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Yota 2 E-Ink Phone US $139 (~AU $187) Delivered from GearBest

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Yota 2 E-Ink Phone US $139 (~AU $187) Delivered from GearBest
Go to Deal
Lavan1976 on 23/09/2016 - 10:10 gearbest.com (4480 clicks)
Last edited 23/09/2016 - 13:15 by 1 other user

A strange little phone which has e-ink screen on the back. It used to be incredibly over-priced (~1000) but now its a fully-fledged budget phone with e-ink thrown in. Almost like a kindle with full android.
Also, seems the good price ($187) might need to be accessed through their email promotion. This is what I put in the link above. Might not come up if you access via google.
Good luck. Just throwing it out there, as I thought to was a good deal which might appeal to a handful of avid e-readers and those who like esoteric products.

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  • A Banana4scale on 23/09/2016 - 10:14

    Have you used it. Can the back be customised?

    • battler on 23/09/2016 - 10:26

      says it can be personalised, and pics on the link show that - to what extent is unknown though

    • drazenm on 23/09/2016 - 11:09
      +8

      The e-ink on the back is a fully fledged 2nd screen, everything you do on the main screen you can do it also on the e-ink screen, run android, apps, read, videos etc.

  • altomic on 23/09/2016 - 10:27

    Interesting. specs don't look too bad

    Yotaphone 2 5.0 inch 4G Smartphone with ALWAYS-ON Back Screen Android 4.4 Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 Quad Core 2.26GHz 2GB RAM 32GB ROM Corning Gorilla Glass 3 NFC Bluetooth 4.0
    Main Features:
    Display: Front Screen: 5.0 inch 1920 x 1080 FHD Corning Gorilla Glass 3 442ppi Screen
    Back Screen: 4.7 inch E-ink Electronic Paper Display 960 x 540 Corning Gorilla Glass 3 235ppi Screen
    CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 Quad core 2.26GHz
    GPU: Adreno 330
    System: Android 4.4
    RAM + ROM: 2GB RAM + 32GB ROM
    Camera: Dual Cameras, front camera 2.1MP camera, back camera 8.0MP
    Sensor: Gravity Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Compass
    Bluetooth: 4.0
    NFC: Yes
    GPS: A-GPS + GLONASS
    SIM Card: Nano SIM
    Network:
    2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
    3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz
    4G: FDD-LTE 1800/2100MHz

    • ozlab on 23/09/2016 - 11:40
      +5

      Android 4.4? I think it's a bit too old. If you can upgrade to recent android that would be great.

      • eug on 23/09/2016 - 11:55
        +3

        There's a Lollipop upgrade. Not sure if it has been released for this chinese model, but people have flashed the euro ROM onto it.

      • sav11 on 23/09/2016 - 12:02

        Agreed. Anyone know if you can upgrade the OS version or are there custom ROM's available?

        • peuwayaqdq on 23/09/2016 - 12:28

          Would like to know that too … it will be deciding factor

        • tonyjzx on 23/09/2016 - 13:02

          Band 28? Anyway the fact it uses Snap 801 means it wont ever progress pass Android 5 but for the money? Ehhh… you pay for what you get.

          No Sd slot either which I personally dont think is a big deal given its 32Gb.

          I'd chance it myself.

        • Ronnnie on 23/09/2016 - 13:16
          +3

          @tonyjzx:

          Why would it be stuck on Android 5 if it has a s801?

        • pcox on 23/09/2016 - 13:31
          +2

          As eug noted, there is Android 5 available but that's still ancient.

          There's a recent thread on XDA about whether to purchase it:

          http://forum.xda-developers.com/yotaphone-one/general/worth-…

          edit: the latest firmware is dated 30/8/16, so updates are still trickling through. ftp://fw.ydevices.com/YotaPhone2/Firmwares/EU/

        • sav11 on 23/09/2016 - 18:50
          +1

          @Ronnnie: yeah I don't understand that comment either

    • bchliu on 23/09/2016 - 13:52
      +2

      Basically it is a Samsung Galaxy S5 without the SD Card, crappier camera and no IP67 waterproofing. Has e-Ink secondary display instead.

      • Joxer on 24/09/2016 - 13:27
        +3

        Sounds like a bargain then given how much the shops want to flog off the s5 for

  • superforever on 23/09/2016 - 10:31
    -5

    Any reason why you like to put the $ sign before AU?

    • Its4me on 23/09/2016 - 10:33
      +3

      Surely you mean AU after $ sign?

      • superforever on 23/09/2016 - 11:27

        That's better because if you put $AXXX, ozbargain will not highlight it.

    • A Banana4scale on 23/09/2016 - 11:28
      +1

      Rly?

