Why not put the back of your phone to work

The back of smartphones often feels like wasted space, dominated by blank real estate with only the cameras serving a functional purpose. While adding a fully functioning screen to the back may seem like a solution, it comes with drawbacks like increased battery drain and cost. The idea of a secondary e-ink screen, like the one seen in the Yota Phone, isn’t entirely new but hasn’t seen widespread adoption.

The Infinix E-Color Shift aims to improve upon this concept by introducing color to the e-ink display. However, it’s more of an aesthetic addition than a fully functional secondary display. Despite its potential, the practicality of such a feature remains questionable, especially considering that the back of smartphones is often covered by cases or remains obscured during normal use.

The technology used in the Infinix E-Color Shift isn’t traditional e-ink, but rather a different approach that allows color particles to move and display desired colors by changing electric fields within microstructures. This innovative method enables the phone’s shell to change “skins” without consuming power. While not a fully developed product, the prototype showcased at MWC in Barcelona demonstrates this concept, though it required an external battery pack to function. Similar to e-ink, the back panel can hold a static image even when the battery isn’t actively powering the display.