The Bigme B751C Is a Good Color E-Reader With Frustrating Software
- The Good
- A decent color e-ink display
- Granular refresh rate and front light controls
- Google Play Store access
- Compatible with a stylus
The Bad- Persistent ghosting issues
- Weak front light
- Jammed with bloatware
- Poor battery life
- Possible compatibility issues
Table of Contents
When my colleague Michelle Ehrhardt reviewed the Kindle Colorsoft—Amazon's first color e-reader—her primary complaint was that it's kind of pointless to have a color e-ink device that can't run comics-friendly apps from the likes of Marvel, DC, and Viz. But while the Kindle is pretty much the Kleenex of e-readers in the U.S., some smaller companies are making comparably impressive devices that give users a lot more freedom to operate beyond the boundaries of the world's most ubiquitous retailer/tech company.
Bigme is a Chinese tech company that produces e-readers and tablets with e-ink screens. While its name and branding are likely to cause American consumers who have spent decades soaking in "China makes cheap junk" propaganda to raise an eyebrow, its offerings are far more varied than the likes offered by Amazon or Barnes & Noble. (Consider the Bigme Hibreak Pro—a full-fledged e-ink phone with the same form factor and capabilities of my beloved phone-shaped Boox Palma e-reader.)
One of them is the Bigme B751C, a color e-reader with the same screen (more or less) as the Colorsoft and an open Android operating system that takes care of Michelle's primary complaint about the flashiest new Kindle—with some significant caveats.
A color e-reader that does more
The thing about color e-ink devices is that all of them—whether from Amazon, Boox, Kobo, or Bigme—use the same screen technology, because only one company makes it. Like both the Kindle Colorsoft and the Boox Note Air 4C, the Bigme B751C has a Kaleido 3 display that can render 4,096 muted colors.
Despite using the same basic screen, Amazon boasts that it uses special technology to make color look better on the Colorsoft—but you're still trapped in the Amazon ecosystem, which doesn't allow you to install any third-party reading or comics apps, let alone games. The Bigme B751C has Google Play store access, which means you can install basically any app you want, from reading apps, to audiobook and music apps (there's both a fairly loud built-in speaker and support for your Bluetooth headphones, but no audio jack).
If you ask me, app store access is critical for any color e-reader, as apps are how I get most of my digital comics—it's much more cost-effective to subscribe to the Marvel or DC apps, which cost less per month than buying a single graphic novel via Amazon. (I maintain that, at $2.99/month, the Shonen Jump manga app is one of the best values among any "streaming" service.)
In addition to reading apps, you can also download social media apps, productivity apps like Gmail and Google Docs, and even streaming apps like YouTube and Netflix. That doesn't necessarily mean the app experience on an e-ink screen is going to be great, even with the Bigme's variable refresh rates and brightness and contrast settings, which allow you to customize visuals on a per-app basis. But you can do it if you want to.
Color requires compromise
Making color work on an e-reader involves inserting an extra layer between the outer glass screen and the black and white e-ink display (in this case, an E INK Carta 1200 with 1264×1680 resolution and 300ppi). The color layer has half the resolution of the black and white display (632×840 and 150ppi), but its presence also makes black and white content look worse: The background is darker, and though the text is equally crisp, it doesn't pop in quite the same way, even with the front light cranked all the way up.
Consider this comparison image, which places the Bigme next to my black and white-only Palma; in natural light with the front lights on both devices switched off, the former's display is significantly darker thanks to the insertion of the color layer.
...but at least the color is decent
If the option for color requires a tradeoff, the question is: Is it worth it? Provided you understand what's possible given the current state of color e-ink tech (reduced resolution, dull colors in comparison to what you'd see on a traditional LCD or OLED screen), I'd say yes—the Bigme B751C shows off color content about as well as the Boox Note Air 4C, which I recently reviewed.
As you can see from the above page from an issue of Wolverine from the Marvel comics app, colors don't exactly jump off the page, but you do at least get an impression of color (honestly, if vibrancy is a sticking point for you, suck it up and read on a traditional tablet). The larger problem, for me, is the reduced resolution; note the visible pixels, and how the small text becomes a bit harder to read.
Frequent refreshes are a must
While Bigme's software boasts a variety of refresh modes designed to make different types of content look their best, in practice, I find the Bigme struggles with ghosting when dealing with image-heavy content like graphic novels, no matter what setting you have it on.
The image below shows a splash page, again taken from the Marvel app, with the device in "Comic" mode. On the left is how it appeared immediately after turning the page—note the significant ghosting visible from the previous page. On the right is after I performed a manual refresh (which you can do at any time by swiping up from the bottom right of the screen). If you're going to be reading comics on this thing, you'll be needing to do that a lot.
Games and videos are a mixed bag
To paraphrase Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park, Bigme has given you the ability to download any app onto this device, without really considering whether you should. And while you can install YouTube or games like Subway Surfers, why would you? You doubtlessly already have a phone with a screen built for serving up video. You're probably not going to love using them very much on an e-reader, where the colors are duller and the detail a lot muddier.
I do think it's a good fit for low-motion games like Wordle or Solitare though—just nothing that requires a lot of visual precision.
A poor note-taking experience
I've recently tested high-end e-ink notebooks like the Supernote Manta and the reMarkable Paper Pro, and came away impressed: These devices do a great job of marrying the tactile pleasures of writing on paper with the organizational capabilities of a tablet. The Bigme B751C...not so much.
