Bigme HiBreak Review: The Affordable E-Ink Smartphone for E-Reader

The Bigme HiBreak is not your typical smartphone. It doesn’t come with a blazing-fast processor meant for gaming or a high-resolution display designed to make videos pop. Instead, it brings something refreshingly unique to the table—a 5.8-inch E-Ink display. Yes, the same kind of screen you’d find on an e-reader like a Kindle, but this time, it’s part of a fully functional Android smartphone.

Priced affordably at $249 for the black-and-white model and $279 for the color version, the HiBreak is also surprisingly budget-friendly. It doesn’t try to compete with flagship phones regarding raw power or camera specs. Instead, it focuses on creating a seamless experience for tasks like reading, basic communication, and light browsing—activities where an E-Ink display truly shines.

If you’ve ever thought about owning a device that’s easy on the eyes, ideal for reading in direct sunlight, and offers the core functionalities of a smartphone, the Bigme HiBreak is worth a closer look.

Design and Build

The Bigme HiBreak isn’t trying to wow you with flashy designs or premium materials like a flagship phone. Instead, it opts for a minimalist and practical approach, which aligns perfectly with its purpose. The first thing you’ll notice when holding the HiBreak is its lightweight feel. Weighing just 172 grams, it’s much lighter than most modern smartphones, making it super comfortable to hold for long periods.

The back panel features a faux leather texture that feels nice to the touch. It might not be actual leather, but it gives the phone a sturdy grip, so it won’t slip out of your hands easily. Moreover, this material is resistant to fingerprints, so the phone stays clean-looking even after hours of use. The faux leather look might remind you of some Kindle cases, which is fitting given the phone’s e-reader-like display.

The bezels on the front are an interesting mix—slim on the sides but slightly thicker on the top and bottom. This symmetrical bezel design actually works in its favor, giving the phone a balanced appearance and providing space for a speaker and front camera at the top. It might not have the edge-to-edge appeal of high-end phones, but that’s not what the HiBreak is about. The bezels contribute to its understated charm and practicality.

You’ll find the standard power button and volume rocker on the right side of the phone. What’s great about the volume buttons is that they double as page-turning keys when using e-reading apps like Kindle. This feature is perfect for those who want an e-reader-like experience without constantly touching the screen. On the left, there’s a customizable shortcut button that you can program to perform specific tasks, like opening an app or activating a setting.

The bottom of the phone houses a USB-C port for charging and data transfer, but it’s worth noting that this is limited to USB 2.0 speeds. There’s also a single microphone at the bottom, and unfortunately, no 3.5mm headphone jack, so you’ll need Bluetooth headphones or a USB-C adapter for audio. One standout feature is the SIM tray, which supports both a nano-SIM and a microSD card and offers up to 1TB of expandable storage.

The HiBreak’s build quality is solid despite its plastic construction. While it doesn’t have the premium feel of metal or glass, the phone feels sturdy and well-made. It can withstand the occasional bump or drop, and the plastic construction ensures it’s less likely to shatter compared to glass-back phones.

Display Features

The Bigme HiBreak 5.8-inch E-Ink display is the show’s star, and it’s what sets this phone apart from almost every other smartphone on the market. If you’ve ever used an e-reader like a Kindle, you already know the benefits of E-Ink technology: it’s incredibly easy on the eyes, works beautifully in direct sunlight, and consumes far less power than traditional LCD or OLED displays. Bigme has combined these advantages with the functionality of an Android smartphone, creating a device that feels purpose-built for readers, digital minimalists, and anyone who wants a break from typical glowing screens.

The HiBreak is available in two versions: a black-and-white model and a color model. The black-and-white version has a pixel density of 275 PPI, delivering crisp, sharp text and grayscale images. This makes it ideal for tasks like reading e-books, browsing documents, or checking emails. The color version, on the other hand, has a lower pixel density of 91 PPI, which means the colors, while vibrant for E-Ink technology, aren’t as sharp as you’d get on a typical smartphone. Still, it’s impressive for what it is, offering a splash of color for comics, magazines, or certain apps.

