Yota Yotaphone 2 Mobile Phone. Hardware platform, memory, performance

Accelerometer (or G-SENSOR) - device position sensor in space. As the main function, the accelerometer is used to automatically change the image orientation on the display (vertical or horizontal). Also, G-Sensor is used as a pedometer, they can be controlled by various device functions by turning or shaking.
Gyroscope - Sensor measuring rotation angles with respect to the fixed coordinate system. Created to measure rotation angles in several planes at the same time. The gyroscope together with the accelerometer allows you to determine the position of the device in space with high accuracy. In devices using only accelerometers, measurement accuracy is lower, especially with rapid movement. Also the possibilities of the gyroscope can be used in modern games for mobile devices.
Light sensor - Sensor, thanks to which the optimal brightness and contrast values \u200b\u200bare installed for of this level illumination. The presence of the sensor allows you to increase the operating time of the device from the battery.
Proximity sensor - Sensor that determines when the device is close to the face during a conversation, turns off the backlight and blocks the screen, preventing accidental pressing. The presence of the sensor allows you to increase the operating time of the device from the battery.
Geomagnetic sensor - Sensor to determine the side of the light into which the device is directed. Tracks the orientation of the device in space relative to the magnetic poles of the Earth. Information obtained from the sensor is used in cartographic programs for locality orientation.
Atmospheric pressure sensor - Sensor for precise measurement of atmospheric pressure. It is part of the GPS system, allows you to determine the height above sea level and speed up the location definition.
Touch ID - Identification sensor for fingerprint.

Accelerometer / geomagnetic / gyroscope / illumination / approximation

Satellite navigation:

GPS. (Global Positioning System - Global Positioning System) - satellite navigation system, ensuring measurement of distance, time, speed and determining the location of objects anywhere in the Earth. The system is developed, implemented and operated by the US Department of Defense. The main principle of using the system is to determine the location by measuring distances to the object from points with known coordinates - satellites. The distance is calculated by the time of delaying the signal propagation from sending it to the satellite before receiving an antenna GPS receiver.
GLONASS (Global navigation satellite system) - Soviet and Russian satellite navigation system, developed by order of the USSR Ministry of Defense. The measurement principle is similar to the American system gPS navigation. GLONASS is designed for operational navigation and temporary support of users of ground, marine, air and space-based. The main difference from the GPS system is that GLONASS satellites in their orbital movement do not have resonance (synchronization) with the rotation of the Earth, which ensures greater stability.

Specifications

Android 4.4.3
Qualcomm 800 chipset, 4 cores up to 2.2 GHz, graphic accelerator ADRENO 330
2 GB random access memory32 GB built-in, of which 25 GB is available to the user
The main screen is 5 inches, 1080x1920 pixels, 480 PPI, AMOLED (Samsung), automatic adjustment Backlights, up to 5 touchpoints
Second eink screen, 4.7 inches, 960x540 points, completely touch screen, including supports the zoom with two fingers;
Front-camera 2 megapixels, main chamber with autofocus and LED flash, resolution of 8 megapixels
Built-in Li-ion battery With a capacity of 2550 mAh, work up to one day using two screens, up to two days with active use of the second screen. Up to 50 hours of reading books from the second screen;
LTE support, Bluetooth 3.0, NFC, USB on the Go;
nanosim;
Case Colors - Initially, the black apparatus opens, then white

Contents of delivery

Telephone
Charger with USB cable
Clip for seizures of a tray of a SIM card
Wired stereo header
Instruction

Positioning

It is difficult to allocate what in history with YotaPhone more, political background, involuntary, as well as a conscious PR at a state level or a real product that can be perceived as something that you can purchase in the store. Avoiding the political subtext in the discussion of this device will not be able to avoid the creators of this apparatus on the heels, and to some extent they become hostages of the situation. The co-owner of Yota Devices is the state corporation of Rostech, and its leader Sergey Chemezov in the distant 2010 showed the first uluage Yotaphone to the first persons of the country. Since then, the loop of state attention to the first project russian smartphone It does not weaken, but only enhanced. Before us, the rare case when the invested means led to the appearance of a really working product, and not an exhibition sample, which never went into the series. Moreover, a year after the release of the first device, the second generation comes out, in which new opportunities are implemented, and technical and technological chips are on a completely different level. But the hype around this product was rose even until his presentation, so such that the phone itself is forgotten for a long time and has become secondary, the one who also "advertises" is coming to the fore.

The tone was asked by the President of Russia, at the APEC summit in Beijing, he presented a sample of Yotaphone 2 Chairman of the PRC Si Jinping.

The joke appeared instantly about the fact that this phone was brought near China to China. To some extent on the absurdity of such a gift it is logical, but if we assume that in China, the overwhelming majority of electronics are produced, it can be safely considered Chinese all and give it to the officials of the Middle Kingdom. But you must admit that the idea of \u200b\u200bYotaphone is original, has no analogues and no one copied, including the Chinese. And this is the Russian product, no matter how trying to approve the opposite. We are so accustomed to the fact that nothing to create anything in Russia cannot be created, and the production is absent as a class that together with water is ready to throw out the child. In Biryulki, I discussed why this product can and should be considered Russian, I see no sense to repeat the arguments, read the material.

But against the background of the state PR of this project, it can accurately assume that it will not be taken inside the country as something scented. I immediately comes to the mind of Vladimir Putin on the Lade of Canaron, then a lot of jokes also born. Oils in the fire added the ruthless PR from Tina Kandelaki, she gave the phone Ramzan Kadyrov, and he published his pictures in his instagram. Look at the picture, it seems to me, he conveys the very essence of how this project is perceived by ordinary Russian residents.

Probably, for officials there can be no bustling with Putin, but for a commercial product it is too much. And if you still remember that the first Yotaphone dozens were bought by the Ministry of Communications and gave it to state officials of different levels as proof of the ability to create something similar, it becomes both sad. Meet in the real world, somewhere in the subway, restaurant, a cafe of an ordinary person with YotaPhone I did not happen. I think that most of the readers have not seen such people, and the aggressive lighting of the phone's output on sale, the plots on most federal channels, and as a result, a vast interest in the device from potential buyers, an apocalypse appears. The formula that develops in the head from any little less thinking person, such is an aggressive and noticeable PR using an administrative resource, the lack of YotaPhone users around. What is the obvious conclusion? Dutty project that did not take off. Let's admit that this is exactly what most people think in Russia, who at least heard something about this apparatus. And, apparently, the situation with the second YotaPhone is repeated on the same scenario.

