Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

stepanm99 t1_j2o725v wrote

I happen to have Hisense A5 pro CC with color e-ink, for more than a year now. Using it as a normal phone. Screen refresh set on "speed" and the colors make apps very usable but it's tradeoff between speed and quality. I read on my phone mostly, or listen to music on spotify. It doesn't tempt me to spend more time scrolling socials or watching youtube because videos are looking terrible to scary sometimes. But it is perfectly readable in bright environments, it works great as gps. Also the eyestrain is minimized as you don't need backlight. And the batery life. Charging once in 4-5 days of my use. I hope there will be some e-ink phones in the future when this one breaks down.

424

pygmy t1_j2ofncd wrote

Sounds great, wish I'd heard about these earlier!

Are the photos it takes any good? Do Gmail & other Google apps work ok?

66

stepanm99 t1_j2olja3 wrote

Picture quality is not fantastic, just 13mpx, nothing much in comparison with mainstream phones with ton-of-mpx fancy multiple AI camera. Also it could be tricky to take one because e-ink, low refresh rate and you can't see much if the scene has low contrast. It does it's job, decently I would say.

Although mine came with google play I had to reinstall it in order to make it work. It was about to be expected since it's from chinese market. Also had to remove some suspicious apps that were in chinese and wasn't sure of their purpose. Some english translations of the system are odd but understandable. Also, if anyone considers buying one, check the cell network bands, it works fine in Europe but I am not sure whether it would work at your place.

58

nicetriangle t1_j2oqm45 wrote

13 megapixels is actually not bad. All the recent iPhones except for the last Pro models shoot 12 megapixel images and I think Androids are a mixed bag but a lot also shoot around 12.

20

isommers1 t1_j2oqxmx wrote

Megapixel count doesn't mean much for quality these days. Yes, both this phone and an iPhone 11 have similar MP count. The pictures will look miles apart though. Just don't get your hopes up.

48

bad_apiarist t1_j2qo8kl wrote

For real. 13mp is a resolution of (or similar to) 3264x2448. Exactly what freakin' purpose do you put your photos to that this is just too small for you? This resolution is completely impractical and overkill for any images looked at on a mobile device or posted to social media or even just for your personal archive for looking at later.

This is to say nothing of the fact that the image quality captured with gigantic sensors of 13, 15 or 20mp can be utterly crap where there is no detail added by those pixels regardless, so you just get huge files with an actual discernible detail level of 8 or 10mp.

−3

nicetriangle t1_j2rrqoq wrote

Higher megapixel sensors often give you better image sharpness and they can be binned to get better low light sensitivity when shot at lower resolutions. Also a lot of people (myself included) are ditching dedicated cameras for their photography and so yeah, I want a big image if I can get one. You can legitimately have decent sized prints made or use them as desktop wallpapers and that sort of thing. Larger image sizes also allow you to crop in on an image and still have a decent amount of resolution to work with.

I ditched my old Canon 5D3 when I got my last iPhone because I was no longer using the Canon professionally and the only reason I was holding onto it was for travel. The new iPhone finally shot good enough photos that I didn't feel the need to lug around a large camera anymore. It's not as good as the Canon but it's good enough now and sure as hell less of a hassle to carry around and doesn't immediately flag me as a tourist wherever I may be.

1

SpecialNose9325 t1_j2qrzh4 wrote

Thats ... not a measure of quality. There are $200 phones that just throw in a 12MP sensor and big players who put R&D into color science and post processing of a 12MP image on a $1000 phone.

2

peteythefool t1_j2rqj5y wrote

Megapixel count is meaningless in the world of post processing. Apple has basically the same 12 MP sensor since the iPhone 8 (maybe the X, not sure) and their post processing does most of the heavy lifting. They've been consistently taking some of the best photos in the mobile space, and definitely the best videos. Samsung and Google have been working hard to take the crown, but Apple got a head start as they've been working with the same hardware for quite some time now.

I've seen 48mp photos taken by my old Poco F3 (released in 2021) that looked noticeably worse than photos taken by an iPhone x (released in 2017).