While the device is also sold as a bundle with a case and a battery-powered capacitive stylus for an extra $30, I recommend saving your money—I found the experience of writing on the screen to be so poor, I can never see myself actually using it under normal circumstances. The pen itself feels lightweight and cheap, and there's a large gap between the outer glass and the inner display, where your text actually appears—and that's not even getting into the unpleasantly slick sensation of moving the nib of the pen across the glass.
I also experienced significant lag, with the writing noticeably trailing my movements, while using both the default Notes app and Microsoft OneNote, which comes preinstalled (seems presumptuous of them). As a result, my usually passable handwriting looks nigh-illegible—defeating the purpose of the Original Character Recognition (OCR) tool that can turn your handwriting into text.
The Notes app includes all the features you'd expect (multiple writing implements with adjustable line widths, decent color, a variety of pre-set templates, linking functions), plus a few you might not (the automatic shape recognition, which makes certain shapes you draw look more uniform, is surprisingly good, dutifully recreating the usual circles and triangles, but also hearts, stars, and clouds). Unfortunately, the tactile experience is poor enough that I'd recommend an alternative if note-taking is of primary concern to you—personally, I wouldn't even use it to jot down a grocery list.
Underpowered; hampered by poor software
Much of the above is par for the course with other open Android-based e-readers I've tested. What sets the Bigme B751C behind the likes of the Note Air 4C, however, is that it feels like it is struggling to even hit that baseline. To put it simply, this device is sluggish, and the operating system running it (based on Android 11, which was first released in 2020 and is no longer receiving updates) feels underbaked.
The B751C is powered by an Octa-Core 2.3GHZ CPU with 4GB of RAM. I wasn't able to figure out exactly which chip it uses, but it definitely struggles to keep up with even basic functions. For example, simple page turns in the Kindle app are agonizingly slow, let alone flipping through a volume of One Piece in the Shonen Jump app.
Out of the box, I found the custom operating system deeply unpleasant to navigate my way through. It comes pre-loaded with a host of proprietary apps, including Notes, calendar and meeting apps, and a word processor, voice translations, and even an AI chatbot. I found all of them fairly slapdash, and immediately set about trying to delete them. Unfortunately, you can't remove most of them, but you can at least kick them off of the overcrowded home screen. Once I cleaned everything up, I found it much more palatable to use.
Even still, navigating through the various settings menus to adjust things to your liking is far more tedious than it should be, and the experience is made worse by frequent awkward wordings and odd translations (you'll never forget this is a device from a Chinese company).
The front light feels a little dim
Like most e-readers these days, the Bigme B751C has a temperature-adjustable front light that can go from warm to cool. You can choose from preset schedules (Daytime, Night, or "Bedding") or manually adjust them yourself. The front light controls are actually a lot more granular than with other devices I've tried, offering you 72 points of variance that you can adjust to your liking, but this is undercut somewhat by the fact that, even on the brightest setting, the light feels kinda dim, especially if you're viewing color content in a dark room.
A battery hog
One of the selling points of e-ink devices is that they sip power where an LCD or OLED tablet gulps it, but that doesn't quite hold true for the Bigme B751C. Its 2300mAh battery is no match for the power drain of running all of those fancy apps and high refresh rates with the front light on full blast (which is a must in all but the best lighting conditions). My son has been using it to plow through manga, and it'll regularly drain 20% or more during an hour-long reading session. It's not a dealbreaker by any means, but don't expect to go weeks between charges.
Possible compatibility issues
One of the benefits of an open Android e-reader is that it's easier to sideload content if you don't want to download it through an app. Personally, I have a huge collection of DRM-free e-books and comics that I was hoping to load onto it using my MacBook and a USB-C cable.
Unfortunately, despite lots of tinkering, testing, and reaching out to Bigme tech support, I was never able to get the device to mount on my laptop—Android File Transfer kept telling me it couldn't connect. There are workarounds for this, in theory, including an option to upload using a QR code, but they are more suited to transferring a few files from your smartphone than several hundred e-books from a laptop.
I can't speak to how nicely the Bigme plays with a PC, but Mac users should proceed with caution.
Great build quality
I've managed to get this far without noting that, quibbles with the software aside, this is a really well-built device. The glass screen, faux-metal frame, and textured leatherette backing combine to make it feel like something premium, and the two page-turn buttons (which can be mapped to other functions, like volume control, depending on what app you're using) are a nice bonus, especially considering Amazon doesn't offer them on any of its e-readers since discontinuing the much-loved Kindle Oasis. It's fairly light too, weighing in at 212g.
A good Kindle alternative
For all my quibbles about the Bigme B751C (starting with that name, which I'm incredibly sick of typing out this far into the review), the more I use it, the more I like it. Once you get past the unintuitive operating system and get everything customized to your liking, you're left with a capable little machine for reading books and comics (great!) and running other apps, if you must (not so great; ill-advised).
The biggest selling point: It costs $240, or around $40 less than the Kindle Colorsoft, and it does a heck of a lot more. (Just don't bother paying extra for the stylus.)
Bigme B751C specs
Display: 7-inch E INK Carta 1200, 1264×1680 and 300ppi (black and white); Kaleido 3, 632×840 and 150 PPI (color)
CPU: Octa-Core 2.3GHZ
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64GB
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 5 (2.4/5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0
Lighting: Front light with temperature adjustment
Operating system: Android 11
Battery/charging: 2300mAh via USB-C
Size: 136.2 x 155 x 7mm
Weight: 212g
MicroSD card support: Up to 1TB
