This Dual-Screen (E-Ink/LCD) Smartphone Is One of the Most Unsuccessful Tech Products of the Year.
Last week, Chinese tech company Bigme unveiled an intriguing addition to its line of e-readers and digital notepads: the “world’s first” dual-screen smartphone , with an e-ink display and an LCD screen on opposite sides of the device. I thought I had a pretty good idea of how this might work, but now Bigme has revealed what the “Hibreak Dual” will actually look like, and it’s definitely not what I expected. Seeing it, I even laughed out loud. The e-ink side looks exactly as I expected, offering a 6.13-inch display with a resolution of 300 PPI (black and white) and 150 PPI (color), similar to the one used in the Boox Palma 2 Pro or Bigme’s own Hibreak Pro Color . It supports stylus input, which I didn’t expect, but instead of the expected full-screen LCD display, the back of the device has a tiny, circular touchscreen that looks more like a porthole on a submarine.
You’re probably wondering why this exists or why anyone would need it. I don’t know either.
The product page on Bigme’s website describes the circular 360×360 LCD screen as a “secondary screen” designed for notifications, music, or checking the time—three things you can do directly from the lock screen on most Android touchscreen devices. However, e-ink displays are either on or off, so the extra functionality makes some sense. But people who choose e-ink smartphones typically want fewer distractions, so I can’t imagine many of them wanting a phone that will continue to send them notifications, only on a tiny, awkward screen too small to comfortably read. Anyone feeling nostalgic for the days of the nearly unreadable front display of the Motorola Razr?
Even Bigme seems a little confused about why it even developed this device. The promotional video shows a model awkwardly interacting with the round LCD screen, taking selfies and watching vertical videos with large black bars on the sides. In an attempt to find a practical application, the video also advertises the ability to use this second screen for taking photos of your pet. Overlay a chatbot on it, and you can create your own “AI pet.” Yeah, right.
In response to incredulous comments on Reddit’s r/Bigme community (a typical response was, “This is extremely disappointing” ), the company attempted to justify itself: “This product combines a primary e-ink display with a secondary LCD display that supports functions such as viewing images, watching videos, and receiving call reminders… This design provides eye comfort while allowing for the effective use of LCD display functions that e-ink displays are less effective at.” While acknowledging that the reality doesn’t quite match people’s expectations, the company added that it “heard your requests for a phone with a full-screen dual display of e-ink and LCD (both displays are large)” and “will incorporate this into our future product development plans.”
I really don’t understand why Bigma needed help to come to this conclusion, but here we are.
If you really want to buy a Hibreak Dual, you have a lot of options.
Let no one say Bigme is taking this project lightly: the company is releasing the Hibreak Dual in eight different configurations . You can pre-order it with a black-and-white or color e-ink display, choose between 8 or 12 GB of RAM and 128 or 256 GB of storage, and purchase it with or without the stylus and case. Prices range from $519 for the base model to $689 for the fully loaded one. (By comparison, the Bigme Hibreak Pro Color —without the LCD display or stylus support— sells for $489 on Amazon .)
Aside from the odd design choices, the Hibreak Dual has pretty standard specs for an e-ink phone: dual-SIM 5G support, the outdated Android 14 OS, the aforementioned storage and RAM options, a standard 2.6GHz octa-core processor, a 4,500mAh battery, a 5MP front-facing camera, and a 20MP rear camera. Although, I don’t know why I even mentioned that. You probably won’t buy it.
(I’m still laughing. Why is it a circle?)