2

nicetriangle t1_j2rr187 wrote

My reply was simply to the "just 13 mpx" part. 12 is fairly par for the course for many cellphones. I understand there's a lot more going on in imaging than just the pixel count.

3

peteythefool t1_j2ry7bt wrote

I understood brother, the guy you're replying to just might not be as tech savy, and looks at number on a sheet and just thinks equal is equal and bigger is better!

Had a similar discussion with my wife and her best friend when they were comparing buying a new iPhone 11 vs another similarly priced android phone, one of the Samsung flips, they were going on about how the cameras were bigger, how the battery was bigger, there was more ram, and so on, and that because of it the flip must have been a better phone than the iPhone. And despite me really not liking Apple, I had to try and explain why it wasn't an apples to apples comparison, and that the vertical integration apple has lets them get away, and even have better results, with subpar, or "inferior" specs.

2

nicetriangle t1_j2s2lcf wrote

Gotcha, yeah agreed on all of the above. Spec numbers really don't tell the full story these days in hardware. Optimization is so critical.

2

JasperJ t1_j2siow2 wrote

That’s not actually true. Apple’s phones have had 12 MP sensors for a very long time. They are not “the same sensor but with better post processing”. Not even remotely.

1

AR_Harlock t1_j2rdj1a wrote

Ahhh it's a shame it doesn't have the double display like some SW

1

Staple_Diet t1_j2osmy7 wrote

Hi, I have one of these Chinese e-ink android tablets (Boyue Like book). Google etc all works on these devices including email, drive etc. The great thing about them is their ability to be writing pads, as the screens provide much more friction. Plenty of them come with Wacom screens, so you can use a whole host of pens with them.

10

pygmy t1_j2ovuni wrote

Oh that's great to hear- I'm a designer & have a bunch of large Wacom devices & pens already. An A3 or A4 Wacom E-ink tablet would be the dream imho

6

Ninnux t1_j2r66t3 wrote

This may be my next phone. Thanks for the ;TLDR.

1

inotparanoid t1_j2r9fz0 wrote

Sounds great. I'll finally stop wasting time watching YouTube on my phone.

1

bnetimeslovesreddit t1_j2rmkmm wrote

Its certainly sounds like positive behaviour change when the phone limits your capacity to mindless zombie like scrolling

1

LukeIis t1_j2qejx9 wrote

I’m assuming you can text on it? Does it have a SIM card?

0

stepanm99 t1_j2r5h1a wrote

Yes, it's like regular smartphone. Actually it's dual SIM but one slot is shared with microSD card, which, I think, is not something uncommon. So I can have either two sims or sim and SD card.

5

apollyon0810 t1_j2np4ua wrote

It will be great for people that don’t typically use their phones all that much. Or the visually impaired where this might be easier to see. And think of the battery life!

192

nitish_anand99 t1_j2obdi5 wrote

What ever happened to color E ink displays? My watch, Pebble time had it and it had animations that were miles smoother than a traditional e ink black and white display.

Also Pebble time will be one of the GOAT in smartwatches. RIP.

91

C00catz t1_j2ogt09 wrote

Most kindles still use them. And the vast majority of Garmin watches use them too. I recently got a Garmin forerunner 255s cause I missed my pebble. It’s got 10 days of battery life, e-ink (technical memory in pixel), and can track my exercise nicely.

Not quite as many smart watch features as I remember my pebble having. But I never used any of those anyways. Basically just want some notifications on my wrist + activity tracking.

7

randybruder t1_j2ohmfr wrote

They're asking about "color E-ink" displays, not E-ink

22

C00catz t1_j2ohyyz wrote

Oops, then ignore the first sentence about kindles. The rest still applies.

4

randybruder t1_j2oig94 wrote

I mean you're talking about memory in pixel displays which is completely different technology from color E-ink

6

C00catz t1_j2ojyxb wrote

They were talking about pebble watches, which use memory in pixel technology. It seems terms like e-ink and e-paper are often used when a display is actually using MIP (at least for watches).

