May 5, 2026
Books vs bells and whistles
Biscuit
A $70 e-reader just got a wild makeover — and readers are split
TLDR: Biscuit turns a cheap e-reader into a much busier all-purpose gadget while keeping book reading intact. Commenters are split between loving the clever tinkering and worrying it ruins the simple, distraction-free charm that makes e-readers appealing in the first place.
A tiny $70 e-reader has wandered into its main character era. Biscuit is custom software for the Xteink X4 that transforms a plain, black-and-white reading gadget into something much more ambitious: part reading device, part toolbox, part pocket toy box, and yes, part wireless experiment machine. It still reads books, but in true tabloid fashion, reading has been demoted to just one tile out of eight. The real chaos? Everything else.
The community reaction is a delicious mix of “this is awesome” and “please do not ruin my peaceful book brick.” One commenter was instantly tempted, saying it’s cool enough to make an already-considered e-reader even more interesting. That’s the gadget-tinkerer fantasy right there: buy a modest device, unlock a secret second life. But the pushback arrived just as fast. Another reader delivered the cleanest hot take of the thread: the whole point of an e-reader is that it doesn’t buzz, distract, or turn into a mini circus. In other words, Biscuit may be clever, but is it accidentally defeating the zen appeal of e-ink?
That tension is the entire show. Is this a genius upgrade that turns a cheap reader into a Swiss Army knife, or is it giving your calm little book machine a midlife crisis? The jokes practically write themselves: from “cheap version” of a smart device to the unspoken meme of a humble reading gadget suddenly acting like it’s in a spy movie. The comments may be short, but the vibe is loud: tinkerers are intrigued, minimalists are clutching their paperbacks.
Key Points
- •Biscuit is custom firmware for the Xteink X4 that expands the device from an e-reader into a multi-function smart device while keeping reading features intact.
- •The project is forked from CrossPoint Reader, which provides the core reading functionality that Biscuit builds on.
- •The Xteink X4 hardware includes an ESP32-C3 SoC, 4.26-inch 800×480 monochrome e-ink display, seven buttons, Wi‑Fi, BLE 5.0, MicroSD storage, and USB‑C.
- •The firmware organizes its interface into eight tiles: Recon, Offense, Defense, Comms, Tools, Games, Reader, and Settings.
- •Recon apps are passive and read-only, while Offense includes active wireless testing tools grouped into Scan, Profile, Attack, and Capture with a disclaimer required before use.