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Comment by idle_zealot | Hacker News Reader

I got an Xteink X 4 a few weeks ago and it's a very cute device. While I'm a fan of the hardware what's been really fun is noodling around with building some custom firmware and sync architecture to optimize content for the device's extremely limited CPU and Memory. That's meant a custom format for images and metadata that match the device's hardware and interface needs and an automatic ingest pipeline for building these files from common book/comic formats. Maybe some day I'll even read a book on the thing!

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It saddens me that most of the ebook world is leaning towards smaller screen sizes.

My reader is 8", and I think that's just the right size. I like a decent sized font, and I don't like continually scrolling.

Surprisingly, the original promise of "low battery use" isn't panning out. My ereader's battery doesn't last that long, although I can live with it. Once you switch to large size color eink screens, the battery life is poorer than tablets!

> most of the ebook world is leaning towards smaller screen sizes

Meanwhile, the smartphone world suffer from a lack of smaller screen sizes. Maybe we should just mandate the executives to switch industries with each other for a decade or so?

I rather liked my Sony PRS-505 and 600 for their 6.1" screen and that it would fit in a (large) shirtpocket.

My Kindle Paperwhite and Scribe Coloursoft go weeks between charges.

Yes, I too had a Sony ereader for years, and it was nice fitting it in my jacket pocket.

But the reality is that most book pages are larger than 6", and if I found myself preferring the book because of the size, what's the point of an ereader? I first switched to 7", which was better, but not good enough. 8" is great, though.

> Scribe Coloursoft go weeks between charges

How many hours will the battery last while on? And how does that compare to a similar sized tablet?

Page size isn't that big a deal when the text reflows and can be resized as desired, except for when one wants to view a map or diagram. Before I got my Scribe I'd fire up the Kindle app on my tablet (or convertible) for such usages at need.

I can read and take notes and even web browse (insofar as browsing is supported on the Kindle browser) for hours on end and barely budge the battery percentage, while a tablet w/ an LCD screen would run through half or more of its charge for similar usage.

> Page size isn't that big a deal when the text reflows

The pain is in how often I need to "flip" the page. Especially if you're reading something where you want to reference back a few paragraphs, etc.

> I can read and take notes and even web browse (insofar as browsing is supported on the Kindle browser) for hours on end and barely budge the battery percentage, while a tablet w/ an LCD screen would run through half or more of its charge for similar usage.

Fair enough. I've seen large size color ereaders that run out after about 8 hours of use.

Turning pages on my older Paperwhite is quick enough that I don't really notice it.

Reference materials and note-taking are why I got the Scribe and its larger screen.

Horses for courses.

> most of the ebook world is leaning towards smaller screen sizes

These are seriously niche devices. They're currently trendy but the Kindles of the world probably have something like 98% of the market.

Yes, but except for the Scribe, even the Kindle readers are too small!

Kobo had an 8" ereader. People loved it (except for the battery life). But there's no sign they'll make more of them.

Would love to see the Fulu Foundation start designing open hardware like this and producing it with CrowdSupply. Like if the Apache Foundation made hardware.

https://www.fulu.org/

https://www.crowdsupply.com/

Open Source Vacuum Avoids Cloud - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49038792 - July 2026

Which reader do you have? I've been looking everywhere I can think of for a good 8-inch device, but I need it to run Android. Heck, I even tried looking into tablets with traditional screens and am having trouble turning up anything serviceable.

I have a 6" screen and it's too small. I got a 10.3" one and it was too large. But I'm starting to suspect those of us who primarily want to read are the only ones who want 8 inches, and we're a rare bread.

Kobo Forma. Probably not easy to run Android on it.

I love my Forma. The only thing about it that makes me sad is the micro-USB port. I skipped the Sage because it was a side-grade (USB-C but worse battery), and now they've discontinued it with no clear future for the format.

I really hope they bring back a similar format ereader in the future, I don't really want to go back to a smaller scale device when this one dies.

Viwoods AI Paper mini and Supernote Nomad if you want 8” Android. They’re primarily focused on the writing experience but they will run most Android apps and Koreader.

The downsides are that they are expensive and the Nomad does not have a front light.

Not having a front light is a dealbreaker for me.

My favorite device is still my Boox Poke 2 Color. I just wish it were slightly bigger. I don't care about writing on it (I have a BT keyboard that should work fine and don't write much by hand anyway if I can avoid it). Just want to read/highlight/annotate in KOReader, but need syncthing for my workflow.

The Remarkable tablets are pretty big and have a large community.

Fair point.

I was looking into them recently, and can't recall why I ruled them out.

I think it may have been because of the size of their color tablets - either too small or too large.

I finally swapped mine for Super otw, being Android and also you don't need to pay a subscription to sync your computer and device through "the cloud".

Super doesn't yet come in color. I already have a B/W ereader that serves my needs.

To be honest, I just need a decent ereader that supports Koreader. I definitely don't want to run apps, etc. I don't want to use it for note taking unless I can find a way to migrate the notes to my PC in my preferred format (which I may well be able to hack quickly with LLM support).

Do you mean Supernote? How do they compare to the Remarkable tablets?

Their software suuuuucks. They market it as a paper notebook replacement, and it’s alright for that. Anything other than that is out of scope. Good reading experience? No: it’s a notebook, not an e-reader. Organization with tables of contents and links between documents? No: Paper notebooks don’t have tappable links, so neither should this. Dictionary? LOL no: That’s not how books work.

If you can live with its many, many, many weird limitations, the hardware is delightful. I returned mine after I had it for a month, though, and bought a Nomad. Remarkable makes good devices but I couldn’t abide the shoddy software.

I have a few e-ink based readers, and I just picked up an x4. Honestly, it's kind of fun. It fits in my pocket with my phone, it has clear and readable text, it has fairly comfortable buttons. Will it ever be my sole e-reader? Nope. Do I see myself continuing to use it to grab a book from the Project Gutenberg OPDS feed, to read whenever I'm in decent light and not doing something? Sure.

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