1

randybruder t1_j2okadk wrote

They were talking about the Pebble Time, which had a color E-ink display not memory in pixel technology

−2

C00catz t1_j2okyh3 wrote

Oh shit, is memory LCD different than memory in pixel lcd? I assumed they were the same

2

randybruder t1_j2oluq1 wrote

Oh that stretches the limit of what I know, I just remember the Pebble Time being specifically a color E-ink display (that I re-confirmed on Wikipedia before posting) and, like nitish_anand99, remember a time where that technology seemed like it was growing in popularity to then disappear—while the regular E-ink screens have stuck around like most E-readers and a surprising number of phone manufactures

2

C00catz t1_j2onzz6 wrote

Yeah I was looking at that Wikipedia page too. I was looking at the summary part at the top where it say’s the display is e-paper and specifies the tech is memory lcd.

I might just be confused here, cause I can’t find anything on the difference between memory lcd and memory in pixel lcd.

I also remember when it seemed like the tech had died off completely after pebble went bust. And I didn’t realize there was anything similar that’s still on the market until I started looking at garmin watches last summer.

Idk if the tech is actually the same. But it has all the key characteristics I was looking for: minimal battery impact, reflects sunlight so it’s easy to see in the day, relatively fast refresh rate, and a colour screen (even if the colours are a little washed out).

0

CatInAPottedPlant t1_j2olf0e wrote

> the vast majority of Garmin watches use them too

Isn't that just the Instinct? I have a Fenix 7 and it certainly doesn't have an e-ink display.

2

C00catz t1_j2om2ty wrote

I think the fenix, epix and venu might use normal lcd or oled. But all the forerunners I looked at when getting mine use memory in pixel.

2

CatInAPottedPlant t1_j2onr62 wrote

They're MIP, the Fenix is too. They're not e-ink though and don't have the same drawbacks that e-ink displays do. MIP displays are still LCD.

Not trying to be pedantic, I think MIP is pretty dope actually.

1

abarrelofmankeys t1_j2onw5j wrote

I have a vivoactive music 3. It has color eink too, and looks pretty solid. The newer ones have better screens and animations I guess so I’m not sure if that line still uses that or not.

1

silentmage t1_j2pag0b wrote

Fuck, I miss my pebble. My MI Band is OK, but not the best replacement

5

PowerHautege t1_j2q9wbi wrote

There are a few color e ink tablets and readers available to consumers now but they’re still getting the kinks worked out AFAIK.

2

iDuddits_ t1_j2orwml wrote

If this thing can take an sd card and has a decent dac then it’s good enough for me since all I use my phone for is music

3

SpecialNose9325 t1_j2qs7eq wrote

My friend has one of the Hisense B&W E-Ink phones. It lasts about 2 weeks on a single charge for him. Its insane.

1

detectiveDollar t1_j2sltf0 wrote

Also it's much better for outdoor use since there's no backlight needed. You don't need to max brightness and overheat the phone to use it outside.

1

BlackCosPlayBackPay t1_j6lowla wrote

This is an INSANELY underrated feature, i leave my phone very dark in the mornings when i wake because eye strain from night before or middle of night restlessness or just early morning adjustments....

So when im out and about that same morning my phone looks dead, like the battery died. And i cant swipe the brightness back up because my fingers don't register any actions in the sunlight.. So i swipe for five minutes until it works.

Outdoor visbility is my greatest misfortune with phones right now

2

heybart t1_j2o2t7y wrote

A phone with long battery life and outdoor visibility may seem like an attractive idea, but believe me it's going to be an exercise in frustration

I have an eink reader with Android. I only use it for reading books and apps like pocket or Libby, but it's still frustrating to use. 99.99999% of apps are not designed for a device that takes a second to do a full refresh of the screen. You can do partial refresh, or fast refresh but then the screen quickly becomes a mess. Entering password or search text is laggy and slow. I wouldn't want to do email or text with it. Like a dog walking on hind legs, the wonder is not that it's done well but that it's done at all

Also eink screens are very fragile, not like the gorilla glass screen on LCD and OLED. If you crack the screen it becomes completely unusable

119

torama t1_j2rlfm2 wrote

You should try a modern e-note like an Onyx Boox Note Air, the refresh rate has improved a lot, you can even kind of watch videos. The trade off is between ghosting and refresh rate really, which you can adjust.

