Two faces of one phone – one color TFT and an eInk display on the back side[/caption]It was just yesterday that I was wondering how long it would take until some smart device would have both a TFT color display and an eInk display. There is no need to wonder anymore as the Russian company Yota presented just that, a mobile phone with a colored display on one side and a monochrome display on the backside. Besides the two 4.3 inch displays the spec of this device is solid but due to the absence of a quad-core processor it cannot be called high-end.
Two faces of one phone – a color TFT on the front and an eInk display on the back side
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| Feature | Yotaphone |
|---|---|
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM 8960 Dual Core 1.5 Ghz Krait |
| Memory | 2 GB RAM, 32 or 64 GB Flash |
| Front display | 4.3 inch screen, 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, capacitive touchscreen |
| Back display | 4.3 inch eInk screen |
| 2G network | GSM |
| 3G network | yes (no details specified) |
| 4G network | LTE (bands 3, 7, 20 MIMO) |
| Wireless connectivity | WiFi (Direct), Bluetooth, NFC |
| Camera(s) | 12 MP main camera, HD front camera |
| Sensors | not specified |
| OS | Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) |
| Connectors | Magnetic adaptor for charging and data, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Keys | Power and volume keys, SIM slot combined with power key button |
| Battery | 2100mAh Li-on battery |
| Dimensions | 131 x 67 x 7.3/9.9 mm, weight: 140 g |
| Special features | Gestures on the extended capacitive areas. Touch strip for EPD control. |
The main question about this phone is if the second display will really add a useful feature. It is good for easy text reading and displaying status information in standby mode. But is that the feature we all have been waiting for? Also will the usefulness of the new display largely depend on software support. In case just a few customized apps or system components can display their information on the eInk screen the actual use of the second screen can turn out to be very limited. The idea however is good and it is brave of Yota to try it. The ideal case of having just one display that can display contents both in on and off state does not seem to be possible, yet. Thus I am very interested to see if this is device is going to be a success. As quad-core phones and HD displays are on the way to be mainstream also other manufacturers may seek solutions like this to set their products apart from their competition – let’s see.
Source: Yotaphone
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