One of the standout features of E-Ink displays is their unparalleled performance in bright sunlight. The HiBreak’s screen remains perfectly legible even under harsh sunlight, making it a fantastic companion for outdoor reading or browsing. Indoors, the display works equally well thanks to the front light. While it doesn’t offer customizable warm and cool tones like some e-readers, the front light has 36 adjustable brightness levels.

The matte-textured display surface reduces glare and reflections, further enhancing the reading experience. It’s not a glossy screen, so you won’t have to deal with distracting reflections when using the phone in bright environments. Text on the screen appears sharp, with high contrast, making it easy to read for long periods without straining your eyes.

However, it’s important to note some inherent limitations of E-Ink displays. For example, fast-moving content like videos or animations may appear flickery due to the slower refresh rate. There’s also some ghosting, where faint traces of previous content linger on the screen, though the phone’s auto-clean and manual refresh features help mitigate this.

Bigme has included a feature-rich E-Ink Center that lets you fine-tune display settings. You can adjust contrast, brightness, and even color saturation for the color model. There’s also an Auto-Clean feature that clears ghosting automatically, ensuring a cleaner display experience.

While the HiBreak’s E-Ink display is fantastic for reading and productivity, it’s not meant for tasks like gaming or video streaming. Apps designed for full-color, high-contrast displays may also lose some usability when converted to grayscale or lower-resolution color. For example, fine details on maps or UI elements in certain apps may be harder to discern.

The phone offers an always-on display option for showing the time, date, or a custom image. You can adjust the refresh interval to save battery life.

Refresh Rate Modes

E-Ink technology is known for slower refresh rates compared to traditional displays, but the HiBreak offers multiple refresh rate modes to adapt to different tasks:

1. Extreme Mode: Optimized for speed, this mode sacrifices some visual quality for smoother scrolling and faster app transitions. It’s great for web browsing or quick navigation.
2. Regal Mode: Balances visual quality and speed, ideal for reading or light app usage.
3. Comic and Magazine Modes: These modes prioritize image quality, making them perfect for viewing detailed illustrations or comics.
4. Video Mode: While E-Ink displays aren’t ideal for video playback, this mode ensures the fastest refresh rate possible for smoother viewing.

Performance

The Bigme HiBreak is not a powerhouse by modern smartphone standards, but it doesn’t need to be. This phone is built for simplicity, reading, and light productivity, and its performance reflects that. Equipped with a MediaTek Helio P35 processor, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD card), the HiBreak handles its tasks smoothly, as long as you don’t expect it to compete with flagship devices.

For everyday tasks like messaging, web browsing, and reading, the HiBreak performs surprisingly well. Navigating through menus, opening apps, and multitasking feels fluid for the most part. This is partly because the E-Ink display places much lower demands on the processor compared to a traditional LCD or OLED screen. The 6GB of RAM ensures you can keep a few apps open without noticeable slowdowns.

Where you’ll notice the difference is in activities that require more processing power or faster graphics rendering. Games with heavy animations or apps with complex visual interfaces don’t run as smoothly due to the slower refresh rate of the E-Ink display. But let’s be honest—if you’re buying this phone, it’s unlikely you’re looking to play resource-intensive games or edit videos.

One of the pleasant surprises with the HiBreak is its web browsing performance. The latency—how long it takes for the screen to update—exists, but it’s minimal enough that it doesn’t feel frustrating. Scrolling is smooth in Extreme Mode, and pages load at a respectable speed. For casual browsing, this phone gets the job done.

The HiBreak shines in real-world scenarios that align with its purpose. For example, it’s excellent for reading articles, e-books, or PDFs for extended periods without causing eye strain. Typing on the virtual keyboard, though slightly slower due to the E-Ink refresh delay, is comfortable once you get used to it. Apps like Kindle, Google Docs, or Evernote perform seamlessly, and the phone’s productivity-focused design becomes evident.

