Russian dual-screen smartphone given by Putin to Xi to go on sale in China

Russian dual-screen smartphone Yota, which President Vladimir Putin gave to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping late last year, will go on sale in China from April.

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Russian president Vladimir Putin (left) gave his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping (centre) a YotaPhone 2 at the APEC summit in November 2014. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:15am, 30 Mar 2015Updated: 7:34pm, 30 Mar 2015

Russian dual-screen smartphone Yota, which President Vladimir Putin gave to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping late last year, will go on sale in China from April, according to the top boss at the smartphone maker.

Speaking at the Boao Forum in Hainan, Vladislav Martynov, chief executive of Yota Devices, said the company's new model, YotaPhone 2, will be launched in mid-April in partnership with Chinese state-backed equipment provider Potevio.

"It is made in China and will be on sale next month," Martynov said of the dual-screen phone that was first launched in December.

While mainland consumers have to wait until next month to buy the Russian-designed, Chinese-made smartphone, Hong Kong mobile phone network operator 1010 has been heavily promoting Yotaphone 2 for the past few weeks to its existing customers, offering the device for free with certain subscription packages.

YotaPhone 2 stands out among the smartphone pack thanks to its dual-screen design. Its rear display is an always-on Amazon Kindle-like electronic-ink screen, which streams social media updates, text messages, maps, weather and breaking news, and works as a small e-book reader.

"The phone stands out not because two screens is better than one, but because the second screen serves users in many fundamental ways," Martynov said at Boao.