      • superforever on 23/09/2016 - 11:31

        Because ozbargain will not highlight it. <—- that is the reason we care.

  • songford on 23/09/2016 - 10:51
    +2

    Ah ha! Putin gifted one of them to Chinese President Xi Jinping ages ago! It was all over the shop on Chinese social media back then. Hopefully it's not gimmicky.

    • Steptoe on 23/09/2016 - 11:09
      +1

      Buggy Firmware?

  • cyssero on 23/09/2016 - 11:00

    There's a good review of it here, this price is very tempting although I don't use Android and have no use for it, I like the idea: http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/14/8604557/yotaphone-2-review

  • bchliu on 23/09/2016 - 11:01
    +4

    Good deal (if it is true) but retracted a vote because of Gearbest..

    • thsydney on 23/09/2016 - 11:21
      +1

      +1, Gearbest shipping is soo slowww.

      • WatchNerd on 23/09/2016 - 11:41
        +4

        All my purchases have taken about 2 weeks, never had a problem with them.
        Always use PayPal just in case.

    • [Deactivated] on 23/09/2016 - 11:22

      Can I ask why? I almost buy it until saw your post. Cheers!

      • flickr on 23/09/2016 - 11:24

        Because they ship directly from China to save the cost. I had to wait weeks and the tracking number that they give is useless.

        • superforever on 23/09/2016 - 11:28
          +2

          All overseas seller is like that, gearbest, Banggood, Tmart, etc. Even those eBay overseas sellers.

        • IVI on 23/09/2016 - 12:12

          @superforever:

          AliExpress gives both:

          • useful Tracking #'s &
          • options for Faster Shipping

          Q.E.D.

          PS Dunno if they have this phone…

        • superforever on 23/09/2016 - 12:13

          @IVI:

          You can always pay more for tracking and faster delivery.

          My last Aliexpress order also took around 3 weeks.

        • BargainCowboy on 23/09/2016 - 14:10
          +3

          @superforever: But at least they deliver. GearBest doesn't.

        • superforever on 23/09/2016 - 14:56

          @mazorn:

          Are you sure you didn't miss out their delivery?

          I found that sometime when our local post lady on leave we will always missed out something.

        • BargainCowboy on 23/09/2016 - 15:54
          +1

          @superforever: No, I didn't. They just lied. And then lied again. It was never sent or sent once and got lost.

        • superforever on 23/09/2016 - 16:18

          @mazorn:

          I could not understand why they didn't send out and lied just because of an order. I can only understand if that happened with a random eBay seller but for a company like them why would they do that?

          Remember Australia post is also terrible, I have a few time missing out delivery because of them not the seller.

      • bchliu on 23/09/2016 - 11:32
        +5

        They were banned for a year because of so many complaints from OzBargainers. They were only recently unbanned but cannot guarantee their service.

        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/149587

        You can try your luck with them again and come back to the community to vouch for them or not. They seem to have a very bad negative perception on the Net too outside of OzB. I've only ordered from them once or twice and does take a bit longer than others to get it here.

        • eug on 23/09/2016 - 11:58
          +4

          I've ordered from them quite a number of times and have always received the items.

        • Baebs on 23/09/2016 - 14:41
          +2

          They were supposedly permanently banned. Then they 'apologised' with 10 cent keyrings smh

    • fatice on 23/09/2016 - 11:32
      +3

      I bought items from Gearbest last year and the year before. I received nothing. After 6 months, they finally refunded them. This happened twice. I am not going to be fooled the third time.

      • CandyMan on 23/09/2016 - 11:53
        +2

        Shame on them

        • WatchNerd on 23/09/2016 - 11:54

          Well he could have opened a PayPal dispute a lot sooner.

        • robb6014 on 23/09/2016 - 13:03
          +7

          There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again

        • daydreams on 23/09/2016 - 16:33
          +1

          @28Degrees: In my case, it took more than six months to get a refund by Paypal dispute.

      • superforever on 23/09/2016 - 11:54

        Is it a home address? Are you sure you always have somebody there to receive it?

        I use Office address always have somebody there.

      • coolhand on 23/09/2016 - 12:46

        yeah I waited a few months for Xiaomi hybrids, got a refund after many back and forth emails. Have probably ordered 100 things direct from China and never had any others go missing like that. Maybe they've improved since then…maybe not

      • BargainCowboy on 23/09/2016 - 14:11

        Happened to me too. Had to open a PayPal dispute to get my money back after they stuffed me around.

    • avan1976 on 23/09/2016 - 12:56
      +1

      I've bought several things from gearbest. Been pretty happy with the service and price. Normally takes 2 weeks as another poster mentioned.
      This thing is still $350-$400 on ebay… so have to make your own price-risk assessment I suppose.

