The dual-screen Yotaone 2 is a much-improved version of its predecessor, the electronic paper display is far from a gimmick. But the high price tag makes actually buying one a little nutty.
t’s get something out of the way first before we get back to the price: I can’t help but be impressed by Yota Devices, because the company has done something truly different in a smartphone market that has become too homogenous. I also think the combination of a regular smartphone screen a paper display on the back is a great idea.
en reading emails, news, Twitter messages Facebook posts you don’t really need 16 million colors, making the paper display useful for more than just reading books, which it’s of course also good for.
nasThe Yotaone 2 can be used as an e-reader for up to five days.
The innards the front of the Yotaone 2 have the specs of a high-end smartphone from last year, with a 5-inch full HD screen a Snapdragon 800 processor. The plastic design, which was chosen to keep the weight down, also feels aged. That’s nothing to be ashamed of, but it means the smartphone can’t keep up with more recent flagship models.
But in the end, it’s the back that matters most on the Yotaone 2. The touch-enabled 4.7-inch paper display has a 960 by 540 pixel resolution. The quality is impressive, especially when using applications that have been developed for the Yotaone. en mirroring a regular Android app from the front screen, the quality drops, but is still serviceable.
The big advantage with the paper display is the increased battery life—up to five days when using it as an e-reader up to two days when using the paper display as a smartphone, Yota promises. The problem for the company is that features for extending battery life have become much more common, which makes it less of a differentiator compared to a year ago.
The new Yotaone is also launching at a time when smartphone buyers have more great devices to choose from than ever before.
nasThe Yotaone 2 has a stard 5-inch screen on one side.
There are affordable devices like Motorola’s Moto G. There are also a whole slew of high-end smartphones that were launched during the first half of the year have become much cheaper, including the G3 from Electronics. st but not least, users have new products such as Apple’s ione 6s, the Galaxy Note 4 from Samsung ’s Nexus 6 (if you are lucky enough to get a hold of one) to choose between.
For example, instead of spending £555, including tax, ($870) to buy a Yotaone in the U.K., you could buy the G3, a Kindle perwhite an extra battery pack, still have £100 left over. I would much rather go for that, but I hope there are enough people that will go for the Yotaone 2, because the world is just a bit more fun with companies like Yota in it.
The smartphone has started shipping in Europe the Middle East. It will also be available in Hong Kong by the end of the month Taiwan as well as China in the first quarter of next year. It will go on sale in the U.S., Canada tin America soon after that.
