This new Hisense e-paper phone has a detachable LCD screen on the back — but I’d rather see the displays swapped

• Hisense has announced a phone with a detachable rear screen
• The front display is e-ink, and the rear one is LCD
• Currently the phone has only been announced for China, so it might not be widely available

We don’t see much experimentation in smartphone design anymore, so I always applaud when companies try something new. That’s exactly what Hisense has done with its new A10 handset, as this has two screens — and one of them is detachable.

Specifically (via GoodEreader), this has a 6.13-inch monochrome e-paper display on the front (it isn't clear if this is officially an E Ink one), and a detachable color LCD screen on the back.

It runs Android 16, but most of the specs haven’t been revealed yet, other than it using an octa-core 4nm chipset, which according to leaker Experience More is a Snapdragon one. In any case, it being 4nm means this won’t be a high-end phone, but then high-end specs would arguably be wasted on an e-paper screen.

According to Experience More, the detachable LCD display will be sold separately. This makes sense, since not everyone will necessarily want two screens.

But it’s an interesting idea, potentially giving you the benefits of both e-paper and a conventional phone display — and since the second screen is detachable, you don’t have to add the bulk or fragility of the second screen when you don’t want to.

The wrong way round

I can’t help but think that it would have made more sense to make the e-paper screen the detachable rear one. After all, for most people an e-paper display is more of a secondary device — one you might use to read a book or to conserve battery, but not for the majority of smartphone tasks.

There is a market for e-paper phones — those who desire simplicity or less eye strain are drawn to them for one, and they can help encourage people to use their phones less too, because there is more friction there than with an LCD or OLED display.

But they remain niche devices, and while the Hisense A10 in some ways gives you the best of both worlds, it could end up being even more niche, since it combines the niche of an e-paper screen with the niche of a dual-screen device.

So personally, I’d love to see this the other way around — giving buyers a conventional smartphone with the option of an e-paper attachment. But until a company gives us that, there’s always the Xteink X4 — a tiny ereader that can magnetically attach to the back of phones.

The trouble with this is that it doesn’t run Android or integrate with your phone’s apps, making it a bit more limited than a true dual-screen device would be. But it’s better than nothing.

As for the Hisense A10, that’s currently only announced for China, so you might have to import it.