Fly Era is a super-affordable Windows Phone launching in Russia for $112

By John Callaham
last updated

There's a new and very cheap Windows Phone 8.1 product coming out soon, but it's not from Microsoft. Russia-based company Fly has announced plans to release the phone, Fly ERA Windows "soon", for the price of just 3,990 rubles, or around $112.

The phone will have a 4-inch IPS display with a resolution of 800x480. Inside there's a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor with a clock speed of 1.2 GHz. There's just 512MB of RAM and only 4 GB of onboard storage with this phone, but it does have a microSD card for storage expansion.

The Fly ERA Windows will also have a 5 megapixel rear facing camera and a 0.3 megapixel front facing camera. All of that hardware is powered by a 1500 mAh battery. It sound like this phone is definately aimed at the budget price market that will be served by the Lumia 530.

Again, there's no specific release date other than "soon" for this phone, and there's also no word on if it will show up in other markets besides Russia. What do you think of this latest budget priced Windows Phone 8.1 device?

Thanks to Freddie for the tip!

Source: Hi-tech.mail.ru

John Callaham
John Callaham
84 Comments
  • Dayum, I think we're up to 17 OEMs.
  • Salute to WP team to achieve this without fragmentation. Sometimes we overlook the strength of OS that can run on so much varied hardware.
  • Who goona buy this when they have 530 with Nokia goodies ;)
  • Someone who wants a front facing camera I guess.
  • Funny you said that because just now, right now, this girl in public asked about my 1520... She said she loves WP, but she had to go back to Android because WP's don't have FFC's... Lol!.. I showed her mine, now she wants to switch back......
    ................
    She had a Lumia 520.
  • There are not much Nokia goodies in 530. There are no HERE maps, for example, use Bing they say. Anyway, I believe it's better to consider putting by some money to finally buy a 6xx+. Even my mom talks to me using a front cam.
  • Off subject, but after the Cyan update the Lumia 1520 shoots AMAZING video with the FFC... I can't believe it!
  • Good , it should be a good competitor to the 530 :)
  • Looks good - design seems a little inspired from HTC M8/W8 but that's not a bad thing!
  • I can't belive you said that about the design!
  • I actually agree with @SocalTouch; design reminds me a bit on HTC M8...
  • Ok.. I see it now... It's the top edge. Right?
  • Well while it is not a phone I'd ever be interested in, good to see more windows phones nonetheless. I love how these new OEMs already do more than Samsung and HTC have LOL It looks nice for a budget.
  • Htc is back buddy , htc one m8 for Windows is gonna be a killer flagship :)
  • I'll believe it when I see it. Their WP8 offerings have been quite average so far... Only releasing a low-end (8S) and mid-range (8X) device with no top-end model in sight. I would've bought HTC in a heartbeat before (still love my HD7) but poor app support (apps basically broken and abandoned) and no effort in WP8 has left me disillusioned with them. It's a shame as the support for HD7 on WP7 was great, with features and updates rolling out long before Nokia (attentive phone stuff like flip to mute, network sharing etc)
  • The 8X was quite high end for its time, it's actually a very solid phone. I use it alongside my 920 and it holds up pretty well!
  • It was the highest model that HTC released, but it was very underpowered compared to the 920 and on-par with the mid-range 820 instead. I wanted to buy the 8X as an upgrade for my HD7, but the specs weren't so different to make it much of an upgrade. No microSD and a measly 16GB was a complete dealbreaker.
  • 8X was top end at the time. Same specs as the 920 but much lighter and arguably better design. I do love my 920 but I always thought it was a shame that the 8X got so little attention.
  • That is because HTC did nothing with it.
  • Did it have wireless charging and NFC? Curious because I have never owned one, yet it was pretty light.
  • It was touted at top-end at the time, yes, but it never was. It had similar specs to the 820 released at the same time so it was definitely a mid-range device.
  • It has a front camera... good for the price
  • Why can't the Lumia 530/630 also have ffc and flash? It would make a killing
  • Because now there are other options from other OEMs. Also I have a feeling 530 will come in even cheaper than this.
  • As is, it's actually 1000 rubles less than the 530.
  • Which is about $20 I think? Also can't edit my post o.O
  • L530 has announced pricing?  I must have missed that announcement.
  • Nokia , htc , lg , Samsung , blu , micromax , prestigio , fly , huawei , karboon , that's all for the moment i think
  • ZTE
  • BLU
  • Xolo, alltech, foxconn, k-touch
  • We need xiamo to make WP
  • Good luck to anyone who buys that.
  • It's as good as any cheap samsung
  • The metal on Fly phone looks better than the Ativ's metal. But both are probably plastic.
  • Good to see more phones coming out in Russia. I saw a lot of Windows Phones when I was over there in 2012. Nokia was making a big splash, as well as Megafon with their rebranded ZTE mobiles (iirc)
  • That's kinda underpowered compared to the Lumia 520. But hey pricing's great.
  • How is it underpowered to the 520?
  • Downgraded processor and GPU?  
  • CPU is more of a side grade, but it probably uses less power. GPU Is a bit of a downgrade, but not much. Then again, the Lumia 530 isn't really any better than the 520 either. I believe it uses the same soc as this guy.
  • slightly better than L530 :)
  • Look a flash.
  • Original design, but I don't think it'll sell well outside of Russia compared to the 530.
    The article doesn't say the phone supports dual-SIM, but we can clearly see the "1" and "2" in the status bar and on the phone and messages tiles.
    Also, why is the Windows button smaller than the other two?
  • I doubt it'll be released outside Russia at all
  • A pity, it would be great if released to many nations.
