Bigme happens to be the only smartphone featuring an E Ink display to be available at the moment, and the company has done a really great job with the device. What is also nice is that the HiBreak comes in two versions – Black-and-White and Color. The color version has already been subjected to extensive review. We are going to deal with only the BW model here.
Style and Build
There is nothing that can separate the BW model from the Color version. Everything is exactly the same, with only the black-and-white display replacing the Kaleido 3 panel on the colored model. So, there is the same bland looks having thick bezels all around. There is nothing exciting about the looks save for the display itself, which is brilliant, it must be said.
There is the Power button and Volume up and down button on the right side of the phone when held in front of you. On the left lies a SIM card slot and a button that you can program to perform different tasks. Those can be assigned for each action of the button, which can be a single press, double press, or long-press action. The top bezel accommodates the 5 MP front-facing camera as well as the earpiece.
The rear has a leather-like finish that looks nice but does little to alleviate the overall plasticky feel the build is all about. The rear also includes a camera bump that hosts a 13 MP camera as well as an LED flash. At the bottom lies the USB-C port as well as a pair of microphones. Noticeably, the phone lacks a dedicated speaker of its own, and everything that you get to hear is via the earpiece at the top.
The Display
This aspect deserves a separate section considering that this happens to be the only distinguishing factor that separates this phone from its colored counterpart. In this respect, what can be said is that the 300 PPI display does an excellent job, with all the texts, images, markings, and such looking extremely sharp and clear. Even with the glowlight fully turned off, the display looks bright, even more so when held alongside the HiBreak Color which has a sort of grayish background. That again can be attributed to the color filter array that the Kaleido 3 display relies on for the color effect.
That way, the HiBreak BW can be a better option for those who’d prefer a black-and-white display. For instance, for anyone who doesn’t need to watch too many videos or play games and do most of their reading that is free of elaborate colored illustrations, the HiBreak BW can be perfect. As it is, the color effect seems washed out and lacks depth. That way, it is more of a compromise than anything that is truly effective. Under the circumstances, a black-and-white display having better contrast and sharpness can make better sense. That said, it can be more of a personal choice and everyone is entitled to their own preferences, it must be said.
As a smartphone
As has already been stated, the HiBreak BW is a smartphone and is not just a pocket-sized e-reader like the Boox Palma. Once you have inserted the SIM card and turned the Mobile Network setting to the On position, you will be able to make calls just as you would on a regular smartphone running Android. Bigme has also stated that the phone is compatible with a wide range of network bands across the world.
The UI
Everything is exactly similar to what you have with the colored version of the phone, with only the color-specific settings that are lacking on the BW model. Swipe down from the top and you have the notification section in the form of a vertical bar that is placed along the right. The notification section has the usual controls which include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Screen Refresh, Brightness, and Contrast controls, and so on. There is also the floating ball on the display, tapping which reveals a set of short-cut buttons.
There is also a browser available as is the ChatGPT app. With full Play Store support, you can always download the app you need. Similarly, for any app that you don’t need, you can just long-press on it and select Delete to remove it from the device. In other words, you have complete control over the apps present on your device or those that you plan to install from the Play Store.
Among the other options available under Settings include Teen’s mode. Curiously, the makers haven’t termed it Child mode as is usually the norm followed by most manufacturers. Maybe the company feels the phone is not to be handed over to the children at all. Instead, it is the teens that the parents need to be watchful of, like the sort of content they are accessing, with whom they are chatting, and so on. You can set limits here or the apps you will be comfortable with your teenage son or daughter having access to, and so on.
Coming to the custom button on the left, as already stated, can be programmed to perform different tasks when pressed once, for a double-click, or for a long press. Among the tasks you can set the buttons to perform for each click operation include None, Back Home Screen, Back, Screenshot, Multitasking Switcher, Clear cache, and so on.
There is also the Power manage setting where you can choose from the following options – Raise to Wake, Performance mode, and Power save mode. Needless to say, the Performance mode will make the device a speed monster but at the cost of battery power while the Power save mode is just the opposite, emphasizing more on battery conservation than anything else.
