Hisense A5C, A5 Pro CC, color e-ink phones

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

Not sure about what other phone would be similar in size. However, I did find something on Aliexpress for the A5 Pro model.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...archweb201603_

Given how cheap it is, I thought I would give it a try. Will let you know what it is like when it eventually arrives which could be upwards of 60 days.

Well, it arrived today. Perfect fit. Nice to have a bit of protection in case of accidents. Can't believe how cheap it was.

[norweger]

I got the Hisense A5 Pro CC today. Whoa, what a speed. Gotta love that, and thanks Question Mark for telling me about it earlier. I have only used it for like half an hour now, but find it harder on the eyes than the Onyx Boox.

Could very well be due to the dotted screen, dotted also when reading, and it looks like, and I may be wrong, that the regular Hisense A5 Pro is better in this respect.



But you gotta love the speed, and hopefully Onyx will give us stronger or equally strong processors soon.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by norweger

I got the Hisense A5 Pro CC today. Whoa, what a speed. Gotta love that, and thanks Question Mark for telling me about it earlier. I have only used it for like half an hour now, but find it harder on the eyes than the Onyx Boox.

Could very well be due to the dotted screen, dotted also when reading, and it looks like, and I may be wrong, that the regular Hisense A5 Pro is better in this respect.

Sorry to hear that you're finding it harder on your eyes than the Onyx Boox. It could be a combination of the dotted screen and needing the frontlight on a higher setting due to the darker screen.

The A5 Pro would provide a crisper image. This is even true for the regular A5 which I have.

I opted for the A5 Pro CC despite knowing some of its drawbacks (dotted, darker screen) because I already had the A5 and because I wanted the slight bit of colour for using with maps. Fortunately, my eyes are not bothered by the screen or the light at all and so I actually prefer casual reading on both my A5 and my A5 Pro CC to my Onyx devices. I now reserve them for note taking/sketching and reading PDFs.

Originally Posted by norweger

But you gotta love the speed, and hopefully Onyx will give us stronger or equally strong processors soon.

The speed and snappiness of the Hisense devices is amazing. Even the regular A5 is more responsive than my Onyx devices despite not having the newer specs of the Pro models. Hopefully, Onyx will take note.

[norweger]

Thanks again, I truly appreciate your posts.

I don't know exactly what it is with the Hisense A5 Pro CC screen. I turned the lights off like you suggested, it made it better, but still it's hard on the eyes.

It could be that the screen's darker, yes, so I need more ambient light, and turned the ambien light down to the right amount helps some. It's likely that it's hard on the eyes due to be the dots and resolution, and it might be partly due to them opting for a glossy display, but I doubt it, though I wish they would have made it matte.

Anyways it is tiring for the eyes even without the front light, so I will see how the return process works at Aliexpress. Something tells me it ain't gonna be an express process. More likely a Kafka process.

But the phone, I am studying it to see if the Hisense A5 Pro black & white version could be okay for my use. So ...

From the web:
I downloaded UpToDown
I downloaded F-Droid

From F-Droid:
I downloaded Aurora Store. And, if someone else does, for the love of God, use the Anonymous option on Aurora Store. Aurora Store is like Google Play without being able to purchase apps.

On Aurora Store I got Gboard. Damn what a relief that it works. Now I can type without switching from Chinese to English every time.

I got Chrome, on UpToDown, that works fine.

I got Anki, and for spelling cards, typing with Gboard isn't too slow, it's fine really, but it takes somewhat too long to get the Gboard up in each typing card. But it takes only like four minutes to really feel eye strain.

I got Quizlet, an old version from UpToDown, and that worked well. Fast, but not sure if fast enough for ease of use. Either almost fast enough, or fast enough. Haven't experimented much yet.

I got Echohacks, but it fails after some 10 seconds, like it's always done on newer os of Android. That was expected.

Got some more testing to do. Those apps, especially, using them more, but also Listen Audiobook Player and some workout apps.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by norweger

It's likely that it's hard on the eyes due to be the dots and resolution, and it might be partly due to them opting for a glossy display, but I doubt it, though I wish they would have made it matte.

