This phone fuses E Ink with conventional screen tech for the best of both worlds

Phone brand Bigme is teasing a new handset that offers both a colour E Ink display and an LCD screen, offering the benefits of both of these screen technologies. While the LCD display will be there for conventional phone use, the E Ink screen will be much more efficient for tasks like reading.

This isn't the first time that we've seen the combination of these two types of screen tech – Yotaphone did it over a decade ago – but the big difference here is that Bigme is using a colour E Ink screen, so it's not just a monochrome experience.

Bigme is a company that produces a range of E Ink devices including tablets, phones and ebook readers, specialising in E Ink products.

That's about all we know about the device at the moment. It's going to be called the HiBreak Dual and the company is asking fans to guess the specs via a Reddit thread. That's one way to generate a buzz, but it's basically a guessing game about what the device will offer.

While the company has already confirmed colour E Ink (there's no need to guess that part), it also offers the suggestion of "Android 14/15?", suggesting that it's going to launch with a version of Android that's already out of date – we're currently on Android 16.

Previous phones from the company have come with an E Ink display – including colour – with previous support for handwriting. That means its way open on the specs front – we really don't know what it will offer.

One of the advantages of E Ink over LCD – apart from efficiency – is that it's usually visible in bright conditions thanks to the anti-glare display it typically comes with.

That might be the attraction of this type of phone and while it's rare to find dual devices of this nature, there are anti-glare smartphones. Yes, Samsung makes a lot of its own anti-glare finish, though it's nothing like you get from the TCL NXTpaper 70, which was announced at CES 2026.

TCL's devices have a matte finish to the screen – like you can opt for on the iPad Pro – which does a great job cutting out glare while giving you a full Android phone experience.

The number of display options for smartphone users are expanding and while many will opt for the latest mainstream phone, for those looking for something a little more specific, the Bigme HiBreak Dual is there for you.

The question will be, however, whether combining these technologies is worth it when the experience from a mid-range phone and a Kindle could be cheaper and better.