      • sav11 on 23/09/2016 - 18:59

        You can get it for $250 shipped on ebay. Still this is a good deal

    • BargainCowboy on 23/09/2016 - 14:12
      +3

      GearBest is terrible.

      • WatchNerd on 23/09/2016 - 14:54
        +3

        So is Muriel.

  • JaySu on 23/09/2016 - 11:33

    It looks very interesting and tempting…

  • rwt on 23/09/2016 - 12:19

    This is a "Russian" phone, made in China.
    The sails in Russia were critically low, perhaps this is a reason of sales of Chinese stocks
    The original price was arround $500

    • avan1976 on 23/09/2016 - 13:01
      +2

      Initial price was closer to $1000… way over-priced to begin with.
      See this review for reference.
      https://www.engadget.com/2014/12/03/yotaphone-2-review/
      I suppose I figured this was a good deal just as an ereader alone. Its smaller and less bulky than a kindle. Also, having full android, you can download whatever file format you want and read pdfs… as well as flip it over for checking emails and movies etc. Also, like the idea of reading internet without eye-strain (I'm in front of a computer all day anyway).
      I won't be using it to replace my own phone. More as a e-reader with full android functionality.
      Might use it when I travel through for battery life purposes… and if I lose it, so be it.

    • robb6014 on 23/09/2016 - 13:04
      +8

      Should have hoisted the spinica

  • peterpeterpumpkin on 23/09/2016 - 12:21
    +1

    While I still won't buy it I think the Kindle screen is a great idea and the features great on paper (excluding 4G capabilities). It's even got NFC.

    It would be great to check out the clock, read an ebook or read the title of a playing mp3 with the battery-draining screen turned off.

  • Lizard Spock on 23/09/2016 - 12:23
    +5

    I was so proud of my joke I made in response to PW's unpublished comment that I felt the urge to retype it again:

    Maybe they bought the Toy Yota

  • KOBH on 23/09/2016 - 12:29

    I won't buy cheap phone, but it's not a bad deal if you don't already have a better phone. Other Chinese sellers are selling these twice the price. Go for it if you trust GearBest.

  • CyberMurning on 23/09/2016 - 12:35

    so it will flickers each seconds just like kindle when turning book page?? i hate that

    • KOBH on 23/09/2016 - 13:12

      How many units have you ordered?

      • CyberMurning on 23/09/2016 - 14:37

        what?

        • oliman on 23/09/2016 - 15:33
          +1

          He's asking…How many units have you ordered?

        • KOBH on 23/09/2016 - 15:54

          @oliman:

          He already answered my question. What? = zero.

  • alz on 23/09/2016 - 13:01
    +4

    LONG LIVE COMRADE PUTIN KING OF THE WORLD!!

    alz on 23/09/2016 - 13:01 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
  • KOBH on 23/09/2016 - 13:18

    If anyone is having issues with their GB orders, you can contact the rep here.

  • Phoebus on 23/09/2016 - 13:20
    +4

    Interesting concept and would obviously pull a lot of (profanity), but I don't feel like spending $200 on a gimik. Already have a much newer gen phone.

  • homersyd on 23/09/2016 - 13:28
    +5

    if only the displays were a little larger…say 5.5-6"…this will make an awesome phone/ereader

  • imcold on 23/09/2016 - 14:04

    Unless there is a useful purposes of the 2nd screen it would be as useful as those dual screen laptops

  • pringleskid on 23/09/2016 - 14:22

    What is e-ink?

    • CyberMurning on 23/09/2016 - 14:37

      you can go to any electronic store and ask for e-book readers

    • Da dpG on 23/09/2016 - 14:39

      electronic ink like a kindle

    • Dr Techno on 23/09/2016 - 15:05
      +3

      What is e-ink?

      Kids these days :-P

      • lostn on 23/09/2016 - 15:43
        +4

        e-ink is a relatively new thing. "Kids these days" would be those who haven't heard of paper books.

  • supnigs super skids on 23/09/2016 - 14:45
    -3

    This is better than iPhone 7. It has headphone jack and double screens. One side is black though.

    Would definitely buy if I had moneys

  • spy on 23/09/2016 - 14:46

    I'll get 50.

  • somecat on 23/09/2016 - 15:01

    E-ink screen should be good to display barcode for old generation scanners to read.

  • Ronnnie on 23/09/2016 - 15:04

    The main appeal to this phone is sunlight visibility. You should be able to read the secondary screen a lot easier outdoors than the typical lcd/amoled screen.