In an interview with Vedomosti cEO Vladislav Martynov said that the cost of creating development centers, two models of the phone, as well as sales offices, the production of patents, in one word, building a telephone production business, increased 50 million dollars. At the same time, he emphasized that there were no money from the state to this project (Rostech owns shares in the company). The first phone was sold and sold in 19 countries around the world, it can be viewed as a trial ball. And specifically I want to emphasize that around the world he is perceived exclusively as a Russian product. But in Russia, people have a completely different understanding of this issue, and they consider this device to Chinese or some other, which is unfair.

Our consciousness determine the environment and emotions. I admit honestly, it is difficult to react adequately on Yotaphone, since the general mindset is such that this product must be branded - it has become fashionable. And the majority of those who do it never kept him in their hands, and most likely, never take into hand. This is just an emotion, mood, if you want, which, like shores in your eyes, does not allow to appreciate the product as such and its capabilities. Although, following the saying, if long to suffer, something will work out - we can say that in Yota Devices will gradually not only learn to make good devices, but also solve a number of other problems, for example, will be able to create a phone with adequate market value. By and large, the second generation of YotaPhone is already a good productwhich can be estimated picky and without any discounts, it has one flaw - this is a high cost.

The time in which this device comes out is able to play with him a keen joke. Sanctions of Western countries, and YotaPhone - as our answer to them. It will be enough for some more politicians to praise this device, and a fat cross will be put on mass sales in Russia for ordinary consumers. Or apply non-hearth efforts, which, in turn, will affect the cost of the device. It turns out a vicious circle, and therefore the YotaPhone 2 project is becoming more political traits, although the Yota Devices team tries to avoid all their might. But the shareholder in the face of Rostech corporation has its own view on things and promotes the device as it can. The road is not in good interest to high sales, and until the PR of this device will change by state officials, he has little chance of success in Russia. Namely, success in Russia is vital for this device, as the native market is able to support and give mass sales that will automatically lead to a decrease in the value of subsequent devices.

For fans of technologies, the second generation of Yotaphone is an interesting example of what can be obtained from standard Android When applying additional efforts. An interesting toy to learn it. For officials, this is the perfect way to show your commitment to Russian products, refusing the same iPhone. But something tells me that officials will reluctantly choose Yotaphone, no levers to make them do it, simply do not exist. For an ordinary, rational consumer, this is an expensive device, where the price is a blocking factor, and it is she who will scare buyers. Sales of the second YotaPhone can be higher than at the first generation, but to expect some noticeable success yet. For this, there are simply no prerequisites, and the success of this apparatus is possible outside Russia, but there the price also becomes a blocking factor. But as a direction of development, this device is not just interesting, but is very important for Russia. It is possible that by the third, fourth, fifth generation, we get the device that will be perceived quite differently and get a mass audience. To some extent it is a pity that it will not happen instantly, as technical solutions in YotaPhone 2 are quite interesting. However, let's talk about everything in order and detail. I apologize for such an unusual for a long preface, but the product is so odious in Russia, which did not come out without it.

Design, dimensions, control elements

In the first generation, YotaPhone tried to play from the curvature case, so that people tried to lay the EINK screen up, they did it automatically. It turned out unusual, but to some extent angry, and even the size of the screen was such that the device was knocked out of the usual dimensions of the flagships of that time. Slightly smaller and thorough.

Someone liked it, but most remained indifferent. Design did not cling. In the second generation, the diagonal of the main screen has changed, it has become a 5-inch, and therefore the device has grown in size and has become complied with other devices of this segment.

You can not call the design of YotaPhone 2 bright and unusual, he imagined the features of different devices. Body shape when he turn to you black and white screenSomething resembles flagships from HTC. When you look at the main screen, it seems that it is not a speaker at the top, but a button like on Galaxy S3. A sort of collective image that turned out not the sum of different components, but some new quality. When you look at the front panel with the main screen, then you are an ordinary Android smartphone, which hundreds, if not thousands. Something unusual is impossible to identify in it, there is no inscription on the device name. I turn over the device, and we have a unique design, because the screen is always enabled.

The fact that the EINK screen always works hard to overestimate. This makes a device for perception completely different, it lives his life, looks in his hands or on the table something unusual. Opinions of those who have seen this phone in my hands are clearly divided. Someone said that the design does not like, and someone, on the contrary, praised what can output any picture or information. In my opinion, a constantly working black and white screen (it reflects both shades of gray!) - This is a function that will reveal even more. While Yota Devices simply lacks weight in the market to show all the advantages of a similar approach and make it fashionable, and therefore in demand.

The body is made of matte plastic, it is assumed that there will be two color solutions - black, it goes to the market first, and a white apparatus. Phone size - 144x69.5x8.9 mm, Weight - 145 grams. The hand lies well, it completely coincides with the dimensions with modern devices of the same class.

On both sides, the screens are covered with Corning Gorilla Glass, the quality of glass is very good, there is a oleophobic coating, and the fingerprints are almost imperceptible on the main screen. The quality of this coating is at a great level, no worse than the best devices of other manufacturers.

The hardware keys under the main screen are missing, all buttons on the screen, they are virtual. Above the screen is the front 2 megapixel camera, right there - the hole of the main dynamics. On the right side, you see the volume swing, it can be removed using a needle, inside you will see a tray with a nanosim card.

In the first YotaPhone SIM card hid behind the / off button, the design was a bit simpler, but also differed in originality. The inclusion button was made separate due to the fact that its pressing should be determined as accurately as possible. Yota engineers have achieved the fact that the phone understands your grip, which side and what screen it is addressed to you, respectively, pressing the key activates or the main one or the second screen. This function does not occur anywhere, as there are no similar devices with two screens. But such a development can easily be used in various devices with sensory surfaces and unusual forms, such as the sphere. It is possible that in this case, Yota Devices will be able to sell patents to this development. On the other hand, large manufacturers, for example, Samsung have been ready for several years such prototypes, as well as there are relevant international patents. In the video you can see how the screen turns on with the same button. The number of random and incorrect responses is almost zero, everything works fine.

