A few years ago, we tested the Infinix Concept Phone 2021, which offered an impressive 160W charging and had an electrochromic film on the back. The film changes the phone’s color from slate gray to steel blue.
Now, the company is back with a new prototype technology called E-Color Shift. This is a more advanced version of the same idea – the back of the phone can change color, only this time there are more colors to choose from, and the back is divided into separate sections (the color of each section can be controlled independently).
Infinix E-Color Shift technology prototype
This is done with E Ink Prism 3 and is no different than what you’d see in an e-book reader. This is very energy efficient as power is only required when changing colors – once set they remain fixed and consume zero power.
That said, this technique does a better job than fixing colors. The snippets can change colors very quickly—faster than you’re used to with an e-book reader. Here’s a quick demo:
This allows different animation loops to be loaded, and Infinix says that if this concept is used in a real device, there will be an app that allows you to customize the look of the phone by setting different colors or playing various animations.
But note that in the design above, there are only four sections in the 2×2 grid (the dark diamond pattern in the center is fixed). Still, it’s enough to create eye-catching animations.
Additionally, E Ink is not fixed to a rectangular shape, Infinix designers can use more free shapes, such as the stripes below:
As technology develops, there can be 60 or more customizable areas. But it’s not intended to be a second screen on the back, so don’t think about it from a resolution perspective – especially if the design uses complex shapes rather than a simple grid.
Infinix wants to give phones a dynamic look that changes every day or even every hour. Animations offer more customization options and are fast enough to use different animations for notifications (electrochromic films are too slow for this).
The company still needs to overcome some challenges before getting the technology into consumers’ hands – it believes the first consumer devices featuring Infinix E-Color Shift technology could be available within a year or two.