  • Are there still Nokia exclusive apps? Because if those are now available for all handsets, all these other phones look much more attractive. I hope Microsoft ends the Nokia exclusive apps.
  • That's a great question! I'd expect it to end, but then again MS want you to keep buying their phones instead of their competitors...
  • I hope the exclusives are gone. I mean, I love Nokia, but ending exclusives will benefit the whole platform. Nokia Camera in the rumoured M8? That might make me switch!
  • I don't understand why people want Nokia exclusives to be lost for the sake of everyone else who didn't buy a Lumia. It is why we Lumia owners own a Lumia....For the apps, exclusives and of course excellent camera/hardware. Instead of Microsoft making our Nokia apps for everyone, how about these OEMs actually make their own unique stuff. I don't expect HTC to release beats audio or boom sounds or any of their cool stuff for my Lumia. So why should Lumia stuff go to others just because Microsoft owns them now? That annoys me. It is bad enough Here Maps is for everyone now.
  • I do agree with you, we Lumia users never cried for the exclusive apps of Samsung or HTC, and it's Nokia exclusive app that make us different... If you want Nokia apps its simple go n get a lumia phone
  • +1520 with Cyan
  • @Micah - I would agree with you if the WP ecosystem was larger. What I don't want is for WP to become like Apple - one OEM with limited choices. Other OEM's don't have the time or inclination to invest in WP when it's so small, and it's only been Nokia leading the charge. Without Nokia WP would probably be dead by now. I just think that there are some things that should be done for the collective benefit of everyone to strengthen the platform. Now that it's under MS control, I hope that they can work out some sort of deal with the other OEM's so that it's accessible to everyone using their handsets. That way everybody wins and the platform gains in strength.
  • Android gained market share by the countless low end devices that saturated the market while the mainstream mindshare increased due to high profile flagships that eventually were purchase by users after experiencing Android on the affordable devices. Windows Phone is currently in the mode of gaining marketshare at all costs and the more low cost phones, the more marketshare = more app downloads = more developer support = more OEM support = more high end devices as OEMs will no longer see research and development of high end Windows Phone being a risk and will more than likely see a return on their investment. The Snapdragon 200 is going to carry Windows Phone into higher market share just as the Snapdragon S1 did in the early years of Android. Get as many consumers to use your OS, to like your OS and then court them with bigger and better versions of the software and hardware at obtainable prices and you will win generations of consumers, legions of developers and a hard to ignore double digit marketshare.
  • Yes
  • Well said, well said!
  • Said = well
  • Same specs as huawei w1 but not that much battery
  • I'm more afraid of fragmentation in the market like Android with all new OEMs joining the platform. Developer preview is probably one of the best thing Microsoft did although we are still dependent on Carriers for firmware update.
  • I don't think WP really runs any risk of fragmentation both in hardware and software. On the software side, pick up ANY windows phone and you immediately know your way around, no complicated decoding of assorted skins and launchers etc. On the hardware side MS tries to set some sort of basic guidelines for OEMs and WP is a pretty light OS which would perform decently on most underpowered hardware anyways!
  • Yep, only carriers get in the way, IMO
  • 512 mb ram again. No way i am buying that man
  • An issue on only a handful of apps, mostly games. I have 546 apps in my history and the number that can run on my 920 but not my 520 is fairly small.
  • Then go get 525, 920, 925, 930,1020, 1320, 1520 instead of crying over here
  • Thanks... Those 512mb RAM comments are getting older than the 'faster' joke.
    Edited)
  • Without windows phone 8.1 4gb internal memory is too small (~.^)
  • Well luckily this is not Without windows phone 8.1
  • Eh? As the article sad this thing will ship with WP 8.1 so internal storage isn't an issue with SD-card slot.
  • We need some flagships..!!
  • Look it actually has a flash,,, take that 530...
  • This really makes the Lumia 530 a little pricy since it (Lumia 530) does not have a front facing camera. Btw for those who will say the Lumia 530 has 8gb of storage vs 4gb on this one, with wp8.1 the internal storage does not matter anymore, since everything can be saved on a sd card. Regardless glad to see budget phones running windows OS. Its a really good strategy for increasing market share.
  • I guess 530 as well have 4gb internal
  • Been saying, make the low ends only 4gb with SD card and we have no problem with storage. They could even make special purchases where they throw in 16 gb SD card for free and it all looks much more enticing and the free SD cost nothing in comparison. Might help to have FULL SD support right on marketing materials so people get it.
  • Not if every review gives it a shit user performance. All these cheap phones will give WP a poor reputation.
  • Why? Windows Phone runs smooth on every processor that Microsoft has certified for public use. What make you think that Microsoft approved a processor that cannt provide a consistently smooth Windows Phone experience? Microsoft controls the processor requirements for Windows Phone. This isn't Android.
  • Ugh this phone is okay but we need more high specs out there in the market
  • I feel all makers can make complete range of Windows phone devices
    Entry level with 4- inch display of 480*800 & 4.3 - 4.5 inch 960*540 display
    Followed by 4.3-4.7 inch display - mid
    Top end with full HD display 5 inch+
    These are the basic devices, of course more devices with unique features can be made
  • I wish the site wrote