On the bottom, you can see the microusb-connector hole, there - the dynamics grille. In the upper end - 3.5 mm connector.

Now we turn to the rear surface, which can be called conditionally, because the second screen is located. Over it is exactly in the middle there is an 8 megapixel chamber's eyes and a LED flash. This location is much more successful than in the first generation apparatus, the finger does not cover the challenge the lens at any grate.

The quality of the assembly of the phone is on the top five, there are no gaps, perfectly fitted surfaces. The phone is very wearing, scratches on the housing do not appear, including on the second screen. True, if the phone is shaking in your hands, then you will hear how the mechanism of the SIM card holder goes, but it does not affect the strength of the structure. The design does not affect the imagination, but in life it is very pragmatic and fits well into the tasks that the phone and its second screen are discharged.

Displays - primary and second EINK-screen

Screen specifications are usually 5-inch HD-resolution 1080x1920 points, 480 dpi, amoled, Samsung manufacturer. There is no cheap screen that has good color reproduction, color coverage. But no additional modes of operation, as in the SUPERAMOLED screens. I often encounter erroneous definitions of this screen as performed by Superamoled technology, but this is an ordinary amoled. At the moment, Samsung does not sell its SUPERAMOLLED screens, leaves them for their own products. The difference between the two types of screens is that in those with the SUPER console, you can change the settings of the color coverage, which directly affects the perception of the picture - it can be both calm and brighter, right up to acid, screaming colors.

By the quality of the picture I really like the screen in Yotaphone 2, it is quite alive, the automatic adjustment of the backlight works correctly in all conditions. No special mode of operation at the screen is not provided, there is no information output as nokia phones (Also, samsung matrices), no power saving mode and translating pictures in gray colors, like Samsung, because the Yotaphone has a second eink-screen, which gives a greater gain in productivity and work time.

On the sun, the screen remains readable, and no problems with the device arises.

The second EINK screen has a 4.7-inch diagonal, 960x540 dots resolution, the backlight is missing. Compared to the first Yotaphone, the diagonal rose from 4.3 inches, and the resolution has changed, previously it was 360x640 points. All the same screen displays up to 16 shades of gray, but the screen update time has fundamentally. It can even watch video, no problems, except for restrictions in color, no. While navigating around the city on Google Maps, the card is drawn as quickly as possible, you can zoom to it, move. This is a big plus, since in fact you can use any content and restriction on the second screen and the restriction becomes not so much resolution as the absence of color. Many in the head cast an analogy with e-books, where the speed of the screen update in old models was not optimal. It is not so long, but the stereotype continues to live. In this phone, the second screen can be considered full, in a separate head of the review, I will tell you how it can be used.

By the way, it looks very good on the EINK screen, but in the screenshots in the review fonts have serifs, a little breaks out. It is rather a lack of screenshots themselves, this is not so noticeable and almost not striking.

No backlight is minus, but there is a main screen to which all information can be displayed, and it can work in full-fledged mode. So it is impossible to consider this serious minus.

Hardware platform, memory, performance

The device began to develop more than a year ago, so you should not be surprised that it uses the maximum at that time on the characteristics of the chipset - Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, it has 4 kernels and the maximum frequency of 2.25 GHz. It is clear that over the past year, the updated versions of this chipset appeared, first of all, they provide better power consumption and more balanced performance. But name Snapdragon 800 is not a very productive solution, it is impossible, its eyes are enough for most typical everyday tasks, and for heavy toys as well.

The amount of RAM is 2 GB, but the built-in memory is 32 GB, of which about 25 GB is available to the user. There is no way to establish additional memory, since memory cards are not provided.

Performance in synthetic tests at the average level, which is typically for such hardware characteristics.

Battery

Built-in Li-Ion Battery has a capacity of 2550 mAh, the total charge time is about 2 hours and 30 minutes. It is enough for a complete light day of work when loading either for two days with a very small load - a pair of calls, up to 30 minutes of using the screen. Considering that the chipset is well known, the results obtained are expected, it is worth counting on a full-time, with a very large load will have to charge the device after lunch. These are typical results for such devices, for example, VERTU ASTER demonstrates similar indicators, as it has a similar hardware configuration.

When operating only EINK screen is possible up to 50 hours in read mode. But the figure is a little bit, because in practice you get anyway the work of two screens in most modes. It is a pity, but the Android utility shows only the operating time of the main screen, and the second does not take into account at all. Therefore, when the device worked for two days, it was not at all minimal use, as it may seem, but a full-fledged work with it, but on the second screen. What to prove? Yes, nothing, it is impossible to measure this time at the moment.

In the settings, you can configure such a parameter as Yotaenergy, this is a classic performance limit plus a disabling of various communications, for example, you can only go to 2G calls, remove the Internet connection. You can set a percentage of battery charge, when this mode is reached, this mode is 5, 10 or 15 percent plus an arbitrary value. In this mode, the device works noticeably longer, but then the question is how much you can choose to correctly refuse without prejudice. For example, I can recommend to disconnect the NFC, as well as Bluetooth, if you do not use them, establish a restriction on the performance of the processor. I think you will not lose in the smoothness of the interface and its speed in the smoothness, but the device will live noticeably longer. However, these tips apply to any modern smartphone.

The second screen almost does not consume energy, displays information that makes it use in this product is significant, you will get more at any scenario than any other phone. But it is impossible to say that with ordinary scenarios of using the phone, there is no breakthrough in power consumption, it is impossible, a miracle did not happen.

Communication capabilities

The device fully supports LTE, no problems on Russian networks were found. Built-in NFC can be used both for pairing with other devices and for paying purchases, if you have an appropriate software from the bank. I will note the standard Bluetooth profiles, there are no revelations. In general, this is an ordinary modern smartphone, which also added USB on the Go to the corresponding connector, you can connect external flash drives and other devices.

