Miss the YotaPhone? This upstart brand just made the dual-screen phone for you.

TL;DR

• E-Ink brand Bigme has launched a Kickstarter program for its HiBreak Dual 2 smartphone.
• The new phone has a 5-inch LCD screen on one side and a 6.13-inch E-Ink display on the other.
• Expect to pay $599 for the HiBreak Dual 2 on Kickstarter.

Nascent E-Ink brand Bigme caught my attention earlier this year when it teased the arrival of a “world-first” phone with both color E-Ink and LCD screens. Unfortunately, this phone merely had a tiny, circular LCD screen on its back. Fortunately, the company is back with a brand-new device that might be the dual-screen phone I’ve been looking for all along.

Bigme just launched the Kickstarter program for its HiBreak Dual 2 smartphone, and it features two displays. Look at the front, and you’ll find a 6.13-inch E-Ink display, available in both monochrome and color options. Turn the phone around, and you’ve got a 5-inch LCD panel (1,280 x 720). In fact, the company says the E-Ink screen is capable of a claimed 80fps via its own “Fast Refresh” technology, while also supporting stylus input. Either way, this dual-screen approach means you don’t necessarily need a separate E-reader or a gadget like the Xteink X4.

The company says you should expect a very capable Dimensity 8300 chipset, 12GB or 16GB of RAM, 256GB or 512GB of storage, and a 4,450mAh battery with 30W wired charging. Don’t expect an amazing camera setup, consisting of a 50MP camera on one side and a 5MP camera on the other.

Bigme Kickstarter

Other notable specs include Android 16 with support for the Play Store, a side fingerprint scanner, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and dual-SIM support.

Perhaps the biggest criticism I can level against the phone at this point is its design. That’s solely due to the color screen’s gigantic bezels and stepped design. It’s almost like they duct-taped a Samsung Galaxy Nexus to the back of their existing E-Ink phone.

Would you buy a dual-screen phone like this?

2 votes

Absolutely!

50%

Maybe, if it were cheaper

0%

Maybe, if it came from a more reputable brand

50%

No, I wouldn't

0%

As for a price, Bigme is selling the HiBreak Dual 2 for $599 on Kickstarter. The company claims that this is a 40% discount and that it plans to sell the device at a recommended price of $998. That’s a crazy recommended price, so I hope this is just a marketing ploy rather than a reflection of real pricing after crowdfunding. Then again, it’s not like there are other recent dual-screen phones like this, with Hisense and YotaPhone offering similar devices in the late 2010s. For what it’s worth, the firm’s single-screen-toting HiBreak Pro is currently listed on Bigme’s official website for $459.

The good news is that the Kickstarter program went live earlier today (less than two hours ago as of writing) and has already crossed the $75,000 mark. That’s way past the company’s $12,758 goal. In fact, it obliterated that goal within minutes of going live. So if you’re like me and want a dual-screen phone with an E-Ink panel and color display, you should keep an eye on this.

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