Bigme is teasing the HiBreak Dual, a dual-screen smartphone that pairs a color E Ink display on one side with an LCD screen on the other. The company positions this as the world's first dual-screen phone combining color E Ink with LCD technology. While previous devices from YotaPhone and Hisense offered dual screens with greyscale E Ink displays, no manufacturer has launched a dual-screen model since E Ink introduced color display technology.
Bigme hasn't revealed full specifications yet, instead asking users to guess details like screen size, processor, memory, storage, and Android version. The concept centers on giving users two distinct experiences in one device. The E Ink side offers paper-like viewing with wide viewing angles and minimal power consumption, capable of displaying static images even when powered down. The LCD side delivers the higher refresh rates and richer colors needed for video, gaming, and smooth scrolling.
Color E Ink displays using Kaleido 3 technology combine a 300 PPI greyscale layer with a 150 PPI color filter, producing 4,096 colors. These screens offer unique advantages like viewability in direct sunlight and extremely low power draw, but they have limitations compared to LCD. Refresh rates remain lower despite recent improvements, color saturation appears more muted (similar to newsprint rather than glossy magazines), and the effective resolution for color content drops compared to black and white text.
The dual-screen approach addresses these E Ink limitations by giving users an LCD display when they need full smartphone capabilities. It's essentially like carrying both a minimal E Ink device and a conventional smartphone without actually needing two separate phones. Bigme's existing HiBreak smartphones have attracted an active development community on XDA Forums, with developers successfully unlocking bootloaders, gaining root access through Magisk, and building AOSP-based GSI builds that replace the stock firmware. Success for the HiBreak Dual will depend on whether Bigme equips it with sufficient processing power, battery capacity, and refined software to deliver on the concept. Some users remain skeptical about whether the company can execute effectively, but the device represents an interesting departure from the standard glass rectangle design that dominates the smartphone market.