Camera

In the first YotaPhone there was the same 8 megapixel camera with autofocus, it did not change much by the second generation. Due to a slightly different screen, the photographs on the phone look perfectly, on the computer, they are already visible in perception. Far from iPhone 6, and not comparable to most Chinese companies, this is a typical average level.

Of the interesting chips, I will note the appearance of an electronic level when using zoom during video recording. But on this features end, the set of settings is very standard, as well as the interface.

Look at the examples of the photo and video, I think they will all say for themselves.

Interface, Manage Two Screens - Ergonomics

There are no other smartphones on the market with two screens, so in Yota came up with how to organize work with them, make communication with the phone as comfortable as possible for any consumer. When you first turn on, there is a program showing how to use these screens, it explains everything in a few minutes. Unlike the first generation, the convenience of the phone has changed dramatically, fully touch screen on the back gives a completely different perception of the model. If in the first Yotaphone it was necessary to memorize the movements on the sensory site, which were far from intuitively understandable, then here is the usual control from the screen, as on any other device.

IN android mode You can work, as usual on your smartphone, but as soon as you want to switch to the second screen, it is enough to press the central key. In all Android smartphones, it launches Google Now, it also calls a menu in which there are two additional items. An optional becomes Yotasnap, it is an opportunity to make a screenshot. Why optional? The reason is that a standard mechanism for receiving screen shots is supported - the volume button down and the power button simultaneously. But you can also receive snapshots and from the second screen, just click on the power button and the sound key up. Convenient and understandable.

The remaining action is called Yotamirror. Selecting it, you turn off the main screen, go to the second. It displays the menu in which you were. Moreover, the screen rotation is maintained, displaying any content. It is important to emphasize that it is worth choosing the wallpaper of the main desktop so that they look good and on the second screen, otherwise the icons that you need are lost in motion. Programs where the styles in the style of old paper are used, it looks bad on this screen, the text is clogged. For example, in the CoolReader reader, it is noticeable.

But the rest of the second screen is no different from the first, you can use any program - at least playing, at least a system utility. At some point I realized that it was convenient for me to work on the second screen and I often remain on it, I do not turn to the main mode.

Yota decided to show how to use Android capabilities for the second screen, and created several toys in which it is involved. These are chess, checkers, sudoku, 2048. In each game you choose settings on the main screen, and then the game itself starts on the second, black and white display. For chess lovers, it is at all the ideal option, you are watching constantly on the party, the screen works all the time.

In the Yotareader program you can read books, you are offered pre-installed several classic works. You can download your books, there is nothing to tell here, since the reader's function is fully implemented, and the touch screen makes reading even more convenient. For those who have already used to other programs or has purchased books in them, will not be difficult to read in them. For example, I show in the video, how can I use Amazon Kindle for these purposes.

In the settings of Yotahub, you can select two modes of operation of the second screen. The first and easiest called Yotacover, these are covers from the memory of the device, from the Facebook album, Instagram plus event icons. No personal information is displayed, that is, the phone simply demonstrates pictures. They can be shown in a slideshow mode with a certain specified interval, it almost does not affect energy.

The second mode is Yotapanel, here you can set up widgets that are pretty beautiful and can output information about your letters, weather, messages, meetings, and the like. There may be several such screens, and their setup is not difficult.

From these widgets, you can view mail or SMS, immediately respond to them by typing text on the screen. Conveniently? Definitely yes. Another thing is that, for example, the continuous input of the text without eating a finger from the second screen is not possible, and if you are used to it, you should use the main screen. But to write a few words from the second screen is quite convenient, and most importantly, which is fast. I descendantly feared that, as in the first Yotaphone, you will have to jump between the screens, but this did not happen.

From the point of view of the convenience of the interface, its logic of the second Yotaphone differs from the first cardinal. If in the first presence of the second screen is often perceived as a chip that does not give real convenience and requires return to the main screen, then everything is exactly the opposite. This is a full screen with all the ensuing consequences. The device has become much more convenient in everyday life, and this is a huge plus to him in Karma, however, as a plus and its developers.

Scenarios of using the second screen can be listed for a long time, there are a lot of them. From the banal reading of books, which is convenient to EINK, before navigating with any program. Maps are drawn high quality and quickly, do not visible traffic jams, but in navigation mode it is not necessary. And the readability of such a black and white screen is much higher than that of a smartphone with a color screen. I checked this moment very simple - turned on the navigation and rode ten minutes, focusing on the main screen, ten minutes looked at EINK.

A successful find in the first Yotaphone steel pictures corresponding to the words in SMS, for example, "I love you" or something like that is immediately accompanied by a picture on the screen. Emotionally, it will diversify communication with the apparatus. Look only part of the possible pictures.

Multimedia features of the device are quite typical, this is a standard application. Google Play. Music in which you can listen to your compositions, but you can also put any player. There is a built-in FM radio with the ability to record the ether.

The video playback is not difficult, set MX Player, and the device becomes omnivorous, digesting any video or film.

Impression

There are no complaints on the sound quality during the conversation, the device is not bad for this parameter. The volume of the call is above average, the vibrating alert is a little weak. In general, this is a typical device at the flagship level of other manufacturers, plus-minus the same quality of speech transmission.

Unlike the first generation, YotaPhone 2 turned out to be more interesting from the point of view of both the design and functionality of the second screen. His specifications Do not correspond to the latest flagships that are presented on the market, it is lagging behind the market exactly for a year. For many people, that measure the convenience exclusively in megabytes and megahertz, it will already be an unforgivable sin. It seems to me that the concept of the second screen is first so fully disclosed, the touch screen changes the idea of \u200b\u200bthe product. I would like compliance with the latest developments of other companies, but also there is also an understanding that it is impossible to create something like almost from scratch. Let and for several years.

