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PDF editing has become an essential need for students, professionals, and businesses alike. Managing PDFs is part of daily work like preparing reports and annotating assignments. However, the challenge is that most PDF tools either provide limited features or lack reliability.
Among the available options, PDF X has gained popularity as a simple solution. But the real question is: is it truly reliable and capable of meeting modern PDF needs? In this guide, I’ll provide a detailed PDF X review, including its features, pricing, and customer reviews. I’ll also introduce you to UPDF, a more powerful alternative, and present a side-by-side comparison to help you make the right choice.
Part 1. What is PDF X?
PDF X is a Windows-based PDF editor and reader that can perform basic PDF tasks. This includes reading, annotating, and simple editing. It is popular as a lightweight tool for people who want to open PDFs quickly or make minor edits without using heavy software.

PDF X has gained popularity because of its simplicity and straightforward interface, making it accessible for users who don’t need advanced PDF features. Here is a list of key features of PDF X tool:
- Create PDF: With the help of this tool, you can create PDF from a blank page, scanned documents, or even images.

- Read PDF: PDF X lets you read PDFs using different display modes, zoom in or out, and customize backgrounds or appearance for a comfortable reading experience.

- Edit PDF: Using PDF X, you can edit PDFs by inserting or modifying text, adding or editing links, inserting images, and customizing backgrounds, watermarks, headers, and footers.

- Annotate PDF: You can highlight, underline, or strike through text, and also add shapes, text boxes, or notes to your PDF.

- Organize PDF: This tool allows you to organize PDFs by deleting, extracting, rotating, cropping, resizing, inserting, merging, or splitting pages.

- PDF Form: In case you’ve received a fillable PDF, PDF X allows you to fill out existing forms, enter text into fields, and complete required sections.

- Convert PDF: With the help of PDF X Convert feature, users can transform their PDFs into 9 different formats. The supported formats are as follows:
- Word
- Excel
- PPT
- PNG
- JPEG
- XML
- Text
- RTF
- Webpages

- Protect PDF: PDF X lets you secure your PDFs by redacting sensitive content, setting passwords, and encrypting files with certificates.

- AI: PDF X offers AI tools that allow you to chat with PDFs, generate summaries, translate content, and analyze PDF files efficiently.