6

SlinkyAvenger t1_j2rwvxq wrote

Very much this. I have a boox note air 2 and it's been amazing as a tablet/journal with exceptional battery life. While traveling I use it far more often than my laptop (paired with a bluetooth keyboard, of course).

1

heybart t1_j2s9iyq wrote

I have a boox leaf 2. The ghosting is too distracting so i just end up using HD mode anyway

1

IKnowWhoYouAreGuy t1_j2oqhyw wrote

People using these phones are not going to be using many "apps".

You are not the intended target market so your arguments aren't making much sense.

3

aaanil t1_j2qdkpd wrote

Does the Kindle app work perfect on Android e-readers?

2

heybart t1_j2qet39 wrote

It works reasonably well. There doesn't seem to be a way to turn off the page turn animation or header, though. About 15-20% of the screen is wasted

3

TeamADW t1_j2oetdj wrote

Hmm.. might be for me, I absolutely despise trying to type an email on a phone screen. Using my wife's 2nd gen kindle back when we got stuck in Tokyo with a non-activated Verizon rental phone wasnt too bad.

1

pnlrogue1 t1_j2ompxc wrote

I remember someone making a phone with an LCD on one side and e-ink on the other years ago. The idea was you could send content to the e-ink screen at will to save battery. Walking somewhere? Send a picture of the map. To do list? Send it over. Instructions to follow? On the back. Really wanted that to take off 😔

53

Schedulator t1_j2ono9u wrote

Yotaphone 1,2 and 3. Mostly sold into China and Russia but has since gone bust. I had the Yota 2, a novel concept that I could get used to, but it didn't keep up with the development of other phones.

30

detectiveDollar t1_j2sleqg wrote

That's pretty neat. Something else that would be cool would be having the eink panel sit on top of an LCD. Then just turn off the LCD and output to the eink. Afaik, eInk panels are transparent or can be made so when they have no ink on them.

I think some smart watches do this (use eInk for the always on time and OLED otherwise) and it's really neat.

Or maybe a dot matrix top display

3

pnlrogue1 t1_j2xfryv wrote

The only problem with that idea is this one:

  1. Send something to the e-ink.
  2. Battery dies before you finish what you're doing and the phone shuts off.
  3. No battery/phone shutdown means the e-ink never appears and you lost the benefit of being able to save something for when the phone's dead.

Surmountable problem (and probably a rare issue anyway) but would be irritating if you were in that situation where you don't realise your battery is so low so your phone shuts down before turning on the e-ink!

3

dazorange t1_j2o811d wrote

I really want smart watches to use E ink instead of OLED. It would increase the battery life immeasurably which is my biggest complaint about smart watches.

29

Schedulator t1_j2onwbs wrote

I have a Fossil Hybrid that does this. Uses E-ink as the screen but conventional hands for the time. Using the buttons the screen changes for various menu items. Sync's via bluetooth to my phone to receive notifications etc: /r/FossilHybrids

11

UglyPurses t1_j2qk6da wrote

Most Garmin watches use E-ink but they are not traditional smartwatches.

3

GeneralVincent t1_j2selvr wrote

Kind of related, the Ticwatch 3 uses an lcd screen on top of an OLED screen. So the lcd screen can last up to a couple weeks for just the clock, and OLED for a day or two for smartwatch apps.

I was interested in the possibility of using e ink in the same way, as a secondary screen combined with oled. Unfortunately I'm not an expert and could only find forum posts like this referencing an old screen made by a company that no longer exists, Pixel Qi https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/594549/oled-or-other-screens-combined-with-e-ink

And a 10 year old patent filed by apple https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/04/apple-exploring-hybrid-e-inklcd-display-for-idevices/

3

mprziv t1_j2no6f8 wrote

Why would anyone want an E-Ink device as a smartphone?

BW display combined with a 10-15 fps refresh rate sounds like a miserable smartphone experience.

23

InstinctWrites t1_j2nomo7 wrote

That's kinda the point. Make the phone less appealing to use so you don't use it for mindless scrolling

You can easily make calls on this thing or shoot a quick text. However, you won't be wasting 3 hours scrolling on Instagram or Reddit

91

weluckyfew t1_j2nrlen wrote

And would still be good for music too - wonder, though, if it would work ok for maps/navigation?

