X4 Pro vs X4: upgrade, stick, or skip?

The X4 Pro is a trade, not a straight upgrade. You gain a front light and a touchscreen; you give up USB-C charging and the bottom button row. Whether that trade is worth $99 depends entirely on when and how you read. This guide answers the only question that matters: upgrade, stick, or skip?

The one-line version: if you read in the dark, upgrade to the Pro. If you read in daylight and turn pages with the buttons, keep the base X4. If you’re buying your first Xteink, get the Pro unless charging off one shared USB-C cable is non-negotiable for you.

Should You Upgrade to the Xteink X4 Pro or Keep the X4?

Three reader profiles cover almost everyone asking “xteink x4 pro vs x4.” Find your profile, then read its section for the full reasoning.

What Does the Xteink X4 Pro Gain and Give Up vs the X4?

The Pro moves in both directions at once, which is why the community reads it as a trade rather than a clean win. Here’s the split.

The hard numbers behind the trade:

Is Losing USB-C on the Xteink X4 Pro a Dealbreaker?

The loudest reason to stick with the X4 is that the Pro drops USB-C. Take it seriously: on the launch spec-comparison thread it’s the top comment, not a fringe gripe.

Should Night Readers Upgrade to the Xteink X4 Pro?

If you read in the dark, upgrade. The front light is the feature the X4 never had and never solved cleanly, and it’s the reason the Pro exists.

The battery question is the fair follow-up: does a light-up screen still last? The bigger cell is built to absorb it. The pixel leaves side-by-side review notes the Pro “also has a bigger battery capacity than the X4, which helps offset how much more of it the front light uses up,” and real-unit reviewers report charging it infrequently in normal use.

There’s one honest exception to “upgrade if you read in the dark”: the minimum brightness may be too bright for a truly pitch-black shared bedroom. In the pixel leaves review, the reviewer reads fine in a dim room but adds a disclaimer: “I sleep next to someone in a nearly pitch black room and I find this too bright for that specific bedtime reading context. I wish it could go a few steps dimmer and maybe warmer.” If your reading happens next to a sleeping partner in a fully dark room, the light is still an improvement over no light at all, but don’t expect it to dim as low as a premium Kindle or Kobo. For every other night-reading setup, it’s the upgrade you waited for.

One more caveat, labeled provisional. Joshua Lowcock’s pre-launch unit drained “in minutes” with the light on, which he suspected was a software bug rather than a hardware limit. That was a pre-release device on early firmware, not a shipping unit, so treat it as a watch item, not a verdict. If you read at night, the Pro is still the pick; just don’t expect a final battery number until owners post shipping-firmware runtimes.

Should Daylight Readers and Button Purists Skip the Xteink X4 Pro?

If you read in ambient light and turn pages with the bottom buttons, the Pro is a step sideways at best and a downgrade at worst. You’d pay $30 more for a front light you don’t need and lose the button layout you do.

You’re not alone in that read. One reviewer titled their launch verdict “My X4 Pro Review is live, and I prefer X3” (88 upvotes), and Riccardo Palombo’s video, after 20 days with the Pro, lands on the same conclusion: meglio l’X3 — the X3 is better. The pixel leaves review frames it for exactly your case, calling the Pro “hard to recommend unless you absolutely need a built-in light.”

There’s a wait option, but hold it loosely. Leaks point to a lighter X4 Gen 2, a refresh of the base X4 with no front light and no touchscreen. Treat that as unconfirmed: The eBook Reader flags the leaked images as inaccurate (“the buttons are wrong”), and no weight or battery figure is corroborated, so none belong in your decision as fact yet. If you’re happy with your X4, the honest move is to keep it and watch.

Did I Mess Up Buying the Base Xteink X4 Right Before the Pro?

No. You bought a different device for a different reason, and it still does that job.

This one has a face. A new owner posted just before launch: “I decided to go with the Xteink X4 (mainly because it uses USB-C charging… I bought it just last week, and now the X4 Pro is about to be released.” If USB-C is why you chose the X4, the Pro removing it means you optimized for the exact thing the Pro gave up.

The base X4 keeps everything that made it worth $69: plain USB-C charging, the full button layout, and the same core reading experience on DRM-free EPUB and TXT. The Pro adds a light and touch on top of a charging and button trade. That’s a fork in the lineup, not a leapfrog, so a week-old X4 isn’t obsolete. It’s the right tool for the buyer who valued the cable.

FAQ

Does the touchscreen hurt contrast, and can I turn it off?

Owners report you can disable touch while reading: on the "just sayin'" launch thread (72 upvotes), u/Anarhichasmajor writes "there is already an option to turn off the touchscreen while reading," and others say it's shown in the launch trailer. Treat that as owner-reported, not vendor-confirmed: Xteink hasn't documented the exact toggle, and press reviewers haven't walked through it. On contrast, the Pro keeps physical buttons alongside touch precisely so you're not forced onto the touch layer, but whether the added layer measurably dims the panel is an owner-test question we'll answer with a unit in hand.

Do my X4 cases and screen protectors fit the Pro?

No. The Pro is shorter (111 mm vs the X4's 114 mm), drops the bottom button row, and moves to a pogo-pin port, so cutouts and magnets don't line up. Owners confirmed it on launch day in the case-fit threads. Xteink sells Pro-specific accessories instead: a magnetic case ($8.99, six colors), a protective case ($3.99), an adhesive ring ($4.99), and the magnetic charging adapter ($5.99, which also fits the X3).

Is $99 worth it over a Kindle?

They aren't the same category, so the price anchor misleads. The X4 Pro is pocketable, distraction-free (no store, no browser, no notifications), and runs unlocked firmware by guarantee; a Kindle Paperwhite is a larger, 300 PPI, waterproof device tied to Amazon's ecosystem and DRM. If the Kindle library and screen quality matter more to you than pocket size and firmware freedom, our X4-vs-Paperwhite comparison is the more direct answer. If pocketability and open firmware are the point, $99 buys a different thing than a Kindle does.

Does CrossPoint run on the X4 Pro?

Not in the stable build yet, but a testable beta now exists, and that's the update that changed a lot of minds. As of CrossPoint v1.5.0 (Aug 7, 2026), the release notes say plainly: "The XTeink X4 Pro isn't supported in this build yet — a beta is up on the site for testers." That's a real step past the pre-launch "porting groundwork only" status: X4 Pro owners can flash a tester beta today, it just isn't in the shipping release and isn't proven stable across the Pro's new hardware (touchscreen, front light, real-time clock). If custom firmware was the one thing keeping you off the Pro, the "fear no more" moment has arrived. Just treat a beta as a beta, and wait for the stable port if you can't tolerate rough edges. Separate promise: Xteink's Unrestricted Firmware Guarantee says official-store units won't be locked, but that's a legal commitment, not proof any given firmware runs today.

The Bottom Line: X4 Pro or X4?

Buy the X4 Pro from xteink.com if you read in the dark and can live with pogo-pin charging. Keep or buy the base X4 if you read in daylight, turn pages with the buttons, or need plain USB-C. New buyers: the Pro is the friendlier default unless that USB-C cable is non-negotiable.

Buy the X4 Pro · $99 at xteink.com  or get the base X4 at $69 instead.

For the full confirmed spec sheet and launch reaction, see our X4 Pro launch hub. To weigh the Pro against the S4 and the rest of the lineup, read the X4 vs X4 Pro vs S4 buying guide. Landing on the base X4? The full X4 buy, setup, and flash guide walks you from unboxing to CrossPoint.