Yezz Billy 5S LTE – Hands on and impressions of the forthcoming Windows Phone

Today in Las Vegas budget phone maker Yezz announced their latest Windows Phone dubbed the Billy 5S LTE. The latest in the Billy series brings a lot to the table for those looking to maximize their bang for the buck, and we got to see one in person tonight.

Yezz CEO Luis Sosa was on hand to give a quick tour of the Billy 5S, which you can see in our video!

To recap, the Billy 5S LTE has the following specifications:

  • 5-inch IPS 720p display
  • 1.2 GHz Quadcore Snapdragon 400 (not 410 as we speculated earlier)
  • 13 MP AF rear-camera; 5 MP front-facing camera
  • 1 GB of RAM
  • 8 GB internal memory, expandable with microSD
  • Dual-SIM with LTE support

It should be noted that the units on display were working but still prototypes. The final product won't ship for a few months, partially due to the Chinese New Year and it should ship with Windows Phone 8.1.1, although Windows 10 could be an option as well (yes, that was a hint about Windows 10 release).

What is impressive about the Billy 5S is both the thinness (it is just 8mm, although the final product may be thinner) and the design of the removable back plate. That design is from an Italian designer and is one of a few colors that come with the Billy (Yezz includes different color back covers in the box for their other Windows Phones, a nice touch for the customer).

Yezz Billy 5s

In speaking with Sosa, we learned that Yezz is having much success with Windows Phone, including well over 100,000 device sales in Europe alone. That's not bad for phones that do not get the same advertising as the big-brand names and Sosa was quite happy with the response to their products.

Yezz Billy 5s

Like other Yezz Billy phones, customers can expect the 5S LTE to be available through Amazon.com and Microsoft Stores. No word on pricing yet, either, although they should be competitively priced.

It was certainly great to talk to the people at Yezz, who are also big fans of this site and you, our audience. We can't wait to get our hands on the final production unit of the Billy 5S as the inclusion of LTE opens its potential significantly for new customers.

Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.