Hisense A10: An E-Ink Phone With a Detachable Color Screen Is Coming
Hisense has revealed the full specs for its A10 smartphone, a niche device that puts a black-and-white E-Ink reading screen on the front and a detachable color LCD panel on the back. The phone launches in China in August 2026, priced at around $590 (£465). Neither a US carrier deal nor UK retail availability is expected — import via AliExpress or eBay is the realistic route, as it was for the A9 before it.
The hardware
The A10 runs a Qualcomm QCM6690 chip built on a 4nm process. That chip matters more than its name suggests: it's an enterprise-grade IoT processor from Qualcomm's Dragonwing lineup, not a consumer Snapdragon — a distinction Notebookcheck flags as relevant to long-term software support expectations. On the upside, the QCM6690 is designed to throttle frequency during static reading sessions, which should extend battery life well beyond what a standard flagship chip would manage.
Hisense has tuned the software specifically for documents: PDF page-turn support, split-screen for viewing multiple files at once, and low-latency stylus input for handwritten notes. A temperature-management system reduces E-Ink ghosting — the faint shadow of a previous image that lingers on the display, common in this technology. The phone ships with Android 16 and Hisense promises ongoing security patches, though the IoT-chip pedigree makes that promise worth watching.
The two screens
The 6.13-inch front panel is monochrome E-Ink, built for reading and note-taking in bright light without eye strain. The rear color LCD snaps on magnetically and handles everything the E-Ink screen can't — photos, comics, social apps, video. Users switch between them depending on the task. The color panel is expected to be sold separately for around £345 ($440), per Trusted Reviews, which means the full bundle could run close to £810 total.
Other features include NFC, Wi-Fi 6, 5G, an IR blaster for controlling TVs and air conditioners, magnetic wireless charging, and a fast-refresh mode to reduce input lag on the E-Ink panel.
Import friction
Engadget notes that Western buyers face the same grey-market obstacle as they did with the A9: no carrier partnerships, no official retail, and warranty support that's effectively non-existent outside China. At $590 for the phone alone — and potentially double that with the LCD accessory — it's a significant ask for a device with uncertain after-sales support. For dedicated E-Ink enthusiasts willing to take that risk, though, nothing else on the market does quite what the A10 does.