The product turned out to be interesting, unusual and with real use scenarios, which distinguish it from everything that is in the market. But he has a huge drawback, which puts the fat cross in the point of view of the mass market, and this is not a policy and accompanying PR, although they bring a lot of flaws in product promotion. The fat minus Yotaphone 2 is its value, which in Asia will be about 700 dollars, in Europe 699 euros, and in Russia from 32,990 thousand rubles. The ruble exchange rate here does not play any role, the cost of this product is very high, it differs from that for iPhone or Galaxy S almost twice. It is both the value of the second screen and the price of development, which is higher than for other companies, as it is necessary to solve extraordinary tasks that did not stood in front of other manufacturers. It cannot serve as an excuse in the eyes of the consumer, in the end, for such a sum, any current flagship can be purchased, which will be better in the chamber, cumulative characteristics and perception by other people. It is the price that becomes the factor that it will interfere with the sales of Yotaphone 2, as the cost of 19,990 rubles did not make the first generation popular, although rather it was necessary to speak not about popularity, but that people did not try this device. In the second generation, those who want to try to try from curiosity will be in a minority, after all, we are already talking about a rather significant amount.

Moreover, the price becomes a stop factor not only in Russia, but also in most other countries of the world, while the Yota brand is unknown wide, attracts attention to only those who are brewed in this topic. Even those brands that are well known in the market, for example, Amazon, could not succeed for their devices. Recall how Amazon Fire sales failed, whose price is already $ 199 without a contract, and sales began with a mark of $ 649. Discussing Amazon Fire mistakes, the company's president noted that there was admitted in price positioning.

This situation reminded me of what is happening around YotaPhone 2, with one serious difference. Yota Devices has no Amazon resources and the opportunity to get the minimum cost, the price of their devices is as much as relatively small production, the cost of development, the high price of the second screen. And this becomes the main problem that needs to be solved in the subsequent generation of YotaPhone. The company was able to create a high-quality, good, but very expensive product. Now is the time to work on the cost of the device, and then Yotaphone is waiting for an instant increase in the address audience and sales growth. In the meantime, the device will be interested in enthusiasts and, as we already know, Russian officials. And sorry, the product turned out to be not bad, but very, very expensive, that everything and spoils.

It took about three million years since Bobs bought a second yoton and I got it to the test. Since then, we have changed the version of the site, increased the staff of the staff almost twice, and Rost managed to pass the deadly disease.
Of course, the review is already difficult to name the relevant, so you can consider it for the updated text after a pair of months of use.

YotaPhone developers decided to thoroughly work on the second version of their unique smartphone. Let's consider in more detail these changes and the device that happened in the end.

Specifications

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 801, 4 Krait 400 @ 2,26 GHz
GPU: Adreno 330
OS: Android 4.4.3 when buying, 5.0 at the time of publishing review
Touchscreen AMOLED 5 ", 1920 × 1080, 440 PPI
Second Touch EPD Display 4.7 "(E-INK), 960 × 540, 16 shades of gray
RAM: 2 GB, inner memory 32 GB
SIM-card: 1 x Nano-Sim
Memory Card Support: No
Communication: GSM / GPRS / EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz, LTE CAT4, Wi-Fi 802.11a / B / G / N / AC (2.4 / 5 GHz ), Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Access Point, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
USB 2.0, OTG, Mobility DisplayPort (Slimport)
GPS (A-GPS), GLONASS
Main Camera: 8 MP, Autofocus, LED Flash, Video 1080p
Front camera: 2.1 mp (frontal), fix. Focus, video 1080p
Accelerometer, approximation and illumination sensors, gyroscope, electronic compass
Wireless Charging Qi Support
Battery: 2500 mAh, non-removable
Dimensions: 145 × 69 × 8,95 mm
Mass: 145 g

Equipment

The device from Yota Devices is packaged as last time - in the branded deployed box. The box looks very rich and pleasant to the touch. Unlike the previous version, the foam rubbed with cardboard.

The package in addition to the smartphone itself includes

USB cable;
Charger 5 V, 1.5 A;
Clip for extracting a SIM card tray;
Headset;
Documentation.

Every moment it is worth mentioning separately - the charging unit has an inscription of YotaPhone, which glows in the charging process, so you can see from afar, the device charged, or not. The chip works on other devices - it is convenient to charge a great multitude of test devices to such charging. The headset includes a gigantic amount of amcusure, and the paper clip is additionally packed in the rubber casing. Attention is pleased with the details.

Design

In the first point we are waiting for fundamental changes. The appearance of Yotaphone 2 practically does not repeat the design of its predecessor. As opposed to the geometric and acute form of the first version of the smartphone, Yotaphone 2 received a fully streamlined body - streamlined faceted, rounded edges, and also rounded ends.

All this together gives a very, very slippery and "soap" gadget. It is really hard to keep in his hand, and since we are talking about the smartphone not with one, but with two screens, in order for none of them to damage, you need to cling to the gadget by a dead grip.

Although both sides are covered protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3, externally they differ. The front panel (the one on which the main amoled display is located and the conversational speaker) is covered with transparent glass, while rear panel - Matte, rather even fad. But the surface of the rear display is very slippery.

Here, on the back side, the lens of the main chamber is 8 megapixel, next to it - an outbreak.
Under the front screen, three touch keys are now located.

Right under the volume of the volume adjustment, located on the end of the smartphone, is a slot below the SIM card. In order to "open" the key, you need to use a special clip.

Mechanical keys are on the right end of the smartphone, and there are serious claims to them, since they are close to each other and are quite difficult to feel, and this affects the speed of action, and is very annoying.

3.5 mm Audio-out is on the end from above, and microusb-connector below.

The assembly surprised is a little - the lower right edge creaks and the backup. Giving such money for the device is not waiting for such problems with the case.

Displays

It is rather strange to call this item by a plural.
As mentioned earlier, the main 5-inch display is equipped with an amoled matrix, with Pentile technology. Screen resolution - 1920x1080, pixel density - 440 PPI.

The high level of brightness and anti-reflective coating provides a comfortable use of the smartphone even when direct sunlight on the screen. The minimum brightness level is comfortable for reading in the dark, and the presence of oleophobic coating prevents from a variety of fingerprints. It seemed strange and slightly unnatural display colors.

Adjusting brightness both manual and automatic, multitouch technology handles up to 10 simultaneous touch.

4.7-inch E-ink Screen has 960x540 resolution, 16 shades of gray and completely sensory. Most likely because of the matte coating Gorilla Glass, the second screen cannot give a clean black color - it still turns dark gray.