Yours didn't come with a matte screen protector already applied?

Both my A5 and my A5 Pro CC came with a matte screen protector already applied straight out of the box.

I had read some early reports that the A5 Pro CC shipped with a glossy screen protector. I wasn't looking forward to that. Fortunately, mine has a matte screen protector.

I saw a comparison somewhere that the colour was actually a little better and images a little crisper without any screen protector. But from the little which I can see of the screen, it is just too glossy so I will leave my matte screen protector on. I'm not overly fond of looking into a mirror when reading.

[norweger]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

Yours didn't come with a matte screen protector already applied?

Nope, regretfully I didn't get it either applied or non-applied. Do you know of a place to get the Pro A5 non-color version with matte?

My color phone: today I got an email from AliExpress titled "Bad News", even though I haven't filed for return yet. But I am done exploring the phone, and I am pretty sure a B&W version will be wonderful for my reading.

READING
• FBReader. Works well. Haven't tried Premium with Google Translate, but works with ColorDict.
• AnkiDroid. Works for adding cards from FBReader, and also works fine enough for reviewing.

LEARNING and PRODUCTIVITY
• Listen Audiobook Player. Works.
• YouTube. Will apparently work, according to redditor who's installed Gapps.
• Quizlet. Works okayish. Fine enough. Though slow without speed mode. (But at the time of writing, my phone switches from clear mode in FBReader to speed mode in Quizlet when I switch apps, so seems like it remembers the last setting in that app, at least that's what happened when using it now)
• Dropbox. Worked fine to download and open. Haven't explored it further.
• Dropsync. Worked fine to download and open. Haven't explored it further.
• EchoHacks. Doesn't work, like on other new Android Os devices.

RUNNING
• Deezer music app. Worked.
• Haven't bothered with checking exercise apps. Will maybe do it later when I get the B&W version.

Some of these apps may drain the phone of battery, as it went to zero soon after I started installing and playing around with them. There's a battery saving mode I didn't try.

Some fun things. The phone has a button dedicated to speech, like a Chinese Siri; not sure what utility it has for us Westerners, and it's got Split Screen (three fingers up to activate), which works for like Chrome and Dropbox.

I am not sure all the aforementioned apps will work without Google Play Services, when I start using them proper, but that said I can't really say I've missed Google Play so far. It's worked pretty much fine without it, except that I'd get Listen Audiobook Player installed in a more smooth fashion. All in all, to be an e-ink device: great work by Hisense.

[norweger]

Enter Aliexpress purgatory.

I bought the phone. The seller explicitly said 14 day return policy. I clicked return. Now he gives no reason for his decline just writes "no,sorry" and "No return & No refund"

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by norweger

Enter Aliexpress purgatory.

I bought the phone. The seller explicitly said 14 day return policy. I clicked return. Now he gives no reason for his decline just writes "no,sorry" and "No return & No refund"

Aliexpress:
from which shop did you buy - there are a lot?

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by norweger

Enter Aliexpress purgatory.

I bought the phone. The seller explicitly said 14 day return policy. I clicked return. Now he gives no reason for his decline just writes "no,sorry" and "No return & No refund"

Sorry to hear that. My last attempt trying to purchase a phone off of a vendor on Aliexpress soured me on the experience. I did eventually get my money back for a phone which the vendor had only pretended to ship. However, the process involved in doing so was a headache. I'd rather pay a few extra dollars and purchase from CECT Shop.

I will now only use Aliexpress for inexpensive items such as a bumper case for a phone.

Best of luck.

[jago25_98]

I live in Hong Kong, China.

I've bought stuff from over the border and it's arrived water damaged before. Getting a refund was very difficult due to aggressive currency controls and import/export controls.

But the Hisense is the only option for a phone sized device. I think I have to take the risk because I don't see any other option any time soon.

There's quite a bit of bad whispers coming out of forums here and there. First, problems in cold weather. Second, potential screen damage from humidity? Both of these would be due to poor sealing. Is there a case that can fully seal the device?

