YotaPhone 2: An Android smartphone with two displays

Summary: Want an Android smartphone, but want something that's a bit different? How about a handset that has two displays? Yes, you read that right. Two displays.

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes for Hardware 2.0 | December 3, 2014 -- 18:58 GMT

(Image: YotaPhone)

Want an Android smartphone, but want something that's a bit different? How about a handset that has two displays?

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Yes, you read that right. Two displays.

The YotaPhone 2 features a 5-inch front-facing 1920 by 1080 AMOLED 'retina' display (it has a pixel density of 442ppi), and on the back in a 4.7-inch, 16-level grayscale 960 by 540 e-ink display (235ppi pixel density) display. It is an upgrade to the original dual-display YotaPhone, which suggests that there is a demand for a handset with a second screen.

Both displays are touch-sensitive, and both are protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

The second display opens up a whole raft of possibilities, from simply mirroring the main display on the back to having it display notifications or a photo. Is it a gimmick? Sure, but it's still a cool idea, and one that I'm surprised hasn't been adopted by a bigger hardware maker.

Beyond the display, the YotaPhone 2 is a pretty standard high-end Android smartphone. It runs Android 4.4 KitKat and is powered by a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800. It has 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, and has a full compliment of sensors (accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and ambient light sensor).

Main display: 5-inch, 1920x1080 AMOLED, capacitive touch, 442 pixels-per-inch, Corning Gorilla Glass 3Rear display: 4.7-inch, 960x540, 16-level grayscale e-ink display, 235 pixels-per-inch, Corning Gorilla Glass 3CPU: 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800RAM: 2GBStorage: 32GBRear-facing camera: 8MP with LED flashFront-facing camera: 2.1MPSensors: Accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor, ambient light sensorBattery: 2500mAh with wireless chargingConnectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, microUSB 2.0 Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, A-GPS + GLONASS

The YotaPhone 2 has gone on sale in Europe and costs €700 (around $850), so this is a piece of hardware with a premium price tag. But it's also an interesting idea, and your money certainly buys you something more interesting than an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy S5. You're certainly getting something that's at the very least going to be a talking point, and which, depending on your usage, could be useful.

See also:

Topics: Mobility, Android, Hardware, Smartphones

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

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