YotaPhone 2 already reviewed by Russian tech site

While the original YotaPhone was an intriguing idea, weak hardware, limited availability and a few other flaws kept it from truly living up to its full potential. That’s why many of us are eagerly looking forward to the YotaPhone 2, which promises to greatly improve upon design and hardware when compared to the original. And now it’s official.

We’ll be bringing you hands-on videos and more details about the device a bit later, as we have staff currently on scene in London taking a closer look. In the meantime, if you can’t wait any longer to get a better look at the device, you’ll be happy to know that a Russian tech site already has their written review posted.Hi-Tech.mail.ru’s review is completely in Russian, though it offers some interesting visuals of the phone and a few other insights.

Like the original, the YotaPhone 2 sees the return of its unique “dual-display” design, featuring a 5-inch 1080p AMOLED display as the main screen and a 4.7-inch 540×960 resolution e-ink display around the back. As for the rest of the specifications? The YotaPhone 2 has a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and 2500mAh battery, as well as Qi wireless charging. The phone also brings an 8MP rear-facing camera, a 2.1MP front-facing camera, and is running Android 4.4.3 KitKat with a Lollipop update coming down the pipeline. The phone isn’t particularly heavy at only 145g, weighing similarly to the current smartphones of today.

When it comes to the review itself, the reviewer found it to be a positive step forward from last year’s YotaPhone. The reviewer particularly felt the in-hand feel and overall ergonomics of the device were stunning, especially compared to the first generation. At least for the AMOLED side of the phone, it’s compared to the size, shape, and overall look of the Galaxy Nexus. The two devices have almost identical bezels and share a subtle curve to the displays.

The e-ink display is what everyone is waiting to hear about. Now, there aren’t really any new advances in the e-ink world, so we’re still seeing the display take a long time to render images and webpages. Gaming is also possible on the rear screen, though it’s just like you would expect… laggy. We aren’t trying to harp on the e-ink display at all. This is the furthest any other company has gotten with this technology, and it’s awesome to see it making its way to the real world. Just don’t expect it to blow your mind, performance-wise. Where it will really come in handy is reading, as you’d expect.

The reviewer quotes the battery life at around 1.5-2 days, but if you’re up for solely using the e-ink display, Yota quotes battery life at around 5 days. In all, the reviewer found the camera to be unappealing, and lack of storage options (particularly the lack of microSD expansion) to be a big negative on the device. The overall tone of the review is positive, though, especially when comparing it to the OG YotaPhone.

The device will go on sale for 32,990 rubles, which is about $615. We’ll be sure to bring you more details, pics and video of the device in the next little bit. Based on what you’ve seen so far, what do you think of the YotaPhone, like it or not?