Hisense A6L LCD E Ink dual

August 27, 2023 By Sovan Mandal 3 Comments

It isn’t every day that you come across a dual-sided smartphone, and this is one reason the Hisense A6L is unique in its own right. Viewed from one side, the phone is just like the dozens of other Android smartphones out there. However, it is on the other side of it that the real magic lies – an E Ink display that will make the smartphone behave like an e-reader of sorts that you can easily carry around in your pockets. It’s like having a Kindle in your pocket. However, is an e-reader in a smartphone form factor practical enough or is it more of a gimmick? Let’s find that out in this review while also discussing every other aspect of the device.

Viewed from the front, there isn’t anything that can point to it being an e-reader as well. There is the usual LCD display with a water-drop notch at the top housing the front cam. There is also the usual assortment of apps that you’d find on most smartphones running Android. There is also an integrated screen protector on the Android smartphone side of it while the E Ink display benefits from a matte screen protector.

Then there is also the Power button on the right which serves as the fingerprint sensor as well. There is the 3.5mm headphone jack at the top while on the left lies the volume rocker button as well as a button for switching on or off the E Ink display. You will also find the SIM card tray on the left edge. At the bottom lies the speaker and the USB Type-C port. The rear ( E Ink side) also gets a pair of cameras ( 24 + 8 MP) complete with the LED flash while the front gets a 20 MP selfie shooter.

On the whole, the addition of the E Ink display at the rear hasn’t made much of a difference to the phone so far as its width or weight is concerned. At 9.1mm, it’s only a tad bit thicker than most while the 203 grams weight is quite in line with most single-screened smartphones currently available. In fact, it’s nothing short of a miracle the way they managed to cram in two different displays while still keeping it that thin and handy.

Nonetheless, the phone is well-built and has a solid feel to it. It features aluminum sides with front and rear glass material. Every aspect of the phone, be it the camera on both sides, the speaker, or the 3.5mm headphone jack, all of it available to use irrespective of whether you are using the LCD display or the E Ink panel. Even when you switch on the camera while on the E Ink display, you might get to see things in grayscale though all images captured are going to be in color.

Flip the phone over and press the E Ink button on the left edge and the E Ink display comes to life. One of the default displays that shows up is one where you have the analog clock at the top, the calendar along the middle of the display, and a clutch of buttons at the bottom. Those again are for Wi-Fi, Ringer, Bluetooth, and Data Connection. Swipe along the left and you get a pair of cards related to Fusion reading and then WeChat. At the bottom on the left lies the battery icon.

Now, at the bottom of the display, along the right, you have three vertical dots. Tapping on it will let you have access to a plethora of controls. Those include the Brightness level slider while there also are four pre-set controls, those being Night, Manual, Auto, and Off. Below it lies other controls, those being Switch Screen, E-Ink Settings, New Panel, Move Panel, and Delete Panel.

Tapping on E-Ink Settings will open a whole host of options. Those include Lock screen pinned display time, E Ink notification reminder, E Ink screen display mode, Application covers, High contrast text, and so on. Scroll down to E Ink Screen default mode, tap on it and you will get to choose one out of two options – either E Ink Screen launcher or Conventional Desktop.

Opting for the latter will make the E Ink display have the same layout as the LCD display. There are going to be all the apps shown on the home screen while swiping down on the home screen from the top will reveal the usual shortcuts as well as the notifications. In other words, things are exactly the same as you will find on the LCD side of it, except that it is in grayscale, of course.

There is not much to be said about how the E Ink display makes it so easy to consume tons of content without hurting your eyes much. It’s like the Kindle but on a smaller form factor, so much that you can turn pages with just a single-handed swipe of the display. It being a smartphone, after all, there are the volume rocker buttons available too which you can put to good use as page turn buttons as well. For instance, on the Kindle app, just go to Settings and turn the toggle switch on for the ‘Turn pages with Volume Controls’ option.

Given that this is a dual-sided phone, you can always turn the LCD display on and continue reading from the same point where you had left on the E Ink display. In fact, one advantage you have here is that you can always get to the LCD display and make the changes you want with the font, line spacing, and all that and then continue with the actual reading on the E Ink side. The obvious benefit here is that things are far quicker on the LCD side than what it is with the E Ink display. That said, the E Ink display still impresses with its speed which is quite on the quicker side.

You can always read Manga using the A6L smartphone. With it being relatively fast, pinch-n-zoom works quite flawlessly though the problem, if it can be so said, is that there is always the LCD display that you can fall back on. As it is with LCD displays, things are very fast, and this can be more obvious given that manga isn’t entirely about texts as there are almost always lots of images involved. Those might take a wee bit of time to load on the e-paper display while being instantaneous on the LCD. Apart from that, reading manga on the A6L is never a chore, be it on the LCD or the E Ink display.

Things are a bit different with the A6L when it comes to the speed modes as there are none of the usual speed modes that you get to select on most e-paper devices. Rather, what you have are the Clear and Smooth options that you get in the Application display mode section. Also, you either get to set things to be in All clear mode, or in All smooth mode.

When you opt for Smooth mode, everything is going to be set in A2 mode which would apply to all the apps you have on the smartphone. The other option is to opt for the All clear mode where you will have to specifically choose the apps that you want to run faster. The good thing here is that this is going to be applicable to every app you have on the phone, including the side-loaded ones. Once you have selected the apps that you want to be faster, it is only those apps that would have a quicker refresh time while the remaining apps would continue in the normal mode.

Then again, let’s not forget it is a dual-sided phone and there is the LCD display at your disposal on the other side. If you want things to be even faster and maybe in full color, invoke the LCD display, check things out, and get back to the E Ink display to continue with what you have been into. That way, the LCD display can be the antidote for all the speed limitations that apply to e-paper displays. Things are going to be a lot faster than even the fastest speed mode you have with E Ink displays.

When it comes to e-paper smartphones, there is literally only one company that does anything in the field – Hisense. The A6L is truly the definition of zero compromise. This unit features a fully-fledged LCD smartphone on one side, and an e-paper screen on the back. You won’t have the impression that they glued two phones together, as this phone is as thin or thinner than traditional smartphones

Furthermore, you get a glow light on the e-paper screen too, which still boggles my mind how they’re able to cram so much with a frame so thin. The unit is beautifully built out of aluminum and glass all around, and doesn’t leave anything out, SD card, audio, and even four cameras

This was even renewed for the 2023 year in the form of a museum edition collaboration. All of this unit truly makes it the best of all worlds

With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.

Filed Under: E INK Smart Phones