Then there is also the E Ink Center where you will find every control related to the E Ink display. You can choose from different preset controls which include Default, Magazines, Comic, Video, and Custom. You can choose any depending on the content you are reading or leave it to Default for all other tasks.
Tapping on Custom will let you have access to controls such as Anti-shake and Auto clean, both of which offer toggle switches that can be turned on or off.
Then there is Refresh mode which will let you select the following refresh modes – HD 256, Regal, Fast, and Extreme; it being in ascending order of screen refresh rates.
Thereafter, you have the Contrast setting and Full refresh frequency. Here you can set the page refresh frequency to as many number of touches as you want, the max being 50 touches.
Under More Settings, you will have access to another set of settings that you normally have on an Android device. Those can be Network & internet, Connected devices, Apps & notifications, Battery, Display, Sound, Storage, Privacy, Location, Security, and so on.
Camera
The rear-mounted camera does a good job. It isn’t the best in class but is still among the best when you take into account it is an E Ink display that you are dealing with. Also, when you turn the camera on, the display refresh rate turns to extreme mode automatically which ensures almost zero display lag. Also, the display is monochrome but the camera isn’t. What that means is even when you shoot a color object, you might get to see it as black-and-white on the display but will be color when you view it on a color display.
That said, you will probably spend more time scanning documents than clicking photos of objects. For this, the phone comes pre-installed with the necessary apps which will let you scan the documents and convert them into text that you can edit and share. This way, the phone can be a nice office aid where you will not be required to turn to other devices to scan documents. With scanning and OCR features built-in, the HiBreak BW can be your one-stop solution for such requirements.
Conclusion
Disclaimer, the device is 100% identical to the color in every conceivable way except for the color screen and of course some color settings like vivid enhancement, and color contrast
So let’s get into it. The Bigme HiBreak currently serves as the only e-ink cell phone to be officially in production. Anything you find in regard to the remaining Hisense devices is outdated as Hisense has closed down there e-ink division. So really, Bigme is the only choice in the industry as the Onyx Palma is not a smartphone.
The unit has mostly pros, featuring everything from a clear screen, a SIM card slot with tons of bands from around the world, and a modern camera bump at the back with a leatheresque plastic backing. There are several speed modes on board that allow the user to have a more comfortable transition from an LCD LED phone, and the UI is nice, bubbly, and fresh.
Of course, there is Google Play on board, so you will never be without functionality, as anything that you want, you can simply just download. Bigme easily is in the top three of refreshes with Onyx and Dasung. You can play games, and watch videos on this unit with no problem.
In fact, as we have found in our testing, there are only two issues with this phone.
One is that it is fairly vanilla-looking, in terms of its build as there’s nothing really standing out stylistically
And two, the audio is abysmal.
Everything comes from the speaker pack at the top of the unit via the earpiece. This means that if your notification volume is higher than your call volume, you might get a blaring notification tone in your ear when you’re on a call.
Not only that, but the audio itself, even at full blast, is horrid. As you can barely hear what is going on if there’s so much as somebody else in the room talking
However outside of that, this is not only the best e-paper phone ever made, from a commercial standpoint, as it is incredibly attainable, but it is one of the best units we’ve seen in a long time.
It has nearly everything on it, nothing is left out, and it’s only $240 us, which makes this an absolute steal and a tremendous bargain for the amount of features it comes with.
If you can get past the audio and the fact that it is an e-paper screen, of course, then you’re going to have a fairly comfortable ride with the HiBreak.
Bigme HiBreak BW
$244.99
Pros
- An E INK smartphone
- Google Play
- Speed Modes
- Supports of network bands
- UI is bright and bubbly
Cons
- Audio speaker is horrible
- The phone design is uninspired
- It is hard to hear what people are saying in loud room
- Boox Palma is a better e-reader
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I’ll likely make a film sometime in the future.
