New brand Wileyfox has announced two new smartphones this morning, the Wileyfox Swift and Wileyfox Storm, adding yet another pair of low-cost handsets to the ever-expanding budget smartphone market.
First up is the Swift, a hopeful 3rd Gen Moto G killer. It shares almost an identical specification to the Moto G, including a 5in 1,280x720 resolution display, a 13-megapixel rear camera and a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor. It also has 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot and a 5-megapixel front facing camera.
The Storm, on the other hand, has a larger 5.5in 1,920x1,080 resolution display and a faster octa-core 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor. It uses a Sony-made 20-megapixel camera on the rear and an 8-megapixel sensor on the front. It also has 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and, of course, a microSD card slot that can take cards up to 128GB.
^ The Wileyfox Storm has a larger 5.5in Full HD display and an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor
What makes these Wileyfox handsets stand out is its choice of OS. Both use Cyanogen OS 12.1, a modified version of Android 5.1 that offers more customisation and better security and privacy options than traditional Android. With hundreds of themes available, you can customise your fonts, boot animations, wallpapers and third party apps, as well as lock screen shortcuts and quick tile settings.
The dialler is also powered by Truecaller, which integrates caller ID and a spam filter, making it easier to get rid of those irritating nonsense calls. Likewise, the Privacy Guard gives you more control over your personal data, as you can determine what data you're giving out to third party apps, while Protected Apps means you can lock certain apps away in a folder so your kids can't get at them, for example, if you happen to share your smartphone with members of your family.
Other features include a Cyanogen camera app, which has live filters, HDR and night mode options, as well as slow mo video, burst mode. The OS supports 24-bit high-res audio in its Audio FX app as well, and its browser (new to Cyanogen 12.1) is supposedly 1.2x more power efficient and 1.69x faster than Chrome when it comes to page loading.
It's certainly a tempting proposition, and Wileyfox hopes its low prices will help seal the deal when both phones launch later this year. The Swift, which is set to launch next month for just £129 SIM-free will be shortly followed by the Storm in October for £199 SIM-free. They will be available online only from Wileyfox's website as well as selected retailers such as Amazon, eBay, Expansys and Clove. We'll have a full review of the Swift shortly, so stay tuned for our final verdict.