App Compatibility

Thanks to the inclusion of Android 11 and access to the Google Play Store, the HiBreak supports almost every app you’d expect on a regular smartphone. You can install productivity tools like Microsoft Office or Google Docs, social apps like Telegram, or e-reading apps like Kindle and Libby. That said, not all apps are optimized for grayscale or the E-Ink display. For example, apps with fine UI details or color-dependent interfaces may lose some functionality.

Interestingly, the HiBreak shines when it comes to minimalist apps. Apps designed for productivity, like note-taking or task management, work beautifully on this device. Bigme even preloads some apps like Bigme Voice-to-Text and Bookshelf to get you started.

Gaming

Let’s set expectations here: the Bigme HiBreak isn’t built for gaming. Casual games that don’t rely on fast-moving graphics, like Sudoku, chess, or simple card games, run well. But anything beyond that—think action games or first-person shooters—will struggle. The 21 FPS maximum refresh rate is a limiting factor, and you’ll notice significant lag and ghosting in fast-paced games. That being said, if your gaming preferences lean toward slower-paced, strategy-based games, you’ll find the HiBreak capable enough.

Media Playback

E-Ink displays are not ideal for video playback, and the HiBreak is no exception. While it’s technically capable of streaming videos from YouTube or Netflix, the experience is less than ideal due to the slow refresh rate and flickering. The phone does offer a Video Mode to optimize playback, but even then, the visuals aren’t smooth compared to traditional screens.

Another limitation is the phone’s single speaker. While it’s loud enough for casual use, the sound lacks depth and bass. For a better audio experience, you’ll need to use Bluetooth headphones or earbuds since there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack.

Audio is one of the Bigme HiBreak’s weaker points, but it’s also not the device’s primary focus. The phone includes a single speaker located at the top, which doubles as the earpiece for calls.

Software and Features

The Bigme HiBreak runs on Android 11, offering a familiar and reliable operating system. While it doesn’t feature the latest version of Android, it provides enough functionality for everyday tasks, with a few customizations that take advantage of the unique E-Ink display. Bigme’s straightforward software approach focuses on simplicity and efficiency over flashy features, which aligns perfectly with the phone’s minimalist purpose.

At its core, the HiBreak operates like a standard Android device. You can install apps from the Google Play Store, customize your home screen with widgets, and navigate through menus with the usual Android gestures. However, Bigme has added a few tweaks to optimize the experience for an E-Ink display, like Optimized Navigation Gestures and Simplified Settings Menu.

E-Ink Center

The standout software feature is the E-Ink Center, a dedicated hub where you can fine-tune the display’s performance. This feature allows you to customize the refresh rate, contrast, and other visual settings for specific apps or global usage.

• Refresh Modes: Depending on the task, you can choose between Extreme, Fast, Regal, and HD modes. Extreme Mode is great for scrolling, while HD Mode offers the best image quality for static content.
• Contrast and Brightness Adjustments: You can tweak the system-wide contrast and brightness, tailoring the display to your environment and personal preferences.
• Anti-Ghosting and Auto-Clean: These features reduce ghosting (residual images left on the screen) and keep the display clean, ensuring a smoother user experience.

Preloaded Apps

The Bigme HiBreak comes with a curated set of pre-installed apps designed for productivity and E-Ink optimization:

• Bookshelf: A built-in e-reading app for managing and reading e-books and PDFs.
• Kindle: Preloaded for avid e-book readers, offering seamless access to Amazon’s library.
• Bigme Voice-to-Text: A voice transcription tool that converts speech into text in real time. Perfect for taking notes or recording lectures.
• Bigme GPT: An AI-powered chatbot that can answer questions, generate text, and even draw simple illustrations. It’s a unique addition that adds some fun and utility to the phone.
• WPS Office Lite: A lightweight office suite for editing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
• Document Scanner: Use the rear camera to scan documents, which can be converted into editable text with OCR capabilities.
• Floating Ball: This handy tool acts as a shortcut menu, offering quick access to essential functions like home, back, app switcher, and screen refresh. It’s especially useful for reducing ghosting.
• Note-Taking: With apps like OneNote and the Bigme Voice-to-Text feature, the phone is a great tool for jotting down ideas or transcribing meetings.

