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I just started using this phone a couple weeks ago. It runs android 11, and the Ink OS that is runs is actually pretty clean and simple. I use Mint Mobile as
by ahamilton454 3y ago
I just started using this phone a couple weeks ago. It runs android 11, and the Ink OS that is runs is actually pretty clean and simple. I use Mint Mobile as my provider since TMobile is the only carrier that really supports it in the US. I am located in NYC and while the phone's coverage isn't like my older iPhone's its still pretty good. You can also get it off AliExpress for about $360 (At least I was able to). Not quite sure if it can use Android auto yet.
Overall I have had a good experience using the phone. My goal was to reduce my daily eye strain while not giving up the phone essentials, and it has certainly helped me do that.
- cmrdporcupine 3y agoI am very curious to see if Android Auto works on it, because if it does I'd seriously consider it. Does it have a lot of Chinese junk-ware on it, though?
- ahamilton454 3y agoI will check in a few days if it can run android auto and update here. To be honest, it probably has a lot of junk-ware on it, this really isn't my domain of expertise though. I can tell you from a user experience, it has been very easy to use.
- idontwantthis 3y agoHow is the battery life?
- ahamilton454 3y agoAbout 3 days long with normal usage (maybe 4)
- silisili 3y agoAre you able to find or guess the screen on time per charge? 3 days is wildly different for someone who uses their phone an hour per day, vs someone who scrolls social media for 12 hours a day.
- mcny 3y ago> runs android 11 that's a bummer. There is a killer new feature on android 12 that allows neostore (F-droid frontend) that allows apps to auto update without me having to remember to manually update them.
- tweetle_beetle 3y agoIf you are in the market for a current state of the art e-ink phone, would having to do a few taps a month genuinely stop you buying this model? Seems like a very minor inconvenience for someone who values an esoteric technology combination.
- ranger_danger 3y ago> state of the art > android 11
- yjftsjthsd-h 3y agoThe e-ink part can be state of the art even if the rest of the phone isn't
- fsflover 3y agoUntil you stop receiving updates.
- szszrk 3y agoIs that really an android 12 feature? F-droid Basic (almost the same app, same dev, same looks, without fancy direct sharing options; you can actually get it via old f-droid) can do that as well. They had to rewrite their implementation of how apps are installed, it took a while. With that only first install of the app needs confirmation.
- mcny 3y agoYes, previously on hacker news https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27218157 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27218157 > Android 12 will let alternative app stores update apps automatically (xda-developers.com)
- iamcalledrob 3y agoAre you finding it less addictive than a typical smartphone?
- ahamilton454 3y agoyes this is one of the reasons I got it. Good luck binging youtube at a refresh rate so low and only support for black and white.
- giarc 3y agoLooks like there is a colour e-ink option. https://hisenseeink.com/products/hisense-a7-cc-color-e-ink-smartphone-1?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=478cd0bec&pr_rec_pid=8414783799613&pr_ref_pid=8414784618813&pr_seq=uniform https://hisenseeink.com/products/hisense-a7-cc-color-e-ink-s...
- throwuxiytayq 3y agoPresumably, the refresh rate for it is even worse.
- r2_pilot 3y agoAccording to the product page, the refresh rate is equally as fast as the b&w refresh.
- jsheard 3y agoResolution is the big compromise with color e-ink, the effective pixel density is cut in half when the color layer is enabled. With the current best panels you get 300dpi in mono mode but only 150dpi in color mode, and fidelity of the mono mode is compromised compared to a mono-only panel with the same resolution. The color rendition still isn't great either.
- ahamilton454 3y agoThis is the A7 which is an older version. I would make sure it still has 4G support otherwise no carriers will support it in the US
- whimsicalism 3y agoDoes it support american networks?
- ahamilton454 3y agoTMobile and MVNOs like mint mobile offer decent support (at least in NYC)
- KennyBlanken 3y agoIt happening to support a band or two used in NYC doesn't tell us much - we need to know all the cellular bands it supports, because even a 6 year old iphone doesn't support bands used in a lot of areas. Cell companies are now focused on 5G and a phone that doesn't support most US 4G frequencies, and 5G, is going to be increasingly hobbled. Edit: https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/344c59bb https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/344c59bb Supports no UTMS (3G) bands, ten LTE bands and no 5G bands. LTE-FDD 850 MHz (B5) LTE-FDD 900 MHz (B8) LTE-FDD 1700 MHz (B4) LTE-FDD 1800 MHz (B3) LTE-FDD 2100 MHz (B1) LTE-FDD 2600 MHz (B7) LTE-TDD 1900 MHz (B39) LTE-TDD 2300 MHz (B40) LTE-TDD 2500 MHz (B41) LTE-TDD 2600 MHz (B38) An iPhone 8, six years old, supports twenty five LTE bands. According to Tmobile's website, they use the following bands: 4G LTE Band 2 (1900 MHz) Band 5 (850 MHz) Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz) Band 66 (Extension of band 4 on 1700/2100 MHz). Extended Range 4G LTE Band 12 (700 MHz) Band 71 (600 MHz) ...and then the 5G/5GUC bands. So the overlap would be B5, B1/B4, B39. No support for 5G. No support for UTMS, band 66 or extended range...so good luck using it in rural areas.
- inhumantsar 3y ago> T-Mobile
- whimsicalism 3y agotoo early in the morning for me (:
- sofixa 3y ago> T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic, Poland and the United States.
- giarc 3y agoWhat is typing like on this? My daughter has a Kobo Clara and I haven't been impressed with the responsiveness of it.
- ahamilton454 3y agoIt feels like an iphone 8 keyboard that is about to die. It isn't the quickest thing in the world, but good enough to respond to texts and emails.
- KennyBlanken 3y agoKobo is notorious for having atrocious response time. I'm on my third generation of Kobo reader and it's still dogshit slow. The periodic crashes are also really tiresome - I regularly have to hard-power-cycle the thing and often lose my reading progress. Why this has been a problem for 6+ years is beyond me but my guess is that they're spending very little on R&D/QA, running on an ancient SoC.
- worik 3y ago> Kobo is notorious for having atrocious response time. I'm on my third generation of Kobo reader and it's still dogshit slow. I am impressed by your commitment > I regularly have to hard-power-cycle the thing and often lose my reading progress. Kobo must be very good, in other ways!
- seam_carver 3y agoWorks fine, this has the fastest eink screen available.
- hikingsimulator 3y agoGiven the limited framerate of the device, I wonder whether running videos comes with latency that makes listening to them impossible. It's expected that E-ink would demolish video quality, but does it has an incidence on sound if you want to listen to a video on the metro line?
- huppeldepup 3y agoThere's a youtube demo in the article.
- carlosjobim 3y agoWhy would screen refresh have any influence on audio latency?
- Tade0 3y agoHow's the battery life?
- ahamilton454 3y agoabout 3 days (maybe 4 days) of normal usage
- feep 3y agoHow many hours of screen-on time do you get in those three days?
- Brian_K_White 3y ago"Screen-on" is a meaningless term in the context of eink.
- shrx 3y agoThere's no mention of GPS and NFC, I assume it lacks these modules?
- soganess 3y agoI don't know about NFC, but until this moment I just assumed GPS was built in to any (qualcomm) soc that also integrated cellular. Or was it bt/wifi? It piggybacks some other antenna and hence 'just works'.