Part 2. How Much Does PDF X Cost?
PDF X offers a lot of features like merging PDFs, annotating, and editing for free trial with limited features. But, it also has an optional in-app purchase as Premium. The subscription plans for the Premium version are as follows:
- Lifetime: $49.99
- Annual: $29.99/year
Additionally, PDF X AI adds AI-powered capabilities such as chatting with PDFs, summarizing content, translating, and analyzing documents. The AI features come with a separate subscription plan called PDF X AI, which is as follows:
- Annual: $59.99/year
- Monthly: $9.99/month
Part 3. How Do Customers Rate PDF X?
In this section, I’ll explore PDF X reviews by users, highlighting both the positive aspects and areas where the tool may fall short.
Customer Ratings
As of now, PDF X has received a 4.5 out of 5 stars rating on the Microsoft Store, based on over 1,000 user reviews. This indicates a generally favorable reception among its user base.
Reasons Users Like PDF X
- User-Friendly Interface: Easy to use design makes navigation and usage straightforward.
- Free Core Features: Offers essential PDF functionalities at no cost.
- Fast Performance: Quick loading times and responsive editing.
- Cross-Device Synchronization: Seamless experience across multiple devices.
- Regular Updates: Frequent improvements and bug fixes enhance usability.
- Comprehensive Annotation Tools: Supports highlighting, underlining, and adding notes.
- PDF Creation Capabilities: Ability to create PDFs from various sources.
- Secure Document Handling: Features for password protection and redaction.
- AI Integration: Advanced AI tools for summarization and translation.
- Affordable Premium Options: Reasonably priced plans for advanced features.
Reasons Users Dislike PDF X
- Limited Free Functionalities: Many advanced tools require the Premium version.
- Outdated Interface: The design feels old and less modern compared to competitors.
- Occasional Bugs: Some users report glitches and crashes.
- Missing Batch Processing: Most features do not support batch processing, which slows down handling multiple documents.
- Limited Customer Support: Response times can be slow.
Part 4. My Thoughts After Testing
I used PDF X to test its features and I noticed several limitations that might affect users who require advanced PDF functionalities.
PDF X is suitable mainly for those who occasionally need to edit or annotate PDFs. But it has several limitations related to advanced tasks. Next, I have mentioned some of the limitations that I saw while using PDF X.
- First of all, PDF X only supports 9 formats for PDF conversion, which is quite limited. Additionally, you can create PDFs from just 6 file formats. The worst part is that converting PDFs to other formats requires a Premium subscription. So, many useful conversion features are not available in the free version.
- Secondly, I noticed that PDF X editing functionality doesn't let you edit the images inside the PDF. Also, while editing and converting documents, PDF X distorts the formatting. Now, talking about annotation tools, it lacks stickers, sticky notes, and measurement tools. This limits its usefulness for detailed PDF markup and review.
- Though this tool offers some features for free, it requires you to buy a subscription to access advanced tools like converting and compressing PDFs. Unfortunately, it does not provide a free trial for these premium features. The unavailability of free trial makes it difficult for users to test them before purchasing.
- I also tested PDF X’s AI features, and the options were limited. For example, the translation feature did not allow selecting a page range and supported only 9 languages. Last but not least, PDF X only works on Windows. You won’t be able to use this tool in case you’re using a Mac or a mobile device. Additionally, it is not available online, which limits accessibility across different devices.
Part 5. The Best PDF X Alternative - UPDF
From the above PDF X PDF Editor & PDF Reader review, you’ve seen that the tool isn’t suitable for advanced PDF tasks. So, if you want a tool with better features and advanced functionalities, you must try using UPDF. In this section, I’ll provide a comprehensive comparison of both the tools so that you can decide which one better meets your requirements.
Software | UPDF | PDF X | |
Price | UPDF Pro Yearly:$39.99/YearUPDF Pro Lifetime: $69.99 | Lifetime: $49.99Annual: $29.99/year | |
Platforms Supported | Windows, Mac, Android, iOS | Windows | |
Free Trial Version | |||
Create PDF | Create a Blank PDF | ||
Create PDF from Scanner | |||
Create PDF from Images | |||
Create PDF from CAJ, Visio, HTML | |||
Edit PDF | Edit/Add Texts and Links | ||
Edit Images | |||
Extract All Images | |||
Add Rich Text by Dragging and Dropping | |||
Edit Watermarks and Backgrounds | |||
Convert PDF | Convert PDF to Word, Excel, PPT, Text, RTF, HTML, and Images (PNG, JPG) | ||
Convert PDF to XML | |||
Convert PDF to GIF | |||
Convert PDF to TIFF | |||
Convert PDF to CSV | |||
Convert PDF to PDF/A | |||
Read PDF | Add Bookmarks | ||
PDF Slideshow | |||
Dark Mode | |||
Compare PDF | |||
Search Text | |||
OCR | Turn Scanned Documents into Searchable and Editable PDFs | ||
Image-only PDF | |||
AI Features | Summarize / Translate / Chat with PDF | ||
Translate PDF with Original Layouts | |||
Chat with Multiple PDFs | |||
PDF to Mind Map | |||
Paper Search | |||
Annotate PDF | Sticky Notes / Shapes / Draw | ||
Highlight / Strikethrough / Underline | |||
Squiggly Line | |||
Distance Tool | |||
Protect PDF | Set Open Password/Permission Password | ||
Redact PDF | |||
Print Password | |||
Set Encryption Level | |||
PDF Form | Add Text Box / Check Box / Radio Button / List Box | ||
Add Dropdown / OK Button / Date | |||
Duplicate Form Across Pages | |||
Set Button Properties | |||
Share PDF | Share via Links / QR Code | ||
Share via Email | |||
Sign PDF | Create Signature with Keyboard / Mouse / Images | ||
Digital Signature | |||
Print PDF | Print Selective Pages | ||
Print as Posters / Booklet | |||
Print with Form Fields | |||
Print as Image | |||
Other Features | Bates Numbering | ||
Batch Encrypt, Batch Compress, Batch Merge | |||
Compress PDF |
The above PDF X review and comparison with UPDF clearly shows that UPDF is the best option among the two. This is because UPDF has many features and tools related to PDF management that PDF X lacks. To learn more about UPDF, watch the video below or go through this article by Apple Insider.
Conclusion
PDF X is a reliable tool that provides basic PDF editing and reading features. This article explored the complete PDF X PDF Editor & PDF Reader review to help you learn about its features and user reviews. However, it lacks some features, so I also suggested a better alternative, UPDF.
With its powerful editing, AI features, and other advanced tools, it's a far better option than PDF X. So, download UPDF today and enjoy its exceptional PDF related features.
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