The E-INK display is a kind of notification window - it displays many information, ranging from incoming messages and ending with widgets. You can make it a calendar, events, meetings, pages of a broken book, etc.

In principle, on the second screen, you can do everything the same thing that you are accustomed to do on the main screen, but it's hardly to really use such an opportunity to use such an opportunity, after all, the response time and screen updates makes itself felt.

Sound

The only major speaker of the smartphone produces a loud and rich sound. Even with the maximum volume of volume, the sound is not distorted and does not scroll.

When talking, the interlocutor knows you perfectly, even when you are in a noisy place.
But you will be able to hear a bad thing - the volume is clearly not enough.

To play music, you can use the pre-installed Google Music, to listen to the radio - the FM radio application, for connecting headphones you need.

At the same point, it is worth noting the completely unreal vibromotor installed in the phone. Perhaps this is caused by the fact that with both sides of the smartphone glass, but when the vibration call is just a terrifying - shakes the walls.

Camera

The smartphone received two cameras: the main 8 MP and frontal 2.1 Mp.
The latter will quite fit not only for selfie, but also for video chats.
True, you can make a pretty cunning manipulation so that your photo is better to: translate the camera interface to the second screen, seeing your image on the E-Ink screen - in this way you can do selfie to the main chamber.

As for the main chamber, she received autofocus and LED flash. Photos are fully obtained good quality. Video is written by S. maximum resolution 1080r.

Camera menu is pretty simple: to call context menu Sufficient side wave, all settings are built by a list that can be revealed by touching the gear located in the lower corner of the screen.

Communication

YotaPhone 2 supports working with 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, fourth generation FDD LTE Cat4; Wi-Fi 802.11a / B / G / N / AC, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display is supported, you can organize a wireless access point through wi-Fi Channels or bluetooth. Outputs the image to the external display using Slimport (Mobility DisplayPort), you can connect a flash drive through OTG. Supported work with GPS and GLONASS.
An excellent set of technologies, after which it is difficult to go to the smartphone without anything above.

OS and Software

The device works under android management 5.0, without any brand interface from Yota Devices.
The only addition is predefined applications: a few simple games (sudoku, chess, checkers, 2048), Yota Reader and a different kind of news readers and instagram. Full list You can look at the screenshot of the folder.

Also in the settings menu you can find Yotahub - settings for the second screen. Yotacover covers, Yotapanel informative panels. The panels are displayed on the e-ink display, there may be several of them, they are displayed alternately. They are needed so that you can place all the notifications and widgets you need: calendar, weather, book, battery charge level and much more from what you yourself choose.

If you want to "scroll through" to the panel you need, you only need to hold the "Home" key, select one of the three buttons that appeared, and the desired image will be displayed on the second screen.

Do not worry about the fact that you can not immediately delve into operation with the screens - there is a very detailed instruction in the smartphone menu.

In addition, there is a configuration of Yotaenergy, which allows you to save a battery in critical situations. There are similar solutions from many manufacturers and there is nothing supernatural.

Iron

Yotaphone 2 is based on quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 with a clock frequency of 2.27 GHz. The volume of RAM 2 GB, internal - 32 GB.
Adreno 330 answers the graphics.

Excellent design, gorgeous amoled display, clear and bright. The presence of the second screen, the ability to wireless charging. Wide spectrum LTE ranges and VOLTE support. HD Voice High-quality voice and speaker speaker. Support manufacturer, updates, corrections, Android 5.0. Excellent equipment and designer packaging design, headphones, spare gums for different sizes, charging with the display of the model on the housing. The practical absence of software pre-installed garbage, not necessary programs. Nice lies in hand. FM radio is also available. Excellent set of widgets for the second screen in Yotahub. Customize news feeds, currency and weather courses, under any sizes, and versions, as well as the number of necessary windows. Effective Yotaenergy application to save charges if necessary. Ability to use the second screen as the main - Yota Mirror. Automatic screen definition of the screen depending on the position in the hand.

Minuses

The lack of the home button on the front. Despite the declared glass Gorilla Glass, all the same scratches will eventually have a film, on the first and second screen. Software, no application gallery to view photos, you need to install with google Market. Setting the SIM card slot and memory card through the volume buttons, you need to do it carefully. Incorrect installation Make the play buttons. Too slippery and polished housing, as well as glass. In the hands sits uncertainly, easy to pick up. It may even go to the almost smooth surface itself if it lies with a glass (screen) down. During the firmware update, it is strongly heated, this is a normal phenomenon, but it is better at this moment not to put it into the blanket :). For neat people who can carefully apply to smartphones, which is not very often found.

Review

Having read many good and bad reviews, I decided to use for several months and then write. Most negative reviews are related to the fact that people broke the smartphone, well, sorry, who is to blame for this if there are such hands ... or they acquired his Chinese version of YD206 for a penny, hoping to get quality, reading on the forums that, you can upgrade with the Russian firmware and There will be all the fire, LTE will work. It will be yes, only two bands from 9. There is no sense from russian firmwareSince the chip is standing for Chinese frequencies, and they also write about it on the forums that LTE really does not work. Or litter smart different applicationsAnd then write that it is tupit, and the battery comes, heats. Well, turn on the head, it is not a gaming smartphone, the game is not worth such money. Saved, do not wait for quality, there are differences! The Russian model is called YD201, the same inscription must be on the SIM card slot. You need to understand that you acquire a rather complicated technical product, one of a kind, with two screens, and it is logical that if two screens, then the reliability of the case is suffering because of this. All smartphones, screens and glasses are fighting. And the iPhone is fighting into a lung, you are not Nokia 3310. Buy immediately film, bumper glass and enjoy. There is nothing complicated in this. Yes, of course, these are extra expenses, but you want to go through workshops, repair, wait, pay, nervous, etc. The smartphone itself in his class is worthy, despite the exit in Europe in 2014 and in 2015 in Russia, still supported, has wireless chargingwhich can be purchased separately and has a worthy set of those. Characteristics for your release. And now also affordable price. Buy only YD201 version, specify from sellers. And see the price if you see the cheapest smart allegedly with the version of YD201, then it is most likely to just take it. I wish all good gadgets and careful attitude towards them. I hope my feedback at least a little is useful to you. Thank you.

