What you need to know
- Bigme HiBreak Dual will have E Ink and LCD color screen.
- Bigme says this is the “world’s first dual-screen smartphone,” but we’ll have to see what that means as more details are released.
- Bigme is known for its e-readers that work on Android and E Ink phones and often pushes the technological boundaries of what is possible with E Ink technology.
Bigme is about to get its big break with the HiBreak Dual, a new smartphone with two screens featuring E Ink color again LCD panel, all powered by Android in a sleek, modern smartphone design.
The company teased the new model on its website today, giving users the chance to submit their email addresses to learn more as the phone will be fully revealed in the coming days. Bigme HiBreak phones typically run Android with full access to the Google Play Store, allowing users to run full Android apps like a regular smartphone, but with an eye-friendly E Ink display.
Android Central Take
This could be a big change for E Ink phones, which have long felt sluggish and behind their LCD and OLED counterparts. Having two displays for certain types of content will not only increase battery life over conventional LCD or OLED devices, but it will also be more user-friendly.
Bigme says this is “the world’s first E Ink dual-screen smartphone,” combining both LCD and color E Ink panels in one phone. We’ve seen a lot of dual-screen phone concepts in the past, so it’s not clear how Bigme can make this claim unless there’s a design that’s significantly different from phones like the Xiaomi 17 Pro, which has a second screen on the back of the phone.
My best guess is that Bigme uses a transparent LCD over a color E Ink panel and uses a single backlight to illuminate both panels. Bigme didn’t provide any additional information on the phone other than the dual screen tease, so we’ll have to wait until the full launch to find out.
So far, we’ve seen other E Ink concepts with dual screens from companies like YotaPhone, which has put an E Ink display on the back of its flagship devices. This made it easy to read on the go using highly readable E Ink and an eye-catching environment, all while maintaining the fast refresh rates and high color reproduction of LCD.
Bigme recently introduced the HiBreak Pro color, which I use in the YouTube video above. This screen refreshes at 42Hz, making it the fastest E Ink display on the market. Contrast and color volume are nowhere near what LCD or OLED can produce, but it’s still very possible to enjoy videos and other fast content on this display while using a very fast refresh rate.
That 42Hz rate is the closest we’ve ever seen a consumer E Ink device get to an LCD or OLED display, and we know 60Hz E Ink is being worked on behind closed doors. That means phones like the HiBreak Dual can provide a great stepping stone, like the TikWatch Pro, which pioneered dual-screen designs in smartwatches before 2020.
Bigme devices are often considered mid-range, offering entry-level processors and modest cameras that get the job done but won’t blow anyone away with performance. Since we don’t know the specs of the HiBreak Dual yet, we’re not sure if we should expect something more powerful than what the company has done before or if they’ll keep the specs modest to match the affordable price.
Bigme told Android Central that he expects more information in the coming days, so it won’t be long before we find out if the HiBreak Dual is indeed the E Ink phone we’ve been waiting for.