Last fall Bigme launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for a 25.3-inch color E Ink monitor, along with an all-in-one PC with a color E Ink monitor, and as they’ve started shipping their Kickstarter orders, the new Bigme monitors are also available to order on Amazon now, and the prices are hard to believe.
The base version for just the Bigme B251 monitor is $1749.00. Then there’s the all-in-one PC version with the same color E Ink display for $2099.00.
Both models have the same 25.3-inch Kaleido 3 color E Ink screen with a resolution of 3200 x 1800. They also come equipped with a frontlight that has warm and cool temperature control. The refresh rate is a whopping 15 Hz.
The all-in-one model features a 12th Intel i5 processor with 1TB of storage space and 16GB of RAM, and it runs Windows 11.
Both models have an HDMI port, a mini HDMI port, a DisplayPort, 2 USB-C ports, a USB-B port, and 3 USB-A ports. They also support wireless connections and voice control, and they both have stereo speakers built-in.
It’s hard to see there being much a market for something like this, especially with the limitations of color E Ink and the high price, but they raised enough money with the crowdfunding campaign to see the project through.
Reading some of the comments from backers on Kickstarter that have received their units, the first impressions don’t sound great. I think most people don’t know what to expect with color E Ink, and they’d be better served buying a cheap color E Ink ereader like the Bigme B751C before dropping $2k on a monitor with screen technology they’ve never seen in person before. It’s crazy to think you can buy a 65-inch OLED TV for less than a 25.3-inch color E Ink monitor.
I wouldn’t want it for 50 bucks! The color’s washed out and the grey color is off putting and probably distracting.
I have a ViewSonic 24-inch monitor that’s 14 years old and has wonderful color. When it goes south, I’ll buy another ViewSonic that’ll cost a fifth of what this one costs.
I have to wonder if color e-ink will ever have decent color.