As tempting as it is, I can't buy something that's that badly made. But at the same time I need a bit more than a rumor to be sure.

[norweger]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

Aliexpress:
from which shop did you buy - there are a lot?

"chinaphone Store"

Originally Posted by Question Mark

Sorry to hear that. My last attempt trying to purchase a phone off of a vendor on Aliexpress soured me on the experience. I did eventually get my money back for a phone which the vendor had only pretended to ship. However, the process involved in doing so was a headache. I'd rather pay a few extra dollars and purchase from CECT Shop.

I will now only use Aliexpress for inexpensive items such as a bumper case for a phone.

Best of luck.

I am sorry to hear that too. Pretending to ship, that is the absolute worst. Last time I was ripped off on Aliexpress I must have spent thirty hours resolving it, in four rounds. Always getting the same message from customer service "We will fix this right away", and the seller giving nothing but radio silence. And he is still allowed to trade on their platform.

Thanks for the good luck wishes. I will need it.

Originally Posted by jago25_98

I live in Hong Kong, China.

I've bought stuff from over the border and it's arrived water damaged before. Getting a refund was very difficult due to aggressive currency controls and import/export controls.

But the Hisense is the only option for a phone sized device. I think I have to take the risk because I don't see any other option any time soon.

There's quite a bit of bad whispers coming out of forums here and there. First, problems in cold weather. Second, potential screen damage from humidity? Both of these would be due to poor sealing. Is there a case that can fully seal the device?

As tempting as it is, I can't buy something that's that badly made. But at the same time I need a bit more than a rumor to be sure.

Ay, caramba! I plan to use the Hisense A5 Pro for all things books. E-books, audiobooks, and I listen to audiobooks outside, with the phone in my pocket, in cold weather. Could you point us to the place where it says it gets trouble in cold weather? If it has such problems, I sure would like a tight case. I use a see thru pouch for my old phone, if I use it for audiobooks, in bad weather.

EDIT: If there is an honest soul who wishes to swap his Hisense A5 Pro for my Hisense A5 Pro CC I am in.

EDIT2: Fool me once ... I got a note from the seller that he'll accept a return and refund, of 300$ of the total of 355.05$. I will send it back, but it might very well end up with the seller claiming he's never got it, and all is lost. Hoping for the best, though. Getting the refund.

[Markismus]

I just ordered the Pro CC from CECT-shop.

What'll be interesting is the performance of the device. Does the fingerprint scanner work better than iPhone6 (I hate it! My fingers are apparently unrecognizable.) Does the NFC work? Does the face recognition work? Do the Bluetooth and WiFi have separate antenna's? Most of all: How it reads?!

Anyone any experience to share?

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by norweger

EDIT2: Fool me once ... I got a note from the seller that he'll accept a return and refund, of 300$ of the total of 355.05$. I will send it back, but it might very well end up with the seller claiming he's never got it, and all is lost. Hoping for the best, though. Getting the refund.

Hope that works out for you.

If, for some reason, you end back up with the A5 Pro CC, I have just discovered a setting which I hadn't previously noticed. It is under the Display and Brightness area in Settings. It is called Classic E-ink Screen Mode. When you enable this mode, the phone only displays blacks and whites and greys, just like on a regular e-ink device. I don't notice the grid effect as much with it enabled, not that it bothers me anyway.

I don't know whether this feature has been there all along or whether it is new because I recently received a firmware update after not having had the phone connected to the internet in months.

[norweger]

That would've been interesting to try, and thanks for brining it up, Mark. But the phone is in transit now, in Shenzhen according to the tracking; I'll give it a fair chance I'll get a refund, albeit it's far from certain.

[mdp]

Posting here as I am not seeing a more specific thread, and I guess this is one of the places where we discussed Kaleido the most.

It seems a new Kaleido is forthcoming, due for 2021.

Companies are able to use a layer of glass, as well as non-glass based displays. The refresh rate on color will be as fast as B&W e-paper. There will be improved color and contrast performance and reduced graininess

From: https://goodereader.com/blog/electro...-color-e-paper