YotaPhone 2 enters the US via Indiegogo
After months of waiting, years if you count the first YotaPhone, the two-faced, and we mean that kindly, smartphone is ready to enter the US market. But now, you won't be able to get the YotaPhone 2 off your favorite carrier or from a retailer. At least not yet. Russian company Yota is perhaps still testing the North American waters and will be coursing the dual display AMOLED and e-ink smartphone via an Indiegogo campaign instead. Which should probably give them a more or less accurate assessment for the YotaPhone 2's demand.
The second in the line, the YotaPhone 2 considerably improves the design of the first smartphone, to the point that the older YotaPhone is being billed now as more of a proof of concept than an actual retail device. The form definitely looks more refined, exuding curves and a more polished look. The integration of the e-ink display is also more thought out and now more featured.
In terms of hardware, though, the YotaPhone 2 might worry some, looking like a 2015 mid-ranger. That means a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of storage, a 5-inch Full HD AMOLED display, an 8 megapixel rear camera, support for Wireless Charging as well as Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, and NFC. For what it's worth, aside from the AMOLED display, it is practically the same specs as the Nexus 5, which is still considered to be one of the better Android smartphones.
Of course, the real killer feature of the YotaPhone 2 is it's 4.7 inch Electronic Paper Display or EPD, the first, but no longer only, smartphone to put the technology on the back of the phone. More than just a display for static content and books, however, YotaPhone 2 ups the ante by making that display touchsensitive as well, allowing users to interact with content, without the need to open up the normal colored smartphone display. With access to information from widgets, messages, and even social network updates, you might not even need to turn that display on for hours or even days, further prolonging the battery life.
Yota will be using Indiegogo not just gauge interest but also to raise funds to support certifications and regulatory fees, which it expects will need $50,000. Given the price it is asking for each YotaPhone 2 pre-order, however, that might not be that hard to reach. It might also be the biggest discouraging factor. The retail price of the YotaPhone 2 is around $600 but during the campaign, backers can get it for $500. There will even be a $75 discount during the first 48 hours of the campaign's launch. Those pre-order backers will also get access to three months of BookMate as well as a special bumper case. The Indiegogo campaign will also showcase new Yota-exclusive apps like YotaFitness, YotaRemote, YotaNotes and YotaSports as well as a preview of the Android 5.0 update that will be coming the device this summer.
SOURCE: Indiegogo