YotaPhone 2 gets the teardown treatment at FCC

The dual-screen e-ink toting YotaPhone has been one of the more interesting smartphones to enter our radars for the past two years. Happily, it is making its way to the US this time around. But, naturally, the YotaPhone 2 has to stop by the FCC first for certification. And quite surprisingly, the smartphone's filing has more information than FCC sightings usually yield, including some photos of the innards of the device, as well as the user manual that clues us in on how the smartphone's rather ingenious features are meant to work.

Inside, the YotaPhone 2 isn't exactly special, bearing the hardware of an early 2014 flagship. This includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of storage, and a 2,500 mAh battery. There's also an 8 megapixel rear camera, 2 megapixels on the front, WiFi, and LTE support. Pretty much standard fare and in fact might be a bit dated now in 2015, but the YotaPhone 2 is definitely more than its parts.

The real highlights of the smartphone are the screens. On one side you have a 5-inch Full HD AMOLED display. Flip it over and you get the 4.7-inch 960x540 e-ink screen. Now this latter one is extra special because, unlike the first YotaPhone, it actually accepts touch input. That has opened up the display to much more uses than simply display static images or text, like receiving calls or even typing out text. And since the e-ink display only consumes power when the contents are changed, it makes for a perfect energy-saving, always on display. The contents displayed remain even when the battery is empty.

The user manual provides a few more information about that special part of the device. The e-paper display (EPD) can be used even for content that change regular over time, like notifications or social media feeds. Yota, the company making the phone, is even providing what it calls YotaPanels for putting in widgets that are designed specifically for the EPD screen. The YotaPhone 2 has a few widgets already built-in, like Counter, Messages, Email, Calendar, and whatnot, though it is conceivable that Yota will be opening up that space to third party developers.

Now that the YotaPhone 2 has hit the FCC, it is only a question of when before this rather peculiar but definitely enticing smartphone becomes commercially available in the US.

SOURCE: FCC

VIA: Liliputing