The IKAWE journal
Honest comparisons of pocket and mini e-readers, buying guides, and notes on reading from the makers of IKAWE Moov.
Boox Picco vs IKAWE Moov compared: price, release date, screen size and sharpness, buttons, software, PDFs, magnets and water resistance, and which pocket reader to buy.
· 8 min read
Moov Lite and Moov Pro vs the Xteink X4 Pro: screen size, sharpness, front light, charging, battery, size, firmware, water resistance and price, with sources.
Updated · 11 min read
How Moov Lite and Moov Pro compare with the discontinued Xteink X4 and its successor, the X4 Classic (X4 V2): front light, touch, charging, battery, size and price.
Updated · 10 min read
Moov Lite and Moov Pro vs the 3.7-inch Xteink X3: size, weight, screen and sharpness, front light, charging, battery, firmware and price, with sources.
Updated · 7 min read
Xteink X4 Pro alternatives with USB-C, a sharper screen, water resistance, a smaller body or library books: IKAWE Moov, Boox Picco, Kobo Clara BW and more, compared.
· 10 min read
The best Xteink alternatives for every model: pocket e-readers with USB-C, a sharper screen, water resistance or Android, from IKAWE, Boox, Seeed and PocketBook.
· 8 min read
How portable should your e-reader be? Pocket, phone-sized, 6-inch and 7-inch e-readers compared by screen area, text per page, weight and width, with picks for each.
· 7 min read
Every pocket and mini e-reader under 5 inches in 2026, compared: Xteink X3, X4 Classic and X4 Pro, Boox Picco, reTerminal Sticky, IKAWE Moov and more.
Updated · 9 min read
Which pocket and mini e-readers have a built-in light? The Boox Picco, Xteink X4 Pro and IKAWE Moov do; the X3, X4 and X4 Classic don't. Front light vs backlight.
Updated · 8 min read
Every way to put books on a mini e-reader: microSD card, Wi-Fi upload, calibre, the maker's app or USB, step by step for Xteink, CrossPoint, Boox Picco and IKAWE Moov.
· 7 min read
PDFs are built for A4 paper, not a 4-inch screen. Make them readable on a pocket e-reader: reflow, calibre conversion to EPUB, k2pdfopt, and which readers open PDFs.
· 5 min read
Most Kindle books only open on Amazon's apps and devices. The legal ways around it: Amazon's DRM-free downloads, DRM-free stores, and Android readers with the Kindle app.
· 4 min read
What 300 PPI means on an e-reader, why sharpness matters more on a small screen held close, every 300 PPI e-reader compared, and the first pocket-sized one.
· 10 min read
Every Xteink e-reader explained: X3, X4, X4 Classic (X4 V2), X4 Pro and S4. Specs, prices, charging, CrossPoint support, firmware locking and which to buy.
· 8 min read
No Xteink model (X3, X4, X4 Classic or X4 Pro) is water resistant. What IPX4 to IPX8 mean, which small e-readers are rated, and which resist splashes.
Updated · 8 min read
Moov Lite or Moov Pro? Same 4.5-inch body, light and battery. Pro adds a 300 PPI screen, splash and water resistance and PDF reflow for $30 more. Which to choose.
· 7 min read
Everything about the IKAWE Moov pocket e-reader: Moov Lite vs Moov Pro, 4.5-inch e-ink touchscreen, front light, USB-C, CrossPoint firmware, size and price.
Updated · 9 min read
Make a 4-inch e-ink screen comfortable to read: font size, line spacing, margins and hyphenation, the open-source fonts that suit e-ink, and how to add your own.
· 5 min read
Where to find free, legal, DRM-free e-books for any e-reader: Project Gutenberg, Standard Ebooks, Wikisource, the Baen Free Library and more, plus DRM-free stores.
· 4 min read
A simple way to organise books and documents for an e-reader: folders, file formats, DRM, free sources, backups and moving books onto IKAWE Moov.
Updated · 5 min read
A small reading ritual for the gaps in an ordinary day.
· 2 min read
The idea behind IKAWE Moov: a 4.5-inch e-ink reader with one clear purpose, small enough to bring everywhere and built to make room for books in everyday life.
Updated · 4 min read
