Snail is the screen you can read in the sun.
Snail OS turns the XTEINK X3 and X4 into a small e-ink computer for messages, weather, books, your calendar and a web browser. The panel reads like paper and is the size of a business card. The battery is rated for up to two weeks. It is truly remarkable to use.
XTEINK X3
X3 with Snail OS
An XTEINK X3 with Snail OS installed and tested on the device. The X4 is sold out.
- XTEINK X3
- Snail OS installed
- Device tested before shipment
Charged at checkout. Ships 2–3 weeks after ordering to the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, India and Indonesia. Refundable in full until it goes out.
$99
Limited to 1,000 devices.
Sync for free over Bluetooth with Snail Companion for Android while your phone is nearby. iOS is coming soon. For Wi-Fi sync while your phone is elsewhere and online, or iMessage through an always-on Mac, add Snail Connect. New subscriptions cost $4.99/mo.
For an X3 or X4 you own
Snail OS download
Signed firmware and cable installers for an X3 or X4 you already own.
Your download link and key are emailed the moment you pay.
$9
A letter
Snail exists to protect calm, intentional computing.
Snail should feel like magic because it is simple, useful, quiet, and deliberately constrained.
Snail is the small e-ink computer for the in-between moments. Five minutes before the next work call. A thirty-minute lunch walk. Coffee in the morning. A couple of hours on the porch. The beach. The pool. A waiting room. The quiet part of an evening.
The phone is not the enemy. It is simply not the best computer for every moment.
Joey Smith
Founder
Sync for free over Bluetooth with Snail Companion for Android while your phone is nearby. iOS is coming soon. For Wi-Fi sync while your phone is elsewhere and online, or iMessage through an always-on Mac, add Snail Connect. New subscriptions cost $4.99/mo.
On the panel
Snail OS 2. See what’s new.
Screens shown with demo content.
Messages 
Weather 
Calendar 
Companion 
Stocks 
Snake 
Blackjack 
Reader
Made for reading
Books, formatted for your screen.
A small page deserves the same care as a printed one.
We worked through EPUB chapter structure, paragraph spacing, indented quotations and lists, and how each line meets the page. Snail lays the book out for the screen in your hand.
Four global text sizes carry your preference through books and menus. Choose the size that feels right for your eyes.
Weather
Six-day forecasts. Labels above the buttons show what each press does.
We pledge 10% of Snail’s profits to Project Gutenberg.
We’ll make the donation each year at tax time.
Companion · 2.0.5
Introducing Snail Companion for Android
Your phone’s messages and notifications, on your Snail.
Sync for free over Bluetooth with Snail Companion for Android while your phone is nearby. iOS is coming soon. For Wi-Fi sync while your phone is elsewhere and online, or iMessage through an always-on Mac, add Snail Connect. New subscriptions cost $4.99/mo.
Play Store release planned.
Earle
if it's not hard, it's not worth doing. keep going.
Just now
Companion + Connect
Pair your Snail. Keep everything together.
Sync for free over Bluetooth with Snail Companion for Android while your phone is nearby. iOS is coming soon.
For Wi-Fi sync while your phone is elsewhere and online, or iMessage through an always-on Mac, add Snail Connect. New subscriptions cost $4.99/mo.
Snail Connect is the web hub for devices, downloads, connected accounts, debug reports, and support.
Open Snail Connect01 · Pair
Scan the code on your Snail and sign in. Your device appears in the hub.
02 · Connect
Connect or reconnect your Google account and GitHub from the Connected apps page.
03 · Ask Joey
Open a support thread at connect.snailos.org. Joey’s replies appear in the thread and arrive by email.
