amazon community. Even as the business prepares for the launch of the Palma 3 this fall, it’s plainly not ready to let Xteink consume its lunch– thus the release of its own itty-bitty e-reader, the 3.97-inch Boox Picco
Why all small e-readers are so comparableExposed in a surprise statement back in July, the Picco is plainly designed on Xteink’s success– and with great factor, thinking about in lots of methods, the gadgets are similar by need. All e-reader screens are made by the exact same business, E-Ink, which implies that all of these micro-readers– the Xteink X4, the X3, the X4 Pro, and, yes, the Picco– utilize the very same screen with the exact same 480×800 resolution(though with more or less pixels per inch based upon screen size, from 219ppi on the X4 Pro to 259ppi on the smaller sized X3). They likewise work on comparable, basic ESP32 processors(though there’s a bit more variation in between designs there)and make comparable compromises, like deserting onboard storage in favor of a microSD card slot. Like the X4 Pro, the Picco consists of a temperature-adjustable front light and a touchscreen for navigation.

Firmware isn’t even actually a separating element: Part of the factor for Xteink’s early success was the reality that its simpleness made it simple to hack. No faster had it discovered a following than a group of fans established a customized firmware, called CrossPoint, that fixes the majority of the concerns with Xteink’s undoubtedly underbaked native os– there’s even a site that makes flashing your reader with CrossPoint a matter of a single clickEarly on, there was unpredictability about whether the Picco would operate on Android like Boox’s other gadgets, consisting of the Palma. No: Not just is Boox’s gadget not a full-fledged Android gadget– it in fact runs on a customized variation of CrossPoint itself. Wild.

The parts and firmware are darn comparable on paper. How does the Boox Picco determine up in reality? Boox sent me a pre-release system to evaluate out, and after a day of tampering it, I can report that it’s quite fantastic. Do I like it more than the X4 Pro, its closest rival in regards to functions? I have not rather chosen.

My preliminary ideas about the Boox Picco

Whatever their interior resemblances, the Picco and the X4 Pro are quite various at a look. The Picco at first feels and look a lot more fine-tuned, with a two-toned back panel and an aluminum frame and buttons that remember the iPhone 5, of all things. With a 3.97-inch display screen, it’s somewhat bigger than the 3.7-inch Xteink X3 however smaller sized than the 4.3-inch X4 and X4 Pro. At this size, pixel density is around 235ppi, somewhat sharper than the X4 Pro, though the distinction is difficult to find when comparing them straight at a typical reading range.

The Picco’s 5.5 mm density likewise sits in between those gadgets (the X3 is 5.1 mm thick, and the X4 Pro, 5.95 mm). These distinctions are primarily insignificant, though: Depending on your settings, all will show about the very same variety of words onscreen at the very same time, and all will vanish quickly into any pocket.

The Picco is likewise a lot lighter than the X4 Pro– 58g versus 72g. It feels nearly too light to me. The majority of the weight distinction is most likely to the truth that the Picco does not have the X4 Pro’s internal magnets; the Boox gadget will not have the ability to snap into a magnetic case or clip to the back of your phone (however, once again, I question why you ‘d wish to do that). Whatever the factor, the lighter construct makes the Picco feel somewhat poor to me.

Personally, I’m still attempting to choose if I like the feel and kind aspect of the Picco– its straighter edges do not being in my hand rather as easily as the Xteink gadgets, and I choose the button positioning on the X3 and X4 Pro that puts forward and back page turn buttons on opposite sides of the gadget to the Picco’s single right-side rocker button, which is little enough that I sometimes click to return a page when I indicate to move forward.

One special touch: A turn on the left-hand side uses manual control over the front light (likewise adjustable in the on-screen menus), though you can likewise map it to switch on dark mode. It’s hard to straight compare the front lights in between the gadgets, as the firmware I’m working on the X4 Pro (CrossInk) bypasses the native settings to permit more granularity in the brightness settings, however in regards to harmony of the lighting and the cool/warm color balance, the gadgets appear similar.

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            . What do you believe up until now?

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Yes, the Boox Picco has USB-CEvaluating by the continuous chaos in the r/xteink subredditthe most significant distinguishing aspect for numerous users will be the truth that the Picco charges and transfers files through a basic USB-C port, a function Xteink has actually given that dropped from all of its gadgets in favor of magnetic pogo pins, which need a different cable television or an adapter. Considering their battery life is determined in weeks even with day-to-day reading, this isn’t a huge offer to me, however great deals of individuals actually appreciate it. Going with USB-C was certainly an excellent get in touch with Boox’s end.

The Picco has much better native firmware– however does that matter?

While the X4 Pro can quickly be flashed to run CrossPoint, it presently ships with Xteink’s own os, which is still a little bit of an operate in development. Out of package, the Picco is instantly far more functional, owing both to Boox’s experience at structure gadgets for a worldwide market and to the truth that it’s simply a variation on CrossPoint, which most everybody who has actually utilized among these wee readers currently enjoys.

There are restricted alternatives to personalize things to your preference, consisting of remapping the buttons to set off various actions with a brief or long press (like picking to leap to the next chapter instead of the next page). You can likewise remap the touchscreen, though the alternatives are restricted to altering where to tap to alter pages or open the in-book settings menu.

In regards to efficiency, the Picco feels simply as quick as an X4 Pro running CrossInk, though the Pro has a seemingly faster ESP32-S3 processor (Boox hasn’t defined precisely what processor the Picco utilizes). The Picco is typically much faster when paging through a book rapidly, suffering none of the brief stops briefly for “indexing” that prevail when keeping reading any Xteink gadget. It likewise appears to process and show cover art and ingrained images far more rapidly, in spite of the evident absence of processing power.

It’s not yet clear how much it will matter that the Picco has better firmware. Offered it utilizes the exact same fundamental processor as the Xteink line (though one that is a bit less effective than that in the X4 Pro, which has double cores and 8MB of onboard RAM), it’s highly likely the Picco will likewise be flashable with customized software application. In theory, this will suggest that you will quickly have the ability to decide on your own functions from any variety of choices easily offered online.

How to purchase the Boox Picco

Whether you’re interested in comparing the Picco to your Xteink gadget or are seeking to purchase your very first small e-reader, you’ll need to be client: The Picco is not yet readily available for pre-order, straight from Boox or anywhere else. Reports recommend a November release, though Boox has yet to supply a date. In the meantime, you can get the X4 Pro on AmazonWhichever you select, you’ll be paying the exact same: Both gadgets can be found in at $ 99, around $ 50 less than the entry-level Kindle.

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