Onyx is showing off a new E Ink phone at CES that they’re preparing to launch soon. So far it doesn’t have a name and the product shown in the video below is still a prototype, but it’s something new to expect from Onyx in 2020.
This is Onyx’s second attempt at an E Ink phone. They released the Midia Inkphone back in 2014, but it wasn’t very popular and they quickly abandoned it.
This new Onyx phone has a 5.8-inch E Ink screen, but it has narrower aspect ratio than a typical 6-inch ebook reader so it’s smaller and more pocketable like a smartphone.
Like Onyx’s other new reading and note-taking devices, the Onyx phone runs Android 9.0 with (unofficial) Google Play support and it’s powered by an octa-core processor.
It also has a fingerprint sensor, a rear camera, speakers, a mic, and a USB-C port. It has a dual sim card slot and one slot can be used with a memory card.
The hardware details aren’t set yet as they’re still working through the process of finalizing the product.
Consequently Onyx’s E Ink phone doesn’t have an official release date or price just yet, but it’s expected to hit the market in the first half of 2020.
It definitely looks interesting if the price is reasonable, but hopefully they get rid of the glossy layer over the screen.
I hope they make a version with no speakers/mic/cellular. They could charge the same price. I’m considering getting one and removing the speaker. However, I still don’t like having random devices that can butt dial 911. This is why I quit using my smart watch. With regular watches, no matter how active you are, they never dial 911. I never had it dial 911, but I had it get to the screen where it was 1 button press away.
Before I ever had any security concerns I locked my phones to prevent butt dials.
Yay! An Onyx producr might not be vaporware!
There’s also the Hisense A5, and that exists as a finished product now! I’m typing this on mine. I prefer it’s smaller size over the Onyx but I’m glad that we are finally seeing multiple companies embracing e-ink phones. The A5 is my perfect device, although I know others prefer larger phones.
Seems as Hisense is interested in continuing the legacy of Yota with launching new e-ink phones every year. It’s great to still have options and I’m glad to read your comment about the Hisense A5. I was also interested in it, but I didn’t realize that it had come out and when I did it seems the price is way higher than it was announced officialy. Maybe because the only way to have it is to bought it from China. On paper the device looks excellent, what’s your use of it? Are you using it like a normal phone, or only for news and reading on the go?
And by the way, I think that it’s a bit strange that Onyx is talking now about a phone with E Ink. Hisense has already announced at CES 2020 a new phone with color E Ink, and there were others before that. Why now? And the Hisense with color looks promising. I will wait to see if it’s released this year. Seems that full color wasn’t even possible and now there is hope again.
I’m using it as a normal phone. I previously had the dual screen A2 Pro. The A5 is a significant upgrade.
So you can use apps on it? I still want stuff like Google Maps, Slack, maybe Snapchat etc.
Smaller would be better, if resolution (number of pixel) is the same. Convenience of use is essential, and that should normally include access to google play (app) store.
I do not understand why this type of products keepps bein announced but hardly ever approaches a seasoned product.
Similar with small electric cars, being announced but hardly ever materializing.
Screen should be less reflective.
Any update on when it will actually be released? I understand it will work in the us, whereas the HiSense does not, correct? I’m still using a yotaphone. Often get no signal.
Still no updates on an release date.
Can you please give me a link to purchase otherwise im buying a Light phone
It hasn’t been released yet, and the Light Phone is far less functional.