I have been looking at this product from eInk:
E Ink Online Shop - ePaper Display Kits’'KaleidoPlusePaperDisplay(SC1452-FOA)
They do not sell to consumers, so it will need to be done as a kickstarter or similar.
My goal is to replace my Yotaphone which is now 5 years old and starting to show signs of use. The HiSense5 does not meet all my criteria, so not really an option as of now.
I have also considered taking parts from a YotaPhone and with some modifications to get them to work on a FairPhone, not sure if anyone has tried this yet?
Any suggestions, help, or ideas on how to go forward with this would be greatly appreciated.
1 Like
I’m really interested in doing something like that, I’ve been looking into it and the closest I’ve found is this.
But I can’t justify spending the money if I don’t even have a good idea of how to make an adapter for the screen
The screen you’re looking at is not a bad option but the size is a bit weird for a phone. Another reason why this project is so hard, you need a touch eink screen with the right size and have it be compatible with an adapter to connect it to the phone
If you want help I’m willing to lend my expertise, my best idea up to now is not to try and connect it using the connector that is made for the screen, but connect it with the USB C Port.
If you figure something out I would love to hear it
p.s. I like your name
Hi Atlantian, nice find with that screen. I wonder if this case could be modified to fit the Fairphone inside, or behind. That would already be a start.
The connectors are where it gets a little tricky for me. I like your idea of using the USB-C, since this has the possibility of bypassing the internal wiring and decoding and could simplify things, at least for a poc.
I was hoping to hear something from the people at eInk, I’m guessing its wishful thinking at this time though and I am fairly certain the message I sent to them is not going to get much attention with them.
ps. thanks for the note on the name 
Ever since my eyes got slightly damaged from using my iPhone 3 too much, I have been looking for solutions for people with sensitive eyes. When the Yotaphone came out it was such a lifesaver since it was a fully functional phone with a fully functional eInk screen. I had version 2 and version 3. But even the version 3 is now several years old and there is no sign of a replacement coming on the market. I believe that if it was possible to get a first version going on a more open platform, such as the Fairphone, that it could help the market develop for people who really need it.
I don’t know if that’s the best solution because the physical buttons and antennas are glued to the housing (at least for my fairphone 4, I haven’t opened a for yet) it could still work without the antennas and we could make replacement buttons, but the signal strength would be a good bit lower and we would lose the finger print scanner.
And for the USBC, in the fp4 there’s a hole in the housing right under the USB connector so if we can find a connector to put in-between the motherboard and the USB cable, we could make it look like nothing is sticking out.
We would lose most of the functionality of the USB (apart from charging maybe) but we might able to make a small USB hub to keep the functionality (almost) like normal
So I looked a little more into it and I found a way we could do it.
This is basically a phone size device that mirrors your phone on a eink display.
The problem is that you seem to need the companion app and it’s 329 USD$.
I’m not willing to spend that much on the project and it’s really hard to find info on the product/company so I don’t know if I trust them
Someone sent me this link, and I thought they might be on to something: TCL 40 NXTPAPER | Full-color Electronic Paper Display | TCL Global
and then I read more and found out its not eInk at all, just a more techified LED screen. So, for me a no go.
So far, this one is the closest for me since it is a finished product, and seems as though it might work. I find the price a bit high for something that requires a phone. I looked at the tablet they offer at Dasung, it seems to have the Android App Store, and all the apps can be installed for use. This would allow for calls over Signal or WhatsApp, and even browser calls using Google Voice or Skype.
I left a message with Dasung to ask if they would consider designing a screen that could be installed into the FairPhone. Seems like a stretch, but if you don’t ask…