Spark X

I bought this phone on the recommendation of my tech-savvy grandson who has one and loves it. My first impressions were highly favourable--so much about it is right. It has been developed by a young British company which started in 2015 with the aim of producing an excellent product at a reasonable price. First impressions are excellent: The packaging is stylish and minimal. It comes with a new-style USB charging cord (the USB is flat with the connectors exposed) which wraps around itself with a stylish pop fastener to hold it coiled. It is light for its size and fits the hand comfortably. It has a 5.5 inch screen which is more than sharp enough for my untutored eye and it accommodates 2 (micro) SIM cards, which would have been extremely handy on my trip to the US earlier this year. The Android software is familiar and has none of the hugely annoying "bloatware" which is a feature of some other phones. The camera is easy to use and produces good sharp images, although lacking some of the adjustments available on other camera apps. (It is always possible to download another camera app should you so choose.) Sadly, the camera does not produce that satisfying click when the shutter goes, leading to unnecessary multiple exposures.Although the basic Android software is familiar (it comes with Android 6.0), some of the options are powered by CyanogenMod software. From what I understand this is was intended as open-source software and was developed by a start-up, funded by venture capital. However, disputes within the company led to the software no longer being supported or updated and as a result some of the display options on the phone are not available. I believe there are fixes, but I have not explored these--yet. There is no indication that WileyFox will cease shipping phones loaded with CyanogenMod. Nor is it clear whether the Android software will be updated.All went well for about 3 months, when the battery suddenly failed. It would not hold a charge, at all. I contacted Amazon customer services, who acted with commendable speed and I had a replacement phone two days later. Amazon did not want the original phone returned, meaning I could transfer my photos and documents from old to new. The new phone is working well. I am confident that it will continue to do so. At the amazingly reasonable price, it is worth the risk of another failure.One major drawback--finding a case for it. Most of the 5.5 inch cases currently available are designed for the newest iPhones, with the holes in the wrong places. I did buy a case which claimed to fit a 5.5 inch phone, but when it arrived I discovered it only fit a 5 inch phone. The search continues.

I bought this phone after my Samsung galaxy s4 broke, not having much cash and seeing this with a similar spec to the s4 at a nice price (£133) I took a gamble.Well I've only had the phone for 2 days and it was worth the punt. The screen is bright and very clear, it handles normal web browsing and apps like Facebook with ease and quickly.The camera works well, its reasonabley fast and the photos come out clear.If you don't like the idea of those free games you download looking at your contacts/SMS messages because they have permissions you can tell the phone to block them! Its nice to keep your personal stuff personal!I've been using the phone all day with average use its been off charge for 14 hours and I still have 44% left.The phone feels a lot more expensive than it is and my colleagues at work laughed when I ordered it but they weren't laughing when it rocked up and saw it in action yesterday, they were very surprised.The only downside I could say about it is the speaker is a little on the quiet side for listening to video/music it's not too bad but its not what I'm used to with the Samsung.It also isn't filled with a the usual bloatware apps that other manufacturers force you to have on their phones.Banking apps work well and simple games like cut the rope and angry bird are fine, but don't get this if you are thinking of running any graphically intense games as you may be disappointed.Hopefully this review will help some of you.Edit 28/12/16The phone slipped out of my hands yesterday hit the floor and the screen smashed to pieces with a tough screen protector on it! The screen glass was very thin and no wonder it broke so easily, I contacted wileyfox to see if they would do a repair, they wanted between £60-£90 :-( the phone only cost £130). I contacted amazon and they said they would replace the phone free or charge. great customer service from amazon but very poor from wileyfox. I'll think twice from now on when looking in to a less well known brand.