Details
Features
| Feature | Snail OS | OEM firmware | CrossPoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display driver | Snap Display, our own driver, with a factory-waveform fallback. | Vendor waveform. | Vendor waveform via GxEPD2. |
| Partial refresh | 123 ms with Snap Display; 499 ms with the factory waveform. | ~499 ms, the vendor's timing. | Not timed by us. |
| Full refresh | ~1.7 s. | ~3.8 s stock waveform. | ~1.7 s. |
| Reader | EPUB and plain text, cover and inline JPEG/PNG art, chapter navigation, multiple bookmarks, saved progress, text size and justification as settings. | EPUB, TXT. | EPUB, hyphenation, dictionaries, reading-progress sync. |
| Web browser | Plain-text browser; every page kept on the card. | — | — |
| App store | Store installs card apps over Wi-Fi from the published catalogue. A card app is one Lua file you can read and edit. | — | — |
| Create your own apps | Snail ships Claude Code and Codex skills. Describe an app to a coding agent, then review and copy the generated Lua file to microSD. | — | — |
| Snail Connect | GitHub, Analytics, Search Console, Calendar and Congress; sign in by scanning a code. The device holds a revocable token with the permissions approved during pairing. | — | — |
| Snail Companion | Free Bluetooth sync with Snail Companion for Android; iOS coming soon. Receive phone notifications, reply to messages and dismiss them from Snail. | — | — |
| PageMessages from your AI agents. | Receive and answer pages from your AI agents with the buttons. Inbox cached on the card. | — | — |
| Wi-Fi | Scan, join, remember; Drive moves files on and off the card; Store, Weather, Browser, Connect and Page use it. | File transfer. | Book upload over the browser, OTA. |
| Bluetooth | Snail Companion adds notification sync via BLE from your phone. Download for Android. Coming soon to iPhone. | — | — |
| Clock · Calendar · Weather | Three clock faces. Month grid to day to event. Six-day forecasts. | — | — |
| Games | Snake, Blackjack, and whatever the Store lists. | — | — |
| Original firmware | Backed up before Snail's two-bank layout is installed. | Is the original. | Overwrites the boot bank. |
| Price | $9, one person, every supported X3 and X4 you own. | Included with the device. | Free. |
| Support | Email joey@snailos.org; Joey answers. | XTEINK. | GitHub issues. |
Device specs
| Devices | XTEINK X3 · X4 supported · X4 Pro coming soon |
|---|---|
| SoC | ESP32-C3 · RISC-V · single core · 160 MHz |
| Memory | ~400 KB SRAM · 16 MB flash |
| Display | 800 × 480 · 1-bit e-ink · portrait |
| Input | Six buttons plus power |
| Storage | microSD |
| Radio | Wi-Fi + Bluetooth LE |
| Interface | 480 × 800 portrait · Ubuntu Mono · 1-bit |
| Version | 2.2.1 |
What you get
X3 with Snail OS · $99
An XTEINK X3 with Snail OS installed and tested on the device. The X4 is sold out. Limited to 1,000 devices.
You get
- XTEINK X3
- Snail OS installed
- Device tested before shipment
You need
- Nothing else
Charged at checkout. Ships 2–3 weeks after ordering to the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, India and Indonesia. Refundable in full until it goes out.
Snail OS download · $9
Signed firmware and cable installers for an X3 or X4 you already own.
You get
- Snail OS, its apps and the Store
- X3 and X4 installers
- A key that re-downloads it any time
You need
- An XTEINK X3 or X4
- A computer, data cable, and microSD card
- A few minutes
Your download link and key are emailed the moment you pay.
Sync for free over Bluetooth with Snail Companion for Android while your phone is nearby. iOS is coming soon. For Wi-Fi sync while your phone is elsewhere and online, or iMessage through an always-on Mac, add Snail Connect. New subscriptions cost $4.99/mo.
Buy
Sync for free over Bluetooth with Snail Companion for Android while your phone is nearby. iOS is coming soon. For Wi-Fi sync while your phone is elsewhere and online, or iMessage through an always-on Mac, add Snail Connect. New subscriptions cost $4.99/mo.
Device: The X4 is sold out. Snail OS supports the X3 now. Charged at checkout, limited to 1,000. Ships 2–3 weeks after ordering to the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, India and Indonesia and is refundable in full until it goes out. Outside the United States, import tax and any duty are collected by the carrier on delivery.
Firmware: Your download link and key are emailed the moment you pay.
Snail OS is firmware for the XTEINK X3 and X4, sold as a download. The device tier is an XTEINK X3 purchased at retail, flashed with Snail OS and tested before shipment. The X4 is sold out. Sold as is, without warranty; see the terms. Refunds: email joey@snailos.org. Snail OS uses none of XTEINK's software; installation establishes two Snail firmware banks. Factory restoration requires a verified full-flash backup. Not affiliated with XTEINK. XTEINK is the trademark of its owner. Snail Connect is hosted at connect.snailos.org. Page remains a separate service at a-gnt.com. Sync for free over Bluetooth with Snail Companion for Android while your phone is nearby. iOS is coming soon. For Wi-Fi sync while your phone is elsewhere and online, or iMessage through an always-on Mac, add Snail Connect. New subscriptions cost $4.99/mo. Snail Connect includes Snail Messages, Calendar, Reminders, Contacts, Sync, and TailTerm. Weather data: U.S. National Weather Service.