The list of promising SIM-free unlocked phones in the U.S. is growing. Its most recent addition is a phone I’ve managed to spend some time with a while back: YotaPhone 2. It’s an intriguing Android device with two displays. The front one is your usual HD AMOLED panel, while the back uses E-Ink technology and is perfect for reading e-books or just having a permanent status screen.
Until yesterday, the device was only available to buy outside of the States. But now, thanks to a recently launched crowd-funding effort on Indiegogo, the phone will be launched inside America’s borders and it’ll come complete with all three LTE bands used by T-Mobile. You read that right, bands 2,4 and 12 are all catered for by the YotaPhone 2 which now also comes in white.
With 60 days left to go on the campaign, Yota Devices has already surpassed its $50,000 target. At time of writing, the company had raised over $110k in funding. And you still have plenty of time to add to that. What’s more, there are special promotions for anyone pledging within the first 48 hours of the campaign going live. If you order before tomorrow morning, you’ll be able to snag one for $525 (plus shipping). Once the early-bird offer has expired you’ll need to cough up $550 for one YotaPhone 2 or grab two of them for $1,050.
There are only a couple of downsides to ordering this device. The page notes that shipping isn’t expected until August. Secondly, since it’s not a device officially offered by T-Mobile (yet), there’s no Wi-Fi calling. Apart from that, the specifications are decent:
- 5-inch, 1080×1920 AMOLED display
- 4.7-inch, 540×960 “always on” E-Ink display on the back
- 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor
- Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- 2,500mAh battery with Quick Charge
- Wireless charging
- Cat 4 LTE – including bands 2,4 and 12
- 8MP rear camera with 1080p video
- 2.1MP front camera
If you’re curious, I’ll leave my PhoneDog review for the YotaPhone 2 which we published a couple of months back:
Let us know if you’re planning on picking one up through the indiegogo campaign, or if it’s a little too little too late for Yota.