11

PloxtTY t1_j2oqdta wrote

Someone above said it was great for it

5

weluckyfew t1_j2oxun7 wrote

Oh, thanks!

The more I think about it, the more it does appeal to me. ABout the only surfing I do on my phone is Reddit, otherwise I just use it for texting, music, navigation, and weather.

2

PloxtTY t1_j2oy738 wrote

Sounds like it would be great for reddit but you would miss out a bit on the video content

2

weluckyfew t1_j2pfttg wrote

I'm an idiot - I forgot the number one thing I love about cell phones - the camera.

2

SpecialNose9325 t1_j2qsuu4 wrote

Theres a specific high refresh mode that you can enable at anytime to use apps that require scrolling like maps and video.

3

HandyWangCoffin t1_j2pdl3w wrote

You should be able to mimic this on your phone now (at least the B&W part). Free new year's resolution.

Android:
Settings>Accessibility>Display>Color and motion>Color correction, toggle Use color correction on, select Grayscale

iOS:
Settings>General>Accessibility>Display Accommodations>Color filters, toggle Color Filters On on, select Grayscale

2

charleswj t1_j2p3s1y wrote

Maybe not IG but reddit is primarily text

1

paprok t1_j2npsjz wrote

> Why would anyone want an E-Ink device as a smartphone? > >

apart from what others said - eink display is highly energy-efficient. once you "print" it it does not require energy to keep displaying the content. with proper use it could extend battery life considerably.

39

deadwlkn t1_j2nvtwg wrote

Youre not wrong. I had an old Kindle Keyboard back in the day; with the wifi off, that thing would last well over a month on a single charge.

19

charleswj t1_j2p3n58 wrote

Why do I need a phone whose battery that lasts that long? And the target market is the exact same people that rarely use their phones, so they're already likely lasting well beyond a day.

1

paprok t1_j2qumpj wrote

> Why do I need a phone whose battery that lasts that long?

you don't remember/didn't use Nokia 3110/3310, did you?

2

detectiveDollar t1_j2so0lo wrote

Imo that's a huge benefit, but the big draw is using it as a mini e-reader/Kindle.

1

DoctorWTF t1_j2rzgpd wrote

Some of us live in this space called "outside"...

0

giuliomagnifico OP t1_j2np97z wrote

I think it’s more an e-reader that can be also a phone.

But could be useful as a second phone. The battery will last x days and you still have the ability to write messages/mail/etc.. like a phone for adventures, emergencies or sport.

35

marvolo24 t1_j2o839m wrote

Few years ago, they offered two e-ink phones. One was similar to this pro version but also included camera. The second one had I think IPS on the front and e-ink on the back.

3

Suicicoo t1_j2oilbi wrote

they had more than one, i had the A2 pro, till I drowned it ;_;
was awesome. Today I'm reading through Reddit or Twitter when idling, but back than, I'd pull out my book.

2

lllldddd01 t1_j2q7frh wrote

Android uses too much battery life for it to be useful as an e-reader, at least much more so than a normal phone.

1

SpecialNose9325 t1_j2qsz9x wrote

Its not an e-reader that happens to be a phone. Its a full Android device that happens to have a really power efficient screen.

1

duckduckohno t1_j2nop34 wrote

There's been a growing trend in reducing the noise of current social media and technology addictions.

This phone might force users to have a sub optional smartphone experience which may be a purposeful choice for consumers.

I'd be interested to see if the display type carries and real world benefits to battery life.

21

Knosh t1_j3ekmb2 wrote

The Light Phone I had previously would go all day on a 900mah battery and E-Ink display.

I'm interested in these devices since I loved my Light Phone, and just wanted it to have a camera, but to my knowledge there are ZERO E-Ink devices that have the 5G antenna required to operate properly in the United States

1

rosesandtherest t1_j2nwkg2 wrote

Long last battery to just take calls as business phone, perfect for one hand reading

I want this

6

OohMaiJosh t1_j2nxtss wrote

Ever heard of the Light Phone. Minimalist Phones are growing for sure

6

ahecht t1_j2olake wrote

> 10-15 fps refresh rate

It's closer to 2-3 fps for B&W E-Ink.

