YotaPhone 2 Coming to US via Indiegogo Campaign
The weird (and apparently awesome) YotaPhone 2 will be heading for the United States sometime soon, and American mobile users will have a chance to pre-order a handset through an upcoming Indiegogo campaign that will fund the device’s arrival.
In case you’re not familiar, the YotaPhone 2 is the second smartphone to come out of Russian mobile company Yota. The gimmick here – which, based on early reviews around the Internet, works really well – is that it has two screens on each side. On one is a traditional, 5-inch AMOLED display, capable of full HD brilliance. The other side is a grayscale, e-paper screen, there to help users keep up to date with important notifications without draining the battery.
When the company launches its Indiegogo campaign in April, consumers will have a shot at preordering the YotaPhone 2 at a less expensive early bird price – though what price that is, exactly, isn’t quite clear. Buying a handset in Europe right now will cost a little under €700, which translates to roughly $775 US dollars. How much lower will the price get for early birds? And how many devices will be allocated for the cheaper price?
Regardless, the YotaPhone 2 is one of the most interesting smartphones to come down the pike in sometime. Some of the biggest innovations to come out of the big mobile device makers are relegated to more powerful speakers or curvy screens. The YotaPhone’s dual-display is a truly smart idea, and if it can get a solid foothold outside of Europe, it might up-end the mobile industry. Maybe e-paper second-screens will become a standard feature in smartphones going forward. Why not?