Hisense just found a clever workaround for e-ink’s biggest weakness on Android. Its new A10 smartphone pairs a Kindle-style e-ink display with a detachable color LCD panel, giving you the best of both.
E-ink screens are fantastic for battery life and easy on your eyes, but they refresh too slowly to keep up with Android’s animations and scrolling. That’s exactly why e-ink phones have stayed a niche product instead of replacing standard LCD and OLED screens.
Hisense’s answer is a hybrid design. The A10 features a 6.13-inch e-ink panel on the front, paired with a separate LCD screen that attaches to the back using magnets.
This kind of hybrid setup speaks to a real demand out there: people want less eye strain and screen fatigue, but they still want full color when they actually need it. It’s a gap major phone makers have mostly ignored, until now.
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The rear LCD isn’t built into the phone; it’s a separate accessory you attach when needed. Hisense hasn’t shared its size, resolution, or other specs yet; those details should come closer to the phone’s full reveal.
As for the phone itself, the A10 runs Android 16 on an unnamed 4nm Snapdragon chip and supports 5G. That combination puts it ahead of most e-ink phones we’ve seen so far in terms of raw capability.
Pricing sits at CNY 4,000, roughly $624, for the phone alone. The detachable LCD panel costs extra, up to CNY 3,000, or about $462, sold separately.
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That add-on cost is worth noting, and it’s not unique to Hisense. Bigme just launched a Kickstarter for a similar concept called the Hibreak Dual 2. The difference is Bigme’s approach, which permanently fixes a 5-inch LCD to the back of its 6.13-inch e-ink body. There’s no detaching or swapping that screen out.
Hisense hasn’t locked in a release date, confirmed wider availability outside China, or revealed full specs for the detachable LCD yet. Expect more details as the launch gets closer.
