Why Hisense’s E-Ink phone isn’t the novelty it seems
We’ve seen some phone-sized e-readers in the past, like the compact Boox Palma 2 Pro, which I used as a phone for a little while, but genuine e-reader phones like the new Hisense A10 are a rarer breed.
This new mobile from the company uses a 6.13-inch E Ink panel as its primary screen, tasking you with doing your usual phone business from this kind of display.
There’s also an LCD panel which magnetically snaps to the back, but the E Ink screen is the main one.
While the phone hasn’t properly been unveiled yet — it’s likely to only release in China and is set to have a full specs-heavy reveal in the near future — it’s already prompted plenty of reactions from readers curious about this kind of phone.
However, the Hisense A10 isn’t as much a novelty as people think. The company has released a few of these devices now, incorporating the E Ink experience into smartphones in various ways.
In 2019, I tried the Hisense A6 for a while. This mobile had an AMOLED screen as its main one, as well as an E Ink one on the back.
Again, this seemed like a novelty, and it wasn’t designed for high-end tasks like gaming or photo editing.
However, the more I used it, the more I discovered the light tasks at which it excelled. For certain users, it could be a fantastic alternative to a traditional mobile.
An easy way to read … without buying an e-reader
No added expense over your phone
Most people will buy the best e-book reader if they want an E Ink device they can read on. Kindle, Onyx, Kobo, and more cater to this audience.
But e-readers aren’t ideal for everyone. Not only can they be slow and bulky, but they’re an added expense which many people might not be able to afford.
Instead, many people use their mobiles in place of a dedicated reading device. Some will argue that your smartphone sucks for reading, but I disagree.
I see countless people on public transport reading on their phone, and they all seem perfectly happy.
An E Ink phone like the Hisense A10 makes this all moot. Your daily driver has a display dedicated to eye strain reduction, which you can look at for long periods of time without wearing you down, giving it a massive battery life.
That seems like a win in my eyes. And with how many reading apps exist for phones, like Kindle or Google Play Books, getting reading material is incredibly easy.
For basic business tasks like emails and spreadsheets
Handle the jobs you stare at your screen for
One of the problems with E Ink displays is their relatively low screen refresh rate, making them challenging for quick dashes through social media or research tasks.
But that isn’t an issue for jobs that require you to stare at things for ages, without it changing.
I’m talking about emails, which you have to read for work. I’m talking about spreadsheets, which you have to parse for ages as you crunch the numbers. I’m talking about scanning documents to make sure there are no typos before you send them out.
Something like an e-reader is absolutely perfect for this. You can keep your eyes glued to the screen, without the E Ink Achilles’ Heel rearing its head, and without worrying about eye strain from doing so.
As a bonus, e-readers’ relatively light battery consumption means you can keep the display on for ages while doing so.
The Hisense A10 may not be the best business phone in the world — its screen is a little smaller than the average Android, which might cause some buyers consternation — but I see its E Ink display making it perfect as a work phone that’ll keep going for ages.
Quiz
E-ink screen technology
Trivia challenge
From Kindles to smart displays — how well do you really know the science
behind electronic ink?
HistoryHardwareScienceDisplaysDevices
Which company is widely credited with inventing and commercializing E-ink display
technology?
Correct! E Ink Corporation, founded in 1997 as a spin-off from MIT,
pioneered the electrophoretic display technology we know today. Their research formed the backbone of
nearly every e-reader screen on the market.
Not quite — the answer is E Ink Corporation. Founded as an MIT spin-off
in 1997, the company developed and commercialized the electrophoretic ink technology that powers
virtually all modern e-reader displays.
What are the tiny capsules in an E-ink display filled with to create the
black-and-white image effect?
Exactly right! Each microcapsule contains white (positively charged) and
black (negatively charged) particles suspended in a clear fluid. An electric field pulls the appropriate
particles to the surface, forming the visible image.
Not quite. E-ink microcapsules contain positively charged white
particles and negatively charged black particles floating in oil. Applying different electrical charges
causes one set of particles to rise to the surface, creating the visible pattern.