Camera

The Bigme HiBreak is not designed to compete with flagship smartphones when it comes to camera and audio quality. Instead, its focus is on providing basic functionality that complements its E-Ink display and minimalist philosophy. The HiBreak is equipped with a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front-facing camera. While these numbers might seem decent on paper, the actual performance is very much in line with its budget-friendly price tag.

The 13MP rear camera is adequate for capturing basic shots, but don’t expect to take stunning photos. In good lighting conditions, the camera can produce usable images with passable detail. However, it struggles in low-light situations, where photos often appear grainy or lack sharpness. The LED flash can help in darker settings, but the results remain far from professional-grade.
The 5MP front camera is primarily suited for video calls or quick selfies. Again, it performs best in well-lit environments but lacks the clarity or detail of more advanced front-facing cameras. For casual use, though, it gets the job done.

One unique aspect of the HiBreak is how photos appear on the E-Ink display. Images have a distinct grayscale or muted color tone, which some might find intriguing or artistic. However, this means you won’t see the true colors or sharpness of your photos until you transfer them to another device.

The Bigme HiBreak supports basic video recording, but the quality is average at best. Videos recorded with the phone are functional for documenting quick moments but aren’t ideal for anything that requires smooth motion or vibrant visuals. The slower refresh rate of the E-Ink display can make previewing or editing videos on the phone itself less practical.

Battery Life

One of the biggest advantages of the Bigme HiBreak is its battery life, which is significantly enhanced by the E-Ink display. Unlike traditional LCD or OLED screens that continuously draw power to maintain brightness and color, an E-Ink display only consumes power when it refreshes. Powered by a 3,300mAh battery, which might seem modest compared to modern smartphones with larger batteries. However, thanks to the low energy demands of the E-Ink display, this battery delivers surprisingly strong performance. On average, the phone lasts 10 to 15 hours on a single charge, depending on usage.

If your primary activities include reading e-books, browsing simple websites, or sending messages, your battery life will be on the higher end of that spectrum. For heavier use, like web browsing with frequent page refreshes or prolonged use of apps with faster refresh rates, battery life will be closer to 10 hours.

One area where the HiBreak could use some improvement is its overnight battery drain. With cellular and Wi-Fi left on, the phone loses about 1% of its charge per hour, which adds up to roughly 10% over a typical 10-hour night. While this isn’t a dealbreaker, it’s noticeable compared to other phones with better standby optimization. The good news is that enabling Airplane Mode before bed reduces this drain to just 2–3% overnight.

Charging Speed

The Bigme HiBreak takes about 2.5 hours to fully charge, which is slower than most modern smartphones. This is largely because the phone only supports USB 2.0 speeds, so there’s no fast-charging capability here. While this might be a minor inconvenience, it’s mitigated by the phone’s impressive battery efficiency. A single charge can comfortably last an entire day of moderate to heavy use or multiple days of light use.

Pros and Cons

Conclusion

The Bigme HiBreak is a unique device that challenges the norm by combining E-Ink technology with smartphone functionality. Priced at an affordable $249 (black-and-white) or $279 (color), it’s an excellent choice for avid readers, productivity enthusiasts, and anyone who values a distraction-free experience.

While it doesn’t have the flashy features of modern flagship phones, it carves out a niche by focusing on what it does best: providing a minimalist, eye-friendly, and highly practical tool for reading, communication, and light tasks.

Using the HiBreak as a daily driver feels refreshingly different. Tasks like reading emails, responding to messages, or checking your calendar are straightforward and distraction-free. The E-Ink display’s slower refresh rate might take some getting used to, but once you adapt, it becomes second nature.

Navigation is smooth thanks to Android 11 and the optimized gestures. Switching between apps, scrolling through documents, or browsing the web feels deliberate and focused. You won’t find yourself endlessly scrolling through social media feeds here—not because you can’t, but because the black-and-white visuals and slight latency make it less appealing.