Wileyfox Spark + 5 Inch HD SIM-Free Smartphone with Android Nougat 7.0 (2 GB RAM, 13 MP Camera, Dual SIM 4G) - Black

OK – let’s start with the good points first. The Spark+ is well-specced for the price (especially on the deal I got, which priced it below the RRP of the lower-specced Spark), supports dual SIMs, has a removable battery (a rarity these days), and the most unique selling point is it runs the excellent Cyanogen operating system, which is basically a more customisable version of Android (so it runs all Android apps). This was my first Android-based phone (I was previously on Windows), so I can't comment on how it performs vs the competition, but from what I've read its performance is about what you'd expect from a mid-range phone. I've certainly had no cause for complaint in daily use - it's responsive, takes decent photos, and runs basic games absolutely fine. So far so good.Unfortunately now we have to move on to the elephant in the room. The phone's biggest selling point, the Cyanogen OS, has just been discontinued. That's right, as of the end of 2016, there will be no future updates whatsoever, as the company that maintains the OS is dropping it. Wileyfox have issued a statement that they will continue to support their phones by migrating them to standard Android, but they've not given any timescale for the migration, and in moving away from Cyanogen, the phone has lost a lot of what made it good. Plus if you buy a Wileyfox phone now, you're taking a gamble on future support.That's not the only issue either. One of the main selling points for me was the Spark’s replaceable battery. I normally keep my phones for 2-3 years, and tend to find that the performance of the original battery starts to degrade significantly after the first year. This means that a phone with a fixed battery won’t last the distance, which rules out most mid-range phones for me. Unfortunately, having foolishly assumed that because you could replace the battery, replacements were actually available, so far this has proved not to be the case. I queried this with Wileyfox, and their one-line response was to direct me to the pre-order page on Amazon, that gave no indication of the availability date. So that's another selling point scratched off the list, especially as battery life is not great to start with.The other annoyance I've come across so far is that because this is a relatively small company and a relatively low-volume product, accessories for it are hard to come by. Ignoring Wileyfox's own-brand cover (which as far as I can tell is next to useless because it provides barely any screen protection), I've found only one other company selling them, so unless one of their very limited selection suits you, you're stuck with generic covers that don't fit the phone properly and don't have a cut-out for the camera.Overall then, it's just an OK phone, not a great one, and with a number of issues that may or may not get better over time. If you get a good enough deal on it (I suspect there will be a few, given the OS issues), can live with a basic case, and are willing to take the risk that it might not get software updates, then it should be fine as long as you just want a phone for calls, odd photos, web browsing, and occasional gaming.However, if it’s priced closer to its RRP, and a replaceable battery (hopefully!) and dual SIMs aren’t high on your shopping list, then you may be better off going for a more mainstream phone like the Moto G4, which is a bit more expensive but appears to be better in all respects other than the above.I suspect I’ll update my rating after a few months, based on whether any of the reliability issues reported for Wileyfox products start emerging (nothing so far), if the manufacturer comes good on its promise to provide SW updates, and whether batteries and a better range of accessories become available.

I bought a Blu LifeMark phone a little while ago which I was less than impressed with. Then bought a Wileyfax Swift, which was OK. I needed another basic android phone, so went for this WileyFox Spark+.As the 'new' Blu phone arrived looking like it had been dragged through a hedge backwards, I decided to go for a 'used' amazon warehouse WileyFox Spark+ and bought an 'as new' condition one priced about the same as the 'good' condition Swift. The 'As New' Spark+ looks a little more worn than the 'good' Swift, but whatever, the screens were unmarked on both and thats my main concern. (Both used WileyFoxes looked 'newer' than the Blu had). Arrived on time, in good condition. Box was mostly unmarked (except for a crush on one corner and the open security seal), most of the bits were there (charger lead, phone, battery) - I think the eaphones were listed as missing, so thats OK - and the phone itself looked almost 'as new'. except for a little scuffing on the backPut in the battery, sim and an SDcard and charged it up. The battery arrived with 60% charge and charged up to 100% in just under 45 minutes. Be ware though that the charge LED look different colours depending on the angle you view it at. Always check the LED head on, or you may think it amber when its actually green.Once the phone had charged I ran the setup, added my google account (I didn't add a cyanogen OS account) and let the phone update. It did one large and several small updates and ended up with Cyanogen 13.1.2 / Android 6.0.1.Setup my usual mix of Android/GooglePlay apps without any problems - and moved them to the SDcard storage to save space in the phone. Test ran several apps, again no problems.(Even though this is intended as an Xmas gift for family I always check them out, then fully reset them, before giving them to ensure they are working to avoid any 'broken present tears'. And because I enjoy playing with different electronic gadgets. Google must get annoyed seeing my account bounce around so many devices!)And, after all that updating and installing, the phone (which had grown comfortably warm to the touch from its load) still had 75% battery left.The phone feels very light compared to my HTC M8- and even lighter than the very similar spec'd Swift. The screen is good enough (not as good as the M8), as is the audio, touch response, performance. The camera is OK. Frankly, its hard to tell the difference between the Swift and Spark+, so I'd be inclined to go for whatever is the best deal at the time.Overall. I'm happy. Better than the Blu LifeMark (that cost about the same), slightly better than the Swift (Spark+ has slightly higher Geekbench 4 scores, that cost about the same), not as good as my HTC M8 (which cost twice as much).

OverallI wouldn't really recommend this phone as whilst it is cheap, it lacks the features of the more recent phones and the price isn't much better than the other phones wileyfox has to offer. If I was to buy a new phone or if I was asked if someone should buy this phone I would say no.Pros+ Dual SIM is very useful for my work personal life+ microSD card expansion is great for storing music but apps can't be stored on it and the OS takes up a large amount limiting the size of the internal storage+ feels nice physically and interface is very nice+ battery lasts the whole day for me without charging, the removable battery is also useful.Cons- Does not have the latest cyanogenOS even though this phone was the latest version and really should have had it, It also won't allow the update to the older cyanogenOS to happen requiring the battery to be removed and placed back in to get it going again.- The notification light is only in red or green, no colours in between.- Whilst the camera is better quality than many it lacks the stabilising that many other phone cameras have, this results in often a worse picture with this phone than with other phone camerasPS I bought the red cover for the phone and over the 6 months only half of it is left with half the sides and back falling or chipping off.