British WileyFox brings OnePlus-like specs at almost half the price

By Rik Ray | Updated on 26-Aug-2015

26-Aug-2015

HIGHLIGHTS

The British smartphone startup is providing Cyanogen OS-driven smartphones with powerful, OnePlus-like hardware, at almost half the price

A previously unknown mobile handset startup from UK, WileyFox, is all set to announce two Cyanogen OS-powered phones today, the Storm and the Swift. They are being projected as UK’s answer to the increasing popularity of bang-for-buck phones from Xiaomi, OnePlus and Motorola. They are primarily focusing on the European and North American markets, with the devices set to arrive in the “coming weeks” across UK and Europe.

Priced at £199 (approx. ₹20,703) the Storm has a 5.5-inch 1080p display. It is powered by a Snapdragon 615 SoC, with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. It sports a 20-megapixel rear camera sensor, and an 8-megapixel front shooter. The specs are similar to what we’ve seen in the OnePlus 2, although the Storm has better camera specs.

The Swift is the younger sibling of the Storm, powered by Snapdragon 410 and 2GB of RAM. There is 16GB of storage onboard, with the option of expanding through the microSD slot supporting up to 32GB cards. It has a 5-inch HD display, and features a 13-megapixel main camera as well as a 5-megapixel front camera. The Swift is quite similar to the Moto G, and WileyFox would be looking to beat Motorola at their own game. The Swift is priced at £129 (approx. ₹13416). It should be noted that unlike the Moto G 3rd gen, the Swift comes in just a single version. Both the devices will be running Cyanogen OS 12.1, based on Android Lollipop v5.1.

WileyFox is not positioning itself as a “flagship killer”. Instead, it intends to provide great hardware at an affordable price point. It’s something that we have already seen OnePlus, Xiaomi, Motorola, and Huawei pull off successfully. The market for such devices is rather crowded, so it remains to be seen how WileyFox manages to make space for itself.

Both the handsets will go on sale in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It will be sold exclusively online. The Swift is expected to start shipping in early September, while the Storm is set to make its debut in October. Pre-orders start this week.