Yota phone is another reputed product in the market which was released in 2014 with 2 displays and certainly happy combination of LCD E-Ink which is a remarkable achievement in manufacturing. Considering the popularity of the handset the company decided to further improved its engineering expertise and produce better product, which it has done in shape of Yota Phone 2. The improvements and updates include fresh design, much better specs and a high resolution screen bigger than the predecessor. Simultaneously it has much improved software which allow you to use E-Ink screen with touch functionalities. Those who have used it have enjoyed it and particularly the E-Ink features.
Design and Display
There is not a big change in the shape and design of the Yota Phone and Yota Phone 2 and they are very much similar. However there is a very big change that it has a main screen on one side and E-Ink panel on the other side. The double face of Yota Phone 2 is actually the big change. All the control buttons are placed on the side of the device users will also find the micro USB port along with these control buttons. The right side of the handset houses the power button, volume control and nano SIM tray. The handset measures 144x69.5x8.9 mm and weighs 145 grams.The main screen measures 5 inches in size whereas we find equal size E Ink display on the other side. It has Super AMOLED display on both sides protected with Gorilla Glass having 442ppi density. Sun light readability is good. However the E-Ink display is 4.7 inches with high resolution that is 960 x 540. It is difficult to say which is the front side but E-Ink display is thought to be the back side of the handset.
Software and User Interface
Yota Phone 2 runs Android 4.4.3 Kitkat operating system with many Yota Phone apps. The interface of the handset is customizable and presents a pleasant look. The E-Ink screen also presence a pleasant look and provides easy reading feature. It does not have 3D gaming or Youtube display. Its back lit screen makes the reading easy and the users do not find any difficulty. Both the screens are capable of running the same apps with slight difference. The handset will receive the Lollipop updates in due course.
Processor and Memory
Yota Phone 2 has Snapdragon 800 system on chip with the speed of 2.2GHz. it has the power of 2 GB RAM that is something near the flagships spec and the handset is provided with 32 GB of on board memory which can not be extended with external microSD card. Considering the memory limit huge music collection and big video game files can not be carried in enough quantity. However 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 is good enough for smooth performance and speedy processing.
Camera
The two cameras in Yota Phone 2 are much improved than the cameras in predecessor. The front facing camera is 2.1 mega pixels whereas in Yota Phone it is only 1 MP. The new camera provides slightly better results and features video calling and selfies capabilities. There is a downward change in main camera that is from 13 Mp on the Yota Phone to 8 MP on Yota Phone 2. Considering the price of the handset this downward change is not much appreciated. The cameras use Android camera apps and some other moods are also available like panorama and photos sphear. It has optical image stabilization and produces good result in bright light.
Battery
Because of the many features installed in this handset it has sufficient long battery life. It is energized with 2500mAh battery and keep the handset on for many days on stand by. The mobile has many battery saving features therefore this 2500mAh battery keeps the light on for a pretty long time. It turns off many features automatically to save the battery power. Its E-Ink display gives the notifications in gray scale consuming less battery power but by habit users switch on the main screen to see the notification and use the applications. However despite many battery saving features there is nothing special about the battery.
Pros and Cons
It has strong and week points like any other thing. It has dual screen which is a real development in engineering. The E-Ink screen has been found to the really useful. The main AMOLED display is a good size and provides sufficient space to work. In performance it is really very efficient and has many other good points.
On the contrary it is a very expensive handset, therefore not very common in the low range market. This expensive device carries a mediocre camera and Yota phone software is still not perfect and it is not very comfortable to hold while looking at the other screen.
Price and Rivals
Yota Phone 2 is available in 20 countries of Europe, CIS and middle east. Against a price of $860 which makes it a very costly mobile. It is actually the E-Ink double screen that is demanding such a high price. Maybe in America it sales at slightly lower price. We can not compare it with any other device because none other handset has a secondary display of E Ink. If we talk about iPhone 6 it has good specs, unibody and efficient camera, QHD screen, finger print readers, health monitors and water and dust proof feature which Yota phone 2 lacks. Yota Phone 2 is a handset of its own type and can not be compared with any other smartphone, therefore in this regard there are no competitors. However the price will make the users think over go for Yota Phone 2 on some other low priced handsets without E-Ink display.
Conclusion
This is a unique smartphone in the market that has secondary E-Ink display. It has many battery saving features and if we used only E-Ink display the battery can go for long period. The E-Ink display provides alternate of main screen mirroring all the features of the main screen users can pushed all the apps on the E-Ink display economizing on the battery. Price is another factor that will restrict its popularity in the market for the common users.