Making your phone stand out in an increasingly crowded world of similar products isn't easy. You can cram a laser into the camera, try curving the display round the edge like the phone's melting, or, in the case of YotaPhone, slap a second display on the back.
The first YotaPhone was certainly novel, and its e-ink second display showed promise. Its poor quality and lack of compatible software meant it never really shone though. Not willing to throw in the towel, the Russian handset manufacturer is back with the second-generation YotaPhone -- the YotaPhone 2, would you believe? -- and it's seen a whole bunch of changes.
It's had a complete design overhaul, with better quality displays front and back, a more powerful processor and it makes better use of the e-ink screen. It's available to preorder in the UK and the rest of Europe from today direct from the company's website. Launches in the US and Australia are on the cards, but no official date has been confirmed.
It costs £550, SIM-free and unlocked, which converts directly to around $860 or AU$1,025. That puts it squarely in the price range of the smartphone elite -- blockbuster phones like the iPhone 6, Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Xperia Z3 and LG G3. Doing battle against these guys is difficult enough for established names, let alone for an unknown Russian brand. Its rear screen certainly makes it unique in the smartphone world -- no mean feat -- but is it enough to justify its high price?
Two screens
The entire point of the YotaPhone 2's existence is the second display on the back. It uses e-ink technology, which isn't backlit like typical LCDs and only uses power when it refreshes what's on screen. It's therefore incredibly power efficient. You'll find e-ink screens on Amazon's Kindles, whose batteries can last up to a month on a single charge.
On the YotaPhone, the idea is to use the LCD for tasks like Web browsing, texting, gaming or watching videos, and the e-ink side for reading e-books or other long pieces of text. Not using the LCD for long periods will save power and, as e-ink screens don't use backlights, it should be easier on your eyes too. At least, that's the theory.
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The YotaPhone 2's e-ink display is improved over its predecessor both in the quality of the display and what it can do. It has a 960x540-pixel resolution, up from the measly 640x360 pixels of the predecessor, which helps make text look sharper and more easily readable. It still has problems though.
Its biggest problem is with "ghosting". When the display refreshes what's on it, a faint trace of the previous screen is left behind. Although YotaPhone said this is a bug in the software and will be fixed, it was also a problem on the first model, so my hopes aren't high for a big improvement here. I'll update this review if an update arrives that fixes the issue.
The rear screen has three main modes: YotaCover, which acts as a lock screen, displaying images from your gallery; an Android-like set of four homescreens with widgets for weather, favourite contacts and app icons; and a mode where it simply shows the same Android interface you see on the LCD side.