The second display is home, if not the only, "chip" Yotaphone 2. Just think, each smartphone has a large space on the back panel, which is never used in any way. At first, it may seem you that on the back of the device is an opaque film to which an image with a greeting is applied, but in fact it is a black and white display. As for the appearance as a whole, the manufacturer made a full redesign model, he reminded us old Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Instead of the angular housing, now rounded, smoothed forms, and the back is curved, slightly convex. In our opinion, the changes went to him: Yotaphone 2 looks more pleasant, despite the growth of diagonally up to 5 inches, it is conveniently lying in his hand, and all controls are in the area of \u200b\u200bavailability of the index finger. The problem will only reach your finger to the top of the display. It is curious that the SIM card slot hid under the volume key, which is on the right end of the smartphone, you need to pull it out to replace / install Nano-SIM cards.

Yota managed to place two display at once on the device at once, while retaining good housing sizes: YotaPhone 2 Compare with typical 5-inch devices, for example, with LG Nexus 5. Dimensions of the device - 145 × 69 mm, thickness up to 9 mm, so it is longer, but a little already stylish Lenovo Vibe Shot, and in thickness almost like Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. A little spoil the impression of the compactness of high frames above and under the display. The weight of the smartphone - 145 grams, as much weigh, for example, Huawei P9 Lite or LG G3, however, the diagonals of the displays are bigger.

According to our feelings, YotaPhone 2 is a bit slippery, like in any way, he has displays from both sides. For such a price, we expect premium materials or a waterproof housing, but no, the markup is only for an additional black and white display. By the way, the main screen is more convenient to use - not only because it is larger. The fact is that the housing is rounded around the second display and the device is more convenient to hold in hand when you look at the color screen. If you flip the smartphone to the second display to yourself, then the corners of the frames near the main display are already felt. Perhaps this is the only detail of the design, on which the original model was more convenient, there is no difference with its angular body, which is the part of the device, and here it is better to work with one side.

As for the assembly and materials - the hull is assembled from matte plastic, both display are covered with protective glass Gorilla Glass, the housing is not beaten, there are no hollows or gaps, the quality of the assembly to the "five".

Yotaphone 2 can be bought in black and white.

Screens - 4.8.

As mentioned above, the smartphone has two screens. The diagonal of the main display is 5 inches, the resolution is 1920 × 1080 pixels (PPI - 441, the image is clear), the type of matrix - Super AMOLED. The second E-ink display with a diagonal of 4.7 inches and a resolution of 960 × 540, which, in our opinion, is enough for an additional black and white image. A similar pixel density can be seen, for example, on the screen of the budget SAMSUNG GALAXY J1 (2016). There is a natural question - which side to put the smartphone on the table so as not to scratch the screen? Answer: Any, both screens are covered with a protective glass Gorilla Glass 3. Thanks to the type of matrix used, the image on the main display is juicy and bright, the viewing angles are maximum, and it will not be "blind" in the sun. There is a brightness authoring that works adequately to the lighting conditions. The only minus - the colors are obtained oversaturated, the display of Yotaphone 2 does not have a mode of operation in gloves and settings for color reproduction. Read, watch videos and photos, play this display - one pleasure.

In the second display, YotaPhone 2 uses E-INK technology, or electronic ink. They do not emit light, but only absorb it and do not require backlight as TFT displays. So, when reading, you will not be opened and "tired" to look at the display, and the screen almost does not consume energy. The image itself is formed by two types of variant, white or black particles. Such displays consume little energy, since they do not need a backlight, and they "eat" the charge only when the image is upgraded. In this case, the image is not in the most contrasting, and the E-INK display on the smartphone displays about 16 grades of gray, which is not always enough for a correct and intelligible display of the picture. How else to use this black and white display and for which we pay such money for all? In the first YotaPhone, the second display lacked some special modes of operation and functions that added now, let these modes and functions are still damp, but they are able to make the second screen really useful:

Cover mode (Yotacover). It will allow you to put any picture on your choice on a monochrome screen as wallpaper, which means you can virtually infinitely diversify appearance The back panel - the image will look like applied on the plastic drawing, however, you can only decorate the back with a black and white picture. On any other phone for such personalization, there will have to change covers, here - download and select a picture as "wallpaper".
Yotapanels mode. Panels with widgets, such as clock, remaining battery charge, etc. In order to view necessary informationYou do not need to turn on the display more - it will always be on an additional display. The minus is that when setting up and working with the second display, it is not immediately clear what you do, how do you do and what will happen now. In addition to the widgets, you can recruit numbers, watch messages and even recruit them, use mail, read books, etc.
Yota Mirror mode. Climbing the "Home" key and spending your finger to the top icon on the left, you will get a full black and white Android on the second display - the image from the main screen of Yotaphone 2 is copied, often it looks not very presentable due to low contrast and displaying only 16 grades of gray instead of millions Flowers, but saves energy. In addition, it is very convenient, for example, while traveling, you can open the desired section of the map and leave it on the second screen, which does not eat the battery at all.

The second screen YotaPhone 2 has its drawbacks: any moving elements, the change of the image leaves the tracks on the display, as if the picture is drawn on top of the old. By virtue of the features of the technology, it is not suitable for viewing video and games - E-ink does not pull the high frequency of frames and simply does not have time to change the picture. In addition, when working in this mode, the smartphone slows down noticeably. There is a problem with the unlocking of the device screen: according to user reviews, not everyone gets to unlock the black and white display from the first time, which can irritate.

Cameras - 3.5

The camera Yotaphone 2 is simple, minimalist, but a clear interface with a standard set of functions, such as HDR, shooting panoramas, flashes, shooting with blur effect. Separately, it is possible to mention the "Photosphere" mode, such as, for example, on Samsung Galaxy Note 3: Something like panorama, but you are not limited to some one axis, but you can shoot at any directions around yourself. The idea is very interesting, though the result is often ambiguous.

