A few months back, we wrote about the YotaPhone and its unique concept. The article stated that the phone was currently available in Europe and days later would become available in Russia, Europe, the Middle East, and the CIS. While an exact US launch date was not given, it was expected that the US would get the YotaPhone in early 2015.
Fast forward to 2015, it appears that an early launch in the U.S might come to pass, but don’t get too excited just yet. Matthew Kelly, YotaPhone’s managing Director for the Americas, told PhoneScoop that the YotaPhone 2 will be launched in the U.S. this spring through the crowdfunding site Indiegogo. Like other Indiegogo campaigns, there will be incentives for early backers, but those incentives have yet to be defined. PhoneScoop states that some of the incentives could include a bumper case or a discount on the YotaPhone 2. So unless you are willing to be a backer of the YotaPhone 2, you will probably need to wait a little longer.
Excited? Here are the specs for the YotaPhone 2:
| Dimensions | 5.70 x 2.73 x .35 in |
| Weight | 5.11 oz |
| Display Size | 5.0 in |
| Back Display | Grayscale Capacitive Touchscree 4.7 in |
| Resolution | 1080 x 1920 (442 ppi) |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 |
| CPU | Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 |
| Storage | 32 GB |
| Memory | 2 GB RAM |
| Camera | 8MP |
| Video | 1080 x 1920 (1080p) |
| Battery | 2500 mAh (up to 41 hours talk time) |
For a phone that will be sold for around $600, this seems like a pretty good bang for your buck especially when you consider its dual screen feature. The e-Ink screen provides up to 100 hours of reading and full android functionality. To get a better idea of what you can do with the e-Ink screen, check out the video below:
The thought of being able to switch your screen to a more battery efficient e-Ink screen is a great feature, which could catch the eyes of those who are constantly worrying about the battery life on their smartphone. Add the ability to see your screen while walking down the road in the Arizona sun and you could have a phone that appeals to a mass market. The question remains, how large of a following can it capture within our Apple/Samsung dominated US market?
What are your thoughts? Will smartphone users leave the comfort of Apple and Samsung and take a risk with the YotaPhone 2? Is the e-Ink screen sufficiently compelling? Let us know in the comment section below.