3

SpecialNose9325 t1_j2qt3lr wrote

I assure you its not. I have used a Hisense B&W E-Ink phone and the high refresh rate mode on it allows video playback at around 25-30fps.

1

FluffyTheWonderHorse t1_j2olsdi wrote

Conventional displays are burning my eye out. It’d be nice to not stare at a source of bright light when using a phone.

2

wakka55 t1_j2o8on3 wrote

They wouldn't. It would be a secondary e-reader that fits in their pocket. Keep in mind that these androids with e-ink (boox, mobiscribe, etc) only run about 10-20 android apps made for the device. You can sideload normal android apps but they are not very usable.

1

Sk1rtSk1rtSk1rt t1_j2qbzp9 wrote

Because people are addicted to consuming nonsense quickly and easily

1

SpecialNose9325 t1_j2qsr5s wrote

My friend who charges his e-ink phone twice a month is laughing maniacally.

1

im_thatoneguy t1_j2nspvw wrote

OLED displays have gotten so good that it really is hard to justify these days.

−5

[deleted] t1_j2nw788 wrote

If Apple ever offers an E Ink display, I would be sold.

My need for battery life is significantly higher than cristal clear display, I have an iPad near me all the time if I need to look for something that requires colors

22

Jammyhobgoblin t1_j2oib0a wrote

I love the idea of an eink iPhone. I get migraines/eye fatigue really easily and I have to keep my phone on greyscale sometimes to reduce the strain on my eyes, so that sounds perfect for me. Not to mention, getting rid of the temptation to scroll would be amazing.

Give me the phone, iMessage, mail, the ability to connect to AirPods, the health app, Apple Watch connectivity, and Apple Music and I would be set. I’d rather use my iPad/laptop for everything else.

5

python_geek t1_j2ovlec wrote

I'm the same way with migraines. do you have any treatments?

1

Jammyhobgoblin t1_j2oy622 wrote

The main thing phone-wise is grey-scale and having reduced motion turned on in the settings.

Outside of that, I went to the ER one time with a persistent migraine and they gave me a bag of magnesium in an IV. They said they don’t know why but it seems to work on medicine-resistant migraines. I now take a daily zinc/magnesium/calcium supplement and it reduced them. When I start to get one, I’ll add on a magnesium dose (not going above the daily recommendation) and it helps. I also have smart lights and turning them to green reduces eye strain for me.

1

madlabdog t1_j2oib2b wrote

That’s like saying, “If Tesla offers a Model S for $20,000 I would be sold”

3

gw2master t1_j2on9cv wrote

Except Apple is still thought of as premium, but Tesla? Less and less so by the day.

4

madlabdog t1_j2os9oz wrote

Some people have same complaints about recent generations of Apple products. But at a high level both are leaders in their respective domains.

1

TeamADW t1_j2oexyo wrote

Apple would upcharge for it, and make the battery life lower in software so you didnt buy it over their flagship.

1

horribus3 t1_j2og2yy wrote

Just get a case with a battery pack. There are some pretty hefty batteries attached cases

0

CraziestPenguin t1_j2nx421 wrote

This whole comment just baffles my mind lol. You want a phone without color? So you can have more battery life? The Pros get 7+ hours of SOT why would you need more?

−4

neelkanth97 t1_j2ny98a wrote

7 hours… I mean yeah you can say it’s impressive but look a few years back and we had nokias and blackberries running for 24+ hrs without needing to charge. I would actually consider shifting to something like this for my daily driver as it’s not for media consumption and all, just a tool for communication. Calls? Yes. Texts? Yes. And even other social media like whatsapp, hell even reddit would work for me as text-only mode. I mean, depends on your personal choice and use case, I know I would dig it.

37

tylerderped t1_j2o93jg wrote

Those old Nokias and blackberries had CPU’s that are, in all honesty, more comparable to graphing calculator CPU’s than what’s in our current smartphones. They also didn’t generally need to maintain a connection to multiple different types of cellular networks like modern phones do.

