The Boox Picco Is a Contender for My New Favorite Miniature E-Reader.
Forget the Colorsoft Kindle— last fall’s release of the Xteink X4 was the first truly exciting development in the world of e-readers in years. This inexpensive, slightly bulky Chinese device with a 4.3-inch screen, perfect for carrying in your pocket (and a clever marketing ploy—”You can attach it to the back of your phone with a magnet! Never mind that it’s not a very practical or smart way to read!”) quickly attracted a cult-like online community of experimenters.
Since then, Xteink has parlayed its viral social media success into pop culture notoriety (including coverage in The New York Times), quickly releasing a slew of new devices , including the Xteink X4 Pro , which combined familiar features like backlighting and a touchscreen . And competitors have certainly taken notice.
Boox, another Chinese company, albeit one that’s been around for over a decade, previously took a similar path with the Palma, its own uniquely shaped e-reader. First released in 2023, this phone-shaped device attracted readers who wanted something more portable than a full-size Kindle and not tied to the Amazon ecosystem. However, even as it prepares to launch the Palma 3 this fall, the company clearly has no intention of giving up its position to Xteink—hence the release of its own miniature e-reader, the 3.97-inch Boox Picco .
Why do all small e-books look so similar?
First unveiled in a surprise announcement in July , the Picco is clearly modeled after the successful Xteink device—and that’s unsurprising, given that in many ways, the devices are necessarily identical. All e-reader screens are made by the same company, E-Ink, meaning all of these micro-readers—the Xteink X4, X3, X4 Pro, and, yes, the Picco—use the same screen with the same 480×800 resolution (though the pixels per inch can vary depending on the screen size, from 219 ppi for the X4 Pro to 259 ppi for the more compact X3). They also run on similar, simple ESP32 processors (though there are some differences between models here) and make similar compromises, such as forgoing onboard storage in favor of a microSD card slot. Like the X4 Pro, the Picco features a color-temperature-adjustable backlight and a touchscreen for navigation.
Firmware isn’t even the determining factor: one of the reasons for the Xteink’s early success was that its simplicity made it easy to hack. Once the device gained a following, a group of fans developed a custom firmware called CrossPoint, which fixes most of the issues with Xteink’s admittedly flawed proprietary operating system—there’s even a website that lets you flash your e-reader with CrossPoint firmware in one click . Initially, there was uncertainty about whether the Picco would run Android like other Boox devices, including the Palma. But no: not only is the Boox device not a fully-fledged Android device—it actually runs a modified version of CrossPoint itself. Amazing.
So, the components and firmware are very similar on paper. But how does the Boox Picco perform in real life? Boox sent me a pre-production sample for testing, and after a day of using it, I can say it’s quite good. Do I like it better than the X4 Pro, its closest competitor in terms of functionality? I haven’t decided yet.
My first impressions of Boox Picco
Despite their internal similarities, the Picco and X4 Pro are quite different at first glance. The Picco initially looks and feels much more refined: its two-tone back panel, aluminum frame, and buttons are oddly reminiscent of the iPhone 5. With a 3.97-inch display, it’s slightly larger than the 3.7-inch Xteink X3 , but smaller than the 4.3-inch X4 and X4 Pro. At this size, the pixel density is around 235 ppi, which is slightly sharper than the X4 Pro, though the difference is difficult to notice in a side-by-side comparison at a normal reading distance.
The Picco’s thickness of 5.5 mm also places it between these devices (the X3 is 5.1 mm thick, while the X4 Pro is 5.95 mm). However, these differences are largely insignificant: depending on the settings, all devices will display approximately the same number of words on the screen at once, and all fit comfortably in any pocket.
The Picco is also significantly lighter than the X4 Pro—58g versus 72g. It feels almost too light to me. Much of the weight difference is likely due to the Picco’s lack of internal magnets like the X4 Pro’s; the Boox won’t attach to a magnetic case or the back of a phone (though, again, I doubt there’s a reason for that). Whatever the reason, the lighter design makes the Picco feel a bit flimsy to me.
