[rwp-review id=”0″]
Android phones come in as many shapes and sizes as the fragmented OS itself, and capturing market share is certainly a challenge for any company. While manufacturers strive to differentiate themselves from the rest through bloatware, features people would never use, and even hybrid camera phones, Yota has taken its YotaPhone from a gimmicky, blocky kindle/phone prototype to a fully functional hybrid phone that exceeded my expectations. The YotaPhone 2 is surprisingly good and pleasant to use, and while it has its shortcomings, it is without a doubt a geek’s choice in its uniqueness.
Design
It’s impossible to not talk about the design. After all, the YotaPhone 2 is essentially two-in-one devices. The first thing you would probably look at is the e-ink screen, which serves as the back of the phone. As far as phone backs and covers are concerned, this is the best one I have ever held in my hands to date.
Yes, it isn’t iPhone metal. But that’s not the point. The phone is so comfortable to hold and use that I found my iPhone 6 to fall short on its design elements. Yes, the iPhone 6 is a fine piece of engineering art, but the curvature of the YotaPhone 2 helps it feel more natural in your hands. The bottom and top bezels are extra curvy, and the phone has absolutely no rough edges whatsoever.
It also helps that the phone feels premium, despite it being plastic. It is soft on the sides and the e-ink screen on the back has a matte feel to it that gives you an extra grip when you’re looking at the main screen – something you won’t do as often I must admit (at least initially).
The phone is 144.9 x 69.4 x 8.95 mm, and while it looks bigger than the Nexus 5, in reality it’s easier and more comfortable to use.
The front screen
The normal screen is 5-inch, full HD and AMOLED, which means the saturation is through the roof. If I really had something “bad” to say about this phone it is the front screen. Many people love the AMOLED but I prefer more subdued colours reproduced by an IPS screen. Unlike in Samsung phones, you can’t change the colour contrast, so you’re stuck with what you have. Again, it isn’t bad at all, just a preference.
Another thing you may notice (if you have eagle eyes) is that the coating alters the white balance depending on the angle. Looking straight at the screen gives it a slightly warm white balance, whereas tilting it slightly at any other direction renders a coolers white balance. If this is all nonsense to you, then there’s really little to no reason to worry about. The screen is sharp, big, and colourful, making your web browsing, video watching, and Instagram flicking a delight.
That e-ink screen
The main attraction of the phone is its e-ink screen, and while it would be looked upon as a gimmick, it provides really good functionality beyond the obvious e-reading pleasure.
Of course, reading anything on the e-ink screen is quite an experience. It’s just easy on the eyes and, on a bright sunny day, the e-ink screen is actually my main screen; the AMOLED struggles against Dubai’s infamously bright sun.
But more so than just reading, there are other real and tangible uses for the back screen for readers and non-readers alike. To begin with, the screen is always on, and by default displays time, date, weather, and notifications. It’s incredibly handy and really beautiful to look at; many of my colleagues and friends have been intrigued by the phone and were mesmerised by the screen’s beauty and usefulness. It also helps that the weather and time widgets are well-designed; Burj Al Arab shows in lovely e-ink and I never tire from it.
The widgets on the e-ink screen are completely customisable, too. There are preset screens with widgets, but you can customise each to your heart’s content. Calendars, agendas, emails, missed calls – almost everything you would ever want to see immediately can be configured on the e-ink screen. Reminders also pop up quite nicely; meetings notifications, calls and missed calls, text messages and app-notifications all show on the e-ink screen.
Beyond notifications and widgets, the e-ink screen as phone-wide uses as well. You can access the dialer and make phone calls. You can check and reply to emails. And while the screen is slow in responsiveness compared to the AMOLED screen (typical of e-ink screens), it grows on you once you know its limits and composing/replying to emails is not difficult at all. Again, it takes a bit of time, but once you get the hang of it, the e-ink screen is almost indispensable.
The phone also comes bundled with some apps and games that run on the e-ink screen, such as Sudoku and chess.
More importantly, though, is that you have the option to fully mirror your android experience on the e-ink screen. You’ll have access to everything, and all games and apps, on the e-ink screen and it’s a novelty to browse Facebook, twitter, and instagram on e-ink. It’s very low-powered, significantly extending your battery life. For one day, I stayed on wifi and exclusively used the e-ink screen the whole day and it gave me a battery life of 3 and a half days. In some situations this could be a life-saver; simply switch to the e-ink screen to save battery until you’re home or have access to power. And during the day outside, the e-ink screen will be your go-to screen considering how it functions and renders everything.
Camera
The camera is pretty average: 8MP rear and 2.1MP front, and the image quality is OK at best. The front camera produces fuzzy images and the metering is terrible, but thankfully you can use the rear camera for a selfie if you use the camera from the e-ink screen. The rear camera makes decent images, but nothing special to talk about and definitely not one of the best cameras out in the market. In some situations it is less than average even, but overall they’re usable. HDR, though, should be avoided at all costs.
Performance
The phone is powered by a 2500mAh battery that does an average job running the AMOLED screen with normal use (around afternoon), but the e-ink screen can easily extend the use for a full day and more. Using the e-ink screen for the bulk of your work can in theory have you run the phone for 2-3 days, although realistically a combination of both screens can allow for a full day’s worth of use.
The YotaPhone 2 is powered by Snapdragon quad-core 800 processor clocked at 2.2GHz, and runs KitKat 4.4 with 2GB of RAM. The specs are pretty average and you will experience a little bit of lag in some apps (Facebook Messenger in particular, although Facebook apps are rather sluggish on any phone). The OS is stock android to my relief, so it’s fluid and beautiful and simple to use.
Conclusion
YotaPhone 2 is definitely unique, and goes beyond the gimmicks by providing real functionality. While a novelty at first, the e-ink screen slowly grows on you and you find yourself happy to show off the phone to people, and the way it displays information and reminders is simply brilliant. Battery life is pretty average on the AMOLED screen, and the phone suffers from a bit of lag thanks to its hardware (but nothing too bad), but other than that it’s a good phone. Given its price point of AED 2,999 however gives it its own niche market and will attract a specific type of consumer, so it definitely is not for anyone. For those seeking that unique phone to stand out from the crowd, or those who don’t want to buy a kindle AND a phone, you can’t go wrong with the YotaPhone 2.
