Bigme B7 Review. A color E Ink tablet with 4G LTE, a camera, and a digital pen

For a long time it was pretty easy to tell the difference between a general-purpose tablet and an eReader. Devices with E Ink displays like Kindle or Kobo products were meant for reading eBooks, while devices with full-color displays and high-refresh rates like iPads and Samsung Galaxy tablets were general-purpose devices.

But in recent years the line between those categories has gotten blurry. E Ink color displays are a thing now, and many device makers have found ways to increase the screen refresh rates on E Ink tablets (although not without making sacrifices on image quality). Some models have support for stylus input, Android-based software with support for third-party apps. And some even have cameras for snapping pictures. The new Bigme B7 has all of those features… plus a 4G LTE modem for data and phone calls.

Bigme introduced the color E Ink tablet on Chinese social media, and while the company has yet to reveal global pricing or availability details, the company confirms that it'll have an unspecified octa-core processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of built-in storage.

Images show a tablet with a thick bezel on one side, featuring physical page turn buttons. There's also a USB-C port and speaker visible along one edge, and a camera with an LED flash on the back. Bigme says the tablet comes with a stylus that supports wireless charging.

The most unusual feature is the 4G LTE modem which provides support for both data and phone calls over a cellular network. That's… not something you find on most tablets, and I'm honestly not sure how much demand there is for it.

But Bigme has been making eBook readers and eNotes with E Ink displays for a while now, and last year the company introduced its first smartphone – the Bigme HiBreak Pro features a 6.13 inch E Ink display and support for 4G and 5G networks. So the company already has some experience putting cellular modems into devices with ePaper displays… maybe somebody at headquarters figured why not try putting one into a device with a larger screen?