    • geebee on 23/09/2016 - 15:52
      +1

      That is not a big problem anymore with the latest AMOLED's and I assume LCD as well, mine is completely clear even in direct sunlight.
      If you look at the reviews it is a great idea on paper but in real life not so much.
      If it had a front lit eink screen I would be all over it as a pocket ereader.

      • Ronnnie on 23/09/2016 - 16:04

        Yeah that's true, the latest sammys can hit over a 1000 nits now on Autobrightness. The G5 lcd hits over 800+ nits too.

  • CandyMan on 23/09/2016 - 15:08
    +1

    This will be good to do things together. You use one screen, your wife uses the other

  • [Deactivated] on 23/09/2016 - 15:27

    You can buy it from Aliexpress at similar price.

    • KOBH on 23/09/2016 - 15:57

      Link? GB is a lot more reliable then AE. At least GB offers 12 months warranty.

  • lostn on 23/09/2016 - 15:42

    Doesn't e-ink use power to refresh the image? If you're going to have a clock on the back it would be refreshing every second wouldn't it? It's good for a Kindle because it only uses energy when you turn the page, not when you leave it on.

    • eug on 23/09/2016 - 15:53
      +1

      The clock doesn't display seconds.

    • geebee on 23/09/2016 - 15:57

      Even if it was refreshing every second it would used a lot less power than a standard LCD screen that has to use power constantly to hold the display on and which also has a permanent backlight running if displayed.

      • lostn on 24/09/2016 - 14:33

        Yes but an LCD screen isn't going to be turned for the whole day.

        This e-ink screen is in addition to the LCD screen and is always on.

        • Jackson on 28/09/2016 - 00:03

          Eink doesn't take an power except during transitioning, so it can be on even if the battery was disconnected, so always on but no power usage. Not sure how often the clock would refresh but wouldn't be more than every minute. But yes more than nothing if it was staying up to date

  • AMLagonda on 23/09/2016 - 16:50

    hmmm battery is a bit small, 2500mAh…

  • bogan on 23/09/2016 - 21:05
    +2
    1. Buy this phone.
    2. Display the Apple logo on the e-Ink display.
    3. Impress an ignorant person into exclaiming, "Holy crap, the iPhone 7 can do that!" Kimmel style.

    By the way, Yota is working with a Chinese manufacturer to bring out the Yotaphone 3 next year.

    • yeb123 on 30/09/2016 - 00:05

      Hahah, I ll try it

  • ProjectZero on 23/09/2016 - 21:08
    +1

    Seems interesting, but nevertheless a gimmick that seems to have limited uses if you ask me… Wonder how well these sold initially…

  • octagonalman on 23/09/2016 - 21:29
    +12

    I ordered one a few weeks ago from Tinydeal, currently AUD195.82 through their app and posted via a Auspost Parcel Locker compliant service. http://www.tinydeal.com/yotaphone-2-msm8974-quad-core-5-fhd-… It flashes to Android 5 painlessly.

    I'm still working out how the low-power screen fits into usage. It's great for sipping power while using instant messaging apps and not having to bother with the choice between unlocking frequently or burning energy leaving the screen on.

    Works well reading OzBargain too: https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/14905/42749/tmp_17640-…

    • hashtagbargain on 23/09/2016 - 23:07
      +2

      Nice share, thx for the pic showing how it looks!

    • fakefilo on 23/09/2016 - 23:14

      How long did shipping take from tiny deal? Did you opt for expedited shipping or anything like that?

      Really keen on this phone but it seems orders from Gear Best only have a 50% chance of arriving

      • octagonalman on 23/09/2016 - 23:20
        +1

        Mine was a total of 10 days from dispatch notification to Parcel Locker and I was a preorder customer. I chose AU Post Express which is a no additional cost option. Customer service held up my order for a few days with back and forth not believing my Parcel Locker address was a valid address. I didn't want to stuff around with couriers and missed deliveries.

    • CyberGenesys on 25/09/2016 - 15:28

      Is the flashing to A5 an OTA update?

      • octagonalman on 25/09/2016 - 15:38

        No, but the process is well-documented on XDA developers. To get Android 5 on the phone you are switching from the China software branch to either EU or Russian software.

    • RubenM on 26/09/2016 - 07:54

      I'm famous!

  • CyberGenesys on 24/09/2016 - 18:40

    Thanks, ordered one. Hopefully it will be a good replacement for this PoS Motorola X Play I'm currently using.

  • Glider on 25/09/2016 - 13:00

    Ordered one and paid with PayPal, but Gearbest flagged it as a suspicious transaction and wanted a copy of a utility bill. No thank you, PayPal is legit enough and I'm not sending my power bill to China. Impulse purchase anyway, refund requested.

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