5

neelkanth97 t1_j2o9jwz wrote

Thats true, and thats one of the reasons we have less and less battery life, hence, if an E-ink display can give me days of battery life I would absolutely take that, even if it gives me less “features “.

6

tylerderped t1_j2o9qtr wrote

There was actually a phone that came out a long time ago (I think it was called the yotophone) that had a normal screen on the front, and en e-ink screen on the back. It was pretty neat and allowed you to customize the look of the back of your phone.

3

neelkanth97 t1_j2oa3do wrote

Yes I did see that a couple years ago, you could even set designs on the back with the E-ink because it never used power when idle so made a cool way of using and demonstrating the tech

3

CraziestPenguin t1_j2p8zfv wrote

You weren’t getting 24 hours of active use. This is just revisionist history

1

SpecialNose9325 t1_j2qtdqm wrote

You absolutely were. The 3310 had 22hrs of calltime and about a month on standby

1

CraziestPenguin t1_j2r85n6 wrote

So as an example you give me a phone that had…. Less than 24 hours of active use time…

2

SpecialNose9325 t1_j2rg75x wrote

Active Use Time != Call Time.

The number of hours you could send SMS and play Snake was virtually limitless.

1

Throwaway56138 t1_j2nzf45 wrote

Bro, if you just want a cell phone, you know they still make flip phones, right?

−8

neelkanth97 t1_j2nzk59 wrote

Lol I know, and I have a couple myself, flip and feature phones. Hence my reasoning.

4

olqerergorp_etereum t1_j2o44n2 wrote

doesn't use e-ink technology which last far in battery perfomance.

3

HaikuBotStalksMe t1_j2o5wj5 wrote

Imagine a mobile phone that:

has the power draw of today's chips, but using the old speed (I dunno, 32 mhz?) - same performance, lower power draw, smaller size

has the same battery size as today's phones (more effective battery than the old ones)

has an e-ink display (much better battery life; pretty sure even the passive matrix displays or whatever they were called were less efficient than today's e-ink)

uses only what is needed for calls in terms of radio (no drain from connecting to gps, wifi, 5g, etc. Just regular gsm)

Screen size still tiny (unless there's barely any power draw difference between a 1 inch screen and 4 inch screen on an e-ink)

I dunno if digitizers take a lot of energy, but physical keyboard would be awesome

Anyway, point is, I'd imagine this would be like crazy effective. Even throwing a contemporary battery into an old Nokia would probably make it last like, I dunno, 5x longer. And that's just one change.

0

Aimhere2k t1_j2om3ag wrote

Not everyone needs a phone to be a video player, or a camera, or a photo viewer, or a game console, or even a word processor or notepad. Some people just want a phone to be a phone... as in, a communication device. Or at least, primarily a communication device.

The problem with the modern concept of the "smartphone" is that it tries to be all things to all people. But fails to do any of them really well. Jack of all trades, master of none.

2

Stompn_Tom t1_j2nwfqd wrote

This would be great for text, email, e-reader, and could be gps, control Spotify, Strava, and a crazy battery life. I would love it as a phone for for running, camping, hiking. My #1 concern is battery life and weight. If I can ditch the external battery pack for my iPhone when I go on a days long hike or run. I would buy it.

9

lllldddd01 t1_j2q7oi1 wrote

Battery life wouldn't be that phenomenal. Better for sure, but Android, the phone's operating system, is a huge portion of a phone's battery use. This kind of phone has been made before and it failed for that reason. Unless they've solved that, then this one will flop too

1

darctones t1_j2nzg51 wrote

Similar to the Light Phone 2. I considered getting it for my teen. No social media, no camera… but still has music, text, email, voice, and gps

7

sprunkymdunk t1_j2w3oja wrote

Lack of camera is a deal breaker, it's a huge part of a phone's functionality for me.

1

wakka55 t1_j2o8a45 wrote

For a great example of Android on e-ink, look at the mobiscribe. I've used it daily for years. It's a companion to my smartphone, not a replacement. I got excited as the prospect of a pocket-sized version, but was very disappointed to discover they didn't include stylus support here. So, I'm still waiting on that pocket sized version. For a big version, consider boox. There's also Remarkable and Amazon Scribe but I believe those run Linux without Android.