Personally, I still can’t decide if I like the feel and shape of the Picco—its straighter edges don’t fit as comfortably in the hand as Xteink devices, and I prefer the button layout on the X3 and X4 Pro, where the page forward and back buttons are on opposite sides of the device, rather than the single rocker button on the right on the Picco, which is so small that I sometimes find myself pressing it to go back to the previous page when I need to go forward.
One unique feature: the switch on the left allows manual control of the backlight (also configurable in the OSD), although it can also be assigned to enable dark mode. It’s difficult to directly compare the backlighting between the devices, as the firmware installed on the X4 Pro (CrossInk) overrides its own settings, providing more precise brightness control, but in terms of illumination uniformity and cool/warm balance, the devices appear identical.
Yes, Boox Picco has a USB-C port.
Judging by the ongoing debate on the r/xteink subreddit , for many users the most important difference will be that the Picco charges and transfers files via a standard USB-C port, which Xteink has abandoned in favor of magnetic contacts that require a separate cable or adapter. Considering the device’s battery life is measured in weeks even with daily reading, this isn’t a big deal for me, but for many, it really is. Choosing USB-C was definitely the right decision on Boox’s part.
Picco has better firmware – but does it matter?
While the X4 Pro can easily be flashed to work with CrossPoint, it currently ships with Xteink’s proprietary operating system, which is still under development. The Picco, on the other hand, is immediately much more user-friendly, thanks both to Boox’s experience in creating devices for the global market and because it’s simply a variant of CrossPoint, a favorite among users of these small e-readers.
While the beauty of CrossPoint is that there are hundreds of different mods that add or remove features depending on each user’s needs, the version installed on the Picco is quite good, all things considered. It displays your books well; includes thoughtful options like a dark mode and the ability to disable the touchscreen; and offers several options for loading files onto the device, including connecting to a smartphone on the same Wi-Fi network, via the new BooxTile website/cloud app (not yet launched at the time of writing), or connecting to a computer as an external USB drive. While the Picco supports Bluetooth connections, the current firmware doesn’t have menu options for it, meaning you can’t (yet) connect to peripherals like the Boox Tappy remote control . However, there is a menu of basic apps, including a simple Pomodoro timer, some reading statistics (including daily reading time and a graph of your reading sessions over time), a to-do list, and a countdown timer. I personally can’t imagine using any of these besides the statistics, but if you need them, they’re there.
Customization options are limited, including reassigning buttons to perform different actions with a short or long press (for example, going to the next chapter instead of the next page). You can also reassign the touchscreen, although this is limited to changing where you tap to switch pages or open the settings menu in the book.
In terms of performance, the Picco is just as fast as the X4 Pro with CrossInk, although the Pro apparently has a faster ESP32-S3 processor (Boox did not specify which processor the Picco uses). The Picco is generally faster when quickly scrolling through book pages, without the brief “indexing” delays that often occur when reading on any Xteink-powered device. It also seems to process and display covers and embedded images much faster, despite its apparent lack of processing power.
It’s unclear how important it will be to have a higher-quality firmware for the Picco. Given that it uses the same core processor as the Xteink series (albeit slightly less powerful than the X4 Pro, which has two cores and 8 MB of built-in RAM), it’s highly likely that the Picco will also be flashable with custom software. Theoretically, this means you’ll soon be able to choose and customize your own features from the many options available online.
How to buy Boox Picco
If you’re interested in comparing the Picco to your Xteink device or are looking to buy your first miniature e-reader, you’ll have to be patient: the Picco isn’t currently available for pre-order, either directly from Boox or elsewhere. Rumors suggest a November release, though Boox hasn’t announced a specific date yet. In the meantime , you can purchase the X4 Pro on Amazon . Whichever option you choose, the price will be the same: both devices cost $99, which is about $50 less than the base Kindle model.