However, the resolution of the YotaPhone 2 camera was surprised. original model It was 13 megapixel, and here they were "cut down" to 8 megapions, which does not look at the improvement at all. In quality, it approximately corresponds to the Nexus 5 camera, which is not so bad, but against the background of flagship solutions of competitors looks more than modest. With good lighting, frames are good, with high detail, but in daylight there are problems with white balance and exposure. Be that as it may, most users are enough such a camera in order to lay out pictures in Instagram.

The maximum resolution of the photo YotaPhone 2 - 3264 × 2448 pixels, permission during video recording up to 1920 × 1080 points with frame frequency of 30 frames per second, the sound is written in stereo mode. In this case, there is no tracking autofocus. The front camera of the smartphone received another megapixel, now she has 2 megapixel and she, as well as the main one, can shoot Full HD video, only the quality is worse.

Photo from the camera YotaPhone 2 - 3.5

Working with text - 3.0

For YotaPhone 2, the Android interface did not change, leaving the standard keyboard. It has a function of entering the text of a finger with a slip (swype). There are no options for additional characters, but using the top row of the keys you can quickly dial numbers. To switch between languages \u200b\u200benough special key. Sometimes in a similar keyboard in the Russian layout there is no separate key for the comma, but we note that in this case it is. As for the accuracy of triggering - we did not experience problems with the set of texts.

Internet - 3.0

As a browser on Yotaphone 2 pre-installed Google Chrome. With a set of standard features. It does not have multiple scaling with the auto image of the text, but you can set it in advance and then change the scale with a double click. In addition, the device has the ability to synchronize with the table version of Chrome tabs, confidentiality settings, traffic reductions, cookies, and so on.

Communication - 5.0

Here, the smartphone YotaPhone 2 is no longer behind the more famous flagship models and supports almost all common wireless interfaces: Two-band Wi-Fi (802.11 A / B / G / N / AC), Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS with GLONASS support. The device also has the support of Russian LTE frequencies (Cat 4, at a speed of 150 Mbps), the NFC chip appears in the model, which was not at the first "iotafon". We checked the work of the interfaces - everything works quickly and securely. Two can be used in the device. Nano-SIM cardTrue, their simultaneous work is not supported. There are connections for headset and micro-USB 2.0 connector.

Multimedia - 2.6.

The YotaPhone 2 video player works only with the most common formats and codecs, for example, the smartphone did not launch video formats MOV and MKV. Player loses video in high quality, Up to 1080p. There is no choice of audio tracks or subtitles, as in general, some settings. The audio player reproduces not only popular formats, for example, MP3 and AAS, but also wav and uncompressed audio in FLAC format, however, it is not found in the list of audio recordings. Be that as it may, in Play Market You can always download any player.

Battery - 3.6.

Our tests have shown that Yotaphone 2 has a good autonomous performance, the battery capacity has increased from 1800 mAh (at the first version) to 2500 mAh. The smartphone loses HD video at maximum brightness to 9-9.5 hours thanks to the amoled display, the results are close to Huawei Honor 4C Pro. But in the listening mode of music with the screen turned off, the phone is discharged faster than competitors - literally for 67 hours. For one day, enough for sure, but hardly two, rather, one and a half day of active use. The battery fully charged a little more than two hours of charging from the network, which is relatively fast. In addition, the phone has a Yotaenergy mode that limits the frequency of the processor and the overall performance in exchange for reducing power consumption. You can enable it in any way, pulling out the "curtain" display with the top edge of the display.

Productivity - 4.2.

Chipset:	Qualcomm Snapdragon 800.
Number of cores and frequency:	four cores, 2.2 GHz
RAM:	2 GB
Volume of built-in memory:	32 GB
Graphic processor:	Adreno 330.

The phone uses last year's, but the top filling is the Qualcomm MSM 8926 platform Snapdragon 800. It is enough for most tasks, and it will be relevant at least one year and a half. Despite the fact that at the time of the announcement, this chipset was topov, in a year, when the release of Yotaphone 2 was held, he was no longer. SNAPDRAGON 800 is a quad-core processor with a frequency of up to 2.2 GHz, the Adreno 330 graphic subsystem, besides it, the smartphone is equipped with 32 GB of built-in and 2 GB of RAM. According to the characteristics and on speed, it is comparable to the flagships of 2013-2014, but is not inferior to the most powerful LG Nexus 5X or Motorola Moto X Force. This means that, although there will be no problems when working or in games, it is not the top of the performance with the "stock" for a couple of years ahead.

In games such as Asphalt 8 or Nova 3, the device has not experienced problems. If we talk about benchmarks, then in the ICT Storm Unlimited test from 3DMark Yotaphone 2 received an average of 16,378 points, in Antutu - about 39 thousand, and in GeekBench 3 - 2683 points. As for daily use, the device works fine - calls, games, viewing video, but in the speed of turning desktops, it, of course, does not compare with the iPhone 6. During the tests, the smartphone "hung" a couple of times for a few seconds, with heavy web browing sometimes "shungal" in some place on the page, but all this is equally characteristic of all Android devices.

Memory - 2.5

The total amount of internal memory in YotaPhone 2 is limited to 32 GB, 25 GB is available to the user. Like the predecessor, there is no slot for the memory card, and this is a lack of model. Apparently, due to the placement of two displays at once, there was simply no place for such "excesses". And if for the first "iotafon" (with a medium processor and a small screen) to watch movies and play was irrelevant, then for the second generation (with a 5-inch display and a productive chipset) of 32 GB, not all.

Features

The YotaPhone 2 smartphone works under the Android 4.4.3 OS, the interface is standard, with small branded chips, like the Yotaenergy mode to save battery, chess with checkers and other application applications with a black and white display. A little annoyed the absence of any file ManagerBut you can always download the application to which it is already used to. The main feature of the smartphone is, of course, the second black and white E-INK display with electronic ink, which can be used to personalize the device (for example, black and white images look on it, like pictures applied to plastic), reading with minimal consumption Energy, writing messages and watching widgets. True, due to technology and inability to display dynamic scenes with a high image update frequency, the second yotaphone screen 2 is not suitable for games and viewing video, for this you will have to use the main, juicy amoled display.