I finally found the e-ink monitor I've been waiting for, and it changes how I work

E Ink technology (or general ePaper) is one of my favorite things right now. I love it when technology tries to do something that's very niche, but very useful for the particular crowd it's aimed at, and these displays serve a specific purpose very well.

I've talked about a few devices like this in the past, from the ReMarkable tablet to the recent Boox Go (Gen II), but they left me wishing a screen like this could be used for a computer. It turns out such a screen does exist; it's made by a company called Bigme, and I finally got my hands on it. And I have to say, I love this idea, even if the execution isn't everything I'd want it to be.

Note: Bigme provided a unit of the Bigme B13 for he purposes of this article. The company provided no compensation nor did it provide any input into its content.

Why E Ink is so great

It's not for everyone, but I love it

E Ink is a technology brand, but it's often used interchangeably as the descriptor of the technology itself, which is more accurately called ePaper. As you might surmise from the name, the goal of this technology is to mimic the look and feel of paper, carrying a lot of the benefits and downsides that paper has over a typical digital screen.

The benefits are mostly focused on your health as well as power savings. ePaper displays function by having bubbles of ink that can move between layers on the screen. When something needs be drawn on the screen, those bits of ink move closer to the surface and become visible, and when that space needs to be cleared, the bubbles move back into the assembly so they're no longer visible.

Once the ink is in a specific position, maintaining that position requires basically no power, so a screen can display the same image indefinitely while barely using any power at all. And because it's ink, making the image visible requires no backlight, either. It's just like something printed on a book: all the printing does is change how light is reflected to change what you see on it, and it's the same here. So not only does it save a ton of power, but it's also much easier on the eyes, because there's no need for artificial light unless you're in a dark room.

E Ink technology was popularized by e-readers such as Amazon's Kindle precisely because of its impact on eye health when you're reading continuously. It's much easier on the eyes to read a book on one of these screens, and it works much better under bright sunlight, too.

It's probably not something you'd consider for a computer monitor, but I have tried to make this work in the past by using my Boox Go tablet as a wireless display. The thing is those benefits that make ePaper great can also work on a computer. Most of what I do in my day is write, and there should be no reason I need to look at harmful blue light for that whole time when an ePaper display can do that job just as well without that kind of strain.

However, this was a little clunky due to the extra delay added by the wireless communication, and it just resulted in a subpar experience. Plus, it's a very small screen to work on.

The Bigme B13 is exactly what I wanted

A proper ePaper portable monitor

I looked around for a while to try and find an ePaper computer monitor, and I finally managed to find the Bigme B13, which immediately piqued my curiosity. It's a 13.3-inch portable monitor using color ePaper technology, and with a fairly high resolution, too, at 3200x2400. Oddly enough, that's an old-school 4:3 aspect ratio, but that's not as bad as it used to sound. We've come to realize that taller screens have some notable benefits for productivity since they fit more vertical content, like text.

The panel boasts a 30Hz refresh rate, which is fairly high for an ePaper screen, along with color support, and it works surprisingly well. Unlike my makeshift wireless display tablet, the Bigme B13 feels very responsive. Of course, it's still ePaper so the mouse doesn't move super smoothly and I can't watch videos on it, but for everything requiring smaller motions, it works just as well as a normal display. I'm typing this entire article on this screen, and there's no perceptible delay that forces me to go back and fix something, and I can even do part of my research on it without having to rely on my laptop's main screen. It's very usable as a work display.

Plus, it also comes with an adjustable backlight, so if I happen to be in a dark room, I can make the screen visible and I have the option to change not only the brightness of the backlight, but also the color temperature, so I can still make it easier on the eyes. The monitor controls are very easy to use, too, because the screen actually supports touch input.

Whenever I need to work away from my desktop now, this has become my favorite monitor to take alongside my laptop, because I can use this experience that's much more comfortable when I'm typing for an extended period, and I can switch over to my main laptop display when I need to look at images or something with better color reproduction. An ePaper display like this doesn't make for a great primary monitor, but it's an amazing sidecar for my laptop.

There are some problems

Some refinements are in order

As much as I love the Bigme B13 just based on the concept alone and the fact that it works, there are some slight annoyances that surprised me considering this model launched as recently as last year. The most notable one is the fact that, for a portable monitor, it's pretty picky about how it's powered.

Most modern portable monitors are single-cable setups, and that's the whole point if you're trying to make something portable. USB-C ports can deliver plenty of power, so these monitors typically use a single USB-C port to power the display and send the video signal all in one go, and conversely, you may be able to plug a power adapter into the monitor itself and passthrough that power to your laptop.

That's not the case here. The Bigme B13 requires its own USB-C power adapter in addition to the USB-C (or mini HDMI) video input, and your laptop can't power it on its own. Likewise, the monitor itself won't charge your laptop, either, meaning you might need two power adapters to keep this setup going, unless you trust your laptop's battery to last long enough on its own. This makes things unnecessarily clunky and really takes away from the portability. I was always in places where I had two outlets available, but that won't always be the case if you're traveling.

Another issue I've noticed is that, while the touch input can be used to control your connected PC, it seems like the input is registered on your main screen, not the Bigme monitor itself. Essentially, your touches are mapped to the equivalent location on your main screen, not where you're actually touching on the Bigme B13.

Finally, I've noticed that the contrast on the Bigme B13 is actually not as high as I would like. Despite using ePaper, the screen somehow appears dim, and the contrast between white and black portions of the image could be higher. Putting my Boox tablet next to this screen, it's definitely easier to read without the backlight. I feel like I need the backlight more with this screen.

You probably shouldn't buy it

But I want more devices like this

Considering this display costs $679, I can't really say you should buy the Bigme B13. It's just too expensive compared to a more standard portable monitor, and that could be excused if the execution was perfect, but it isn't. The flaws may not be huge, but at this price, it's just too much.

But even with its flaws and quirks, the Bigme B13 is one of my favorite devices out there, which is partly because it's pretty much the only ePaper or E Ink monitor you can really buy. I've seen mentions of a few others, but none that I can actually buy, and even when I asked Boox about a desktop monitor mentioned on its website, it seems like it's been discontinued.

The idea of an ePaper display for writing and reading is just too appealing. I spend all day looking at screens for work, and my biggest hobby is gaming, which involves more screens. I'll happily take a display that gives my eyes more of a chance to rest, and I'm just surprised that there isn't anything else like this out there. In an increasingly digital world, I think these screens can fill an important niche for a lot of people. I hope more companies will take notice and produce this kind of screen, as well as make it cheaper.