Which product, launched in 2007, is widely regarded as the device that brought E-ink
screens to mainstream consumer attention?
That’s correct! Amazon’s first Kindle, released in November 2007, sold
out within hours and became the device that truly popularized E-ink e-readers. It made the technology a
household concept almost overnight.
The answer is the Amazon Kindle. While the Sony Reader actually launched
before the Kindle, Amazon’s November 2007 release was the cultural and commercial breakthrough that made
E-ink screens a mainstream technology.
Why do E-ink displays consume significantly less battery power than LCD screens
during normal reading use?
Spot on! E-ink displays are bistable, meaning the particles stay in
position without any ongoing electrical charge once an image is set. Power is only consumed during page
turns, which is why e-readers can last weeks on a single charge.
The key reason is bistability — E-ink screens only use power when the
image is being changed. Once a page of text is rendered, no electricity is needed to hold the image in
place, unlike LCDs which must be refreshed constantly.
What is the term for the property that allows E-ink displays to hold a static image
without continuous power?
Correct! Bistability refers to a display’s ability to maintain one of
two stable states — in this case black or white — without needing power to sustain it. It’s one of the
defining technical advantages of E-ink over traditional display technologies.
The correct term is bistability. It describes how E-ink particles can
remain in a stable black or white position once placed there by an electric field, requiring no ongoing
power to maintain the displayed image.
What major visual limitation has historically made E-ink screens less suitable for
video playback or fast-paced gaming?
Exactly right! Traditional E-ink screens refresh much more slowly than
LCDs — often taking hundreds of milliseconds per frame — which causes ghosting artifacts and makes
smooth video or animation nearly impossible without significant compromises.
The main culprit is slow refresh rate. E-ink screens move physical
particles rather than switching transistors, which takes considerably longer, resulting in visible
ghosting when content changes rapidly. This is why video on E-ink remains challenging even today.
Color E-ink displays that use a filter array to produce color — such as
Kaleido-based screens — work by placing what on top of a standard E-ink panel?
That’s right! Kaleido and similar color E-ink solutions overlay a
printed color filter array (similar in concept to RGB subpixels on LCDs) on top of a conventional E-ink
panel. The downside is reduced contrast and brightness compared to black-and-white E-ink.
The answer is a printed color filter layer. Technologies like E Ink’s
Kaleido place an RGB filter array over a standard E-ink panel to produce color, which is simpler than
engineering separate color capsules but does reduce the display’s overall contrast ratio.
Which of the following is a real-world application of E-ink technology beyond
e-readers that has seen significant commercial adoption?
Correct! Electronic shelf labels (ESLs) in supermarkets and retail
stores are one of E-ink’s biggest commercial growth areas. Retailers use them to update prices
wirelessly across thousands of products without printing new paper labels.
The standout commercial use case is electronic shelf labels in retail.
Major supermarket chains worldwide have adopted E-ink price tags that update wirelessly, saving enormous
amounts of time and paper compared to traditional printed labels.
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A phone to take traveling without worry
Leave battery anxiety at the check-in desk
Like many people, I get battery anxiety, and so flying can be a chore. When you’re on the go for 30-plus hours, requiring your mobile for your boarding pass and onward travel, every percentage drop can be a worry.
As I’ve already mentioned, e-readers have fantastic battery lives. E Ink isn’t a big power drain, so devices that use it naturally last a lot longer than ones which don’t.
You see where I’m going with this, don’t you? E Ink phones like the Hisense A10 make natural travel phones. They’ll last far longer before you need to plug them in.
I won’t pretend that e-reader-phone hybrids will literally last forever, and I imagine my aforementioned 30-hour transit would still force me to charge my phone. But a slower rate of charge drop would drastically reduce that battery anxiety.
That’s not to mention the other part of travel. If you’re in the air for ages, or waiting at airports, you’re naturally going to be staring at your phone for a long time.
If you’re looking at an E Ink phone, you won’t need to jump into the Android settings to reduce eye strain. It happens by default.
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