7

SpecialNose9325 t1_j2qsnzi wrote

I really did consider all these tablet options before I just pivoted to getting a Galaxy S7FE as a writing tablet. The problem I had was justifying the price for a single purpose device that could not be repurposed to do anything else. The S7FE was $400, comes with a stylus, lasts about 3 days on a charge if taking notes, or about 11hrs of Youtube/Netflix otherwise. And since it is a full Android device with Samsung Sync, every note i take on it is instantly available on my phone too.

2

wakka55 t1_j2u2yi4 wrote

Yeah I recommend ipad/pencil or android equivilent (like you got) if you have to choose one. I own like 7 tablets, that's why I have these gimmick ones. But they're nice for what theyre good at.

2

kiridoki t1_j2qxr3o wrote

Boox tablets are fantastic. My Poke 3 is exactly what I was looking for (although I had to miss on the SD card slot sadly!)

1

ThePenIslands t1_j2ov9v4 wrote

Or my wife can just keep using her <$100 e-ink kindle for reading at night in bed (where e-ink matters the most) and then use her iPhone for every other thing. I don't see a point in this.

4

SpecialNose9325 t1_j2qtlbz wrote

This isnt aimed at the kindle reader. Its aimed at the minimalist and outdoors people who need to go days/weeks without having to charge their phone.

3

Ttthhasdf t1_j2nr5wk wrote

It could be a great gps, I would like one ruggedized like my kyocera

3

drainboy t1_j2ohnjy wrote

isn't this just a repackaged hisense A9?

3

Memory_Less t1_j2oo9hp wrote

I have been saying they should have a combined e-ink option on phones for years. I hope this is the beginning of the introduction of this broadly across all brands. I would like to use it to read and the quality is superior. Now we need convenience, too.

3

TheCacajuate t1_j2o8yef wrote

I would love to have this as a work phone.

2

Lurd67 t1_j2onjw9 wrote

I mean that's cool but it should be half the price. There are somewhat okay-ish, usable phones for 100€, and I can get an e-reader for 40€

2

24kGold t1_j2ohq3t wrote

Cool! Thanks for sharing. Curious about this. My Kindle that is a few years old really does an excellent job at emulating the printed paper and ink look. I imagine something like this manufactured now in 2023 is probably very crispy.

1

Suicicoo t1_j2ojeb1 wrote

will be a chinese only gadget again, as always(?) from Hisense... (no Google Apps, all settings & stuff only in chinese)

1

capaman t1_j2oklhz wrote

I carry two phones, one is mine other the office's, and could totally change one for this.

1

The_Janitors_Mop t1_j2othr6 wrote

Give me a baller camera and e-ink display for a week long battery, yes please. I only ever do texts and spotify these days.

1

GodsendNYC t1_j2owjdt wrote

I prefer OLED devices.

1

AloofPenny t1_j2pbo7s wrote

I want the a9. It’s in color

1

lonewalker1992 t1_j2pn5m6 wrote

I don't get what the day to day usage or utility of this product happens to be

1

defiantcross t1_j2prqip wrote

not sure i am prepared to do pornhub in e ink style.

1

bad_apiarist t1_j2qpo1v wrote

It's a pity this display tech has not significantly advanced in terms of refresh rate. Perhaps it never will, given the nature of the display. I don't mean for like playing videos, but more for the usability of the interface and scrolling pages etc.,

1

Allegedlyroofies t1_j2rknay wrote

I’ll pass on the products the Chinese government has back door access to.

1

Haroldfish123 t1_j2nwt0n wrote

Amazing for Cheating on proctored exams. Less reflection if it absorbs light

−9

crunchybaguette t1_j2o6xme wrote

Is that really the first thing that comes to mind? What proctored test doesn’t check for electronics/phones? All the tests I’ve taken in the last 5 years have had eye tracking to make sure I’m not looking too off of the screen.

2

Haroldfish123 t1_j2ocmsv wrote

Right, so sit the phone on your screen(laptop). To each their own I guess. Just spotting a possible use case; I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with that.

−4