Table of Contents
Yota Devices is a Russian firm that entered the mental space of tech enthusiasts in all places with the debut of the unique YotaPhone a couple of years in the past., it launched the YotaPhone 2, a 2nd-gen phone that greatly improved on the unique idea. The YotaPhone 2 is a surprisingly capable, well equipped Android phone – which occurs to even have the clever addition of a 2nd, fully touch sensitive e-ink display screen, all comes in a very smartly designed package.
YotaPhone 2: Design
If you have seen the original YotaPhone, you will most likely agree that it does not appear like a finished product. However, the YotaPhone 2 seems to be and feels nice. From the front, it could possibly be one of many black smartphones however flip it over and there is no mistaking it from every other handset.
The rear e-ink display covered by 3D curved matte finish Gorilla glass is stunning giving a very premium and unique sense. Not only does it offered needed grip, it additionally avoids getting grubby with fingerprints and the like – important considering it acts as the rear cover when you are utilizing the front display.
Considering the device has 2 screens, it is very impressive that the device remains to be simply as thin and light-weight as all those phones on the market with a measly single display. It is just 8.9 mm thick and 145 g. It is a similar size to the Google Nexus 5 for comparison.
Overall the design is sort of simplistic. We just like the stealthy, minimalist look and the clever way the nano-SIM card slot additionally doubles up as the volume button. There is no water proof rating however we expect we can let Yota off considering there are 2 screens.
YotaPhone 2: Display
On the other side of the 4.7 inch E Ink display screen is a 5 inch AMOLED display. The latter has a 1080p resolution, however suffers from poor colour accuracy: it tends to oversaturate the image and renders tomato reds in a carrot like orange. These are not new issues for OLED displays, and they are actually tolerable in daily use, however the current excellence of the Samsung Galaxy S6 has raised the bar of expectations and the YotaPhone 2 simply cannot compete. Yota clearly needed to cut some corners with a purpose to fit inside budget, and it is elected to sacrifice some quality on the front for the greater versatility of having a display on the back.
YotaPhone 2: Camera
YotaPhone 2: Software
Yota has opted for Android 4.4 (Kitkat) for the YotaPhone 2 and has left things fully vanilla which is a good move if you ask us. Essentially, the firm thinks Google has executed a terrific job with the operating system so does not feel the necessity to change or add anything. And it’ll get upgraded to Android 5.0 Lollipop.
The firm has added a number of bits of software though, all of which relate to the 2nd display. That is completely understandable as there must be way to handle and control what’s happening on the back. We have covered the software related to the e-ink display earlier within the review, so scroll back up if you missed it.
YotaPhone 2: Battery
Battery life, on the other hand, is an area where the YotaPhone 2 has an obvious benefit over its competition, however you will have to use it the way it’s intended to be used. Running it as a regular Android phone, I found it to be, once again, mediocre. It is while you begin trusting the E Ink display to be a useful alternative to the OLED one that you’ll actually notice a difference. I was able to extend the typical one day battery life to greater than two after I committed to checking things on the e-paper display.
YotaPhone 2: Specification
- OS: Android 4.3
- Body: 144.9 x 69.4 x 9 mm
- Weight: 145 g
- Display: 1080 x 1920 pixels , 5 inches; Secondary Display: 540 x 960 pixels, 4.7 inches
- Memory: 32 GB internal, no expandable, 2 GB RAM
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
- Camera: 8 MP, 2.1 secondary
- Battery: 2500 mAh
YotaPhone 2: Verdict
There are lots of things to love about the YotaPhone 2 and we applaud the corporate for doing something completely different. The design is excellent and if you’d like a dual-screen smartphone that is the one for you (ie. do not buy the unique). Although the idea works pretty effectively and there is potential for great battery life, there are a few downfalls. We are mainly upset by the slow nature of utilizing the e-ink display screen and the awful ghosting.
[rwp-review-recap id=”0″]