I called it two years ago: E-ink was stuck. It was a niche display technology, without the same R&D or manufacturing volume as conventional LCDs, and therefore lagged in both price and quality. If the increasingly slow and iterative releases of the Amazon Kindle line are any indication, there wasn't much space left for innovation.

Glad to be wrong.

Now, the take—that e-ink tech plateaued years ago—holds up. With e-readers, the core monochrome displays haven't seen a new release since 2023, with the Carta 1300 replacing the Carta 1200 but retaining most of the same specs; in practice they're similar enough to be identical for everyday usage. Third-generation color e-ink displays were introduced in 2022, but it took a few years for device makers to incorporate them, and each implementation comes with significant tradeoffs: slower refresh rates, halved resolutions, and limited color palettes^[1].

Since the displays themselves are slow to evolve—and in the case of monochrome screens, already excellent—product design started experimenting with device form factors. The original Amazon Kindle started with a 6" screen, roughly the size of a paperback and successfully moved the printed word to digital ink. Subsequent Kindles added backlights and touch capacities while keeping their screens equally large. For a long time, this combination of hardware features set the standard for commercial e-readers, like the Rakuten Kobo series and the Onyx Boox devices.

One direction has been to build slightly bigger e-ink tablets, with a pen for notetaking. The original Remarkable tablet launched with this idea in 2013, and its follow-up, the Remarkable 2, solidified the utility. This is now its own mature subcategory, where Remarkable tablets compete with Boox Notes and Kindle Scribes and Supernote devices.

The other direction is to make e-ink gadgets smaller. The Boox Palma introduced an e-reader resembling a smartphone, and even though it runs Android, it doesn't have all the necessary hardware (e.g., SIM card support, speakers) to fully function as a phone replacement. As I don't read books on my phone, I was initially skeptical, but after I carried one around for a few months, I grew to appreciate its lightweight construction, portability, and battery life. From a readability standpoint, the skinny form factor is ideal for rendering single columns of text at an optimal line length.

The smaller screen, along with e-ink's inherent limitations on color and refresh rates, constrain functionality. But—minimalism works really well for e-readers. By sideloading Before Launcher and KOReader, I keep my device focused on its singular role, and avoid the apps and games and notifications that take over phones and iPads. It makes for a great single-purpose device, but the Palma is not priced or marketed as a focus gadget.

So it's encouraging to see different ideas come to market, particularly with even smaller screens as e-readers at lower price points. The latest gadget catching people's attention is the Xteink X4, an e-reader with a minuscule 4" screen that sticks magnetically onto the backs of smartphones, with an MSRP that's in line with other phone accessories. When enthusiasts found its built-in firmware and reader software lacking, they built their own to flash onto the hardware. The innovation is happening—perhaps less so at the display level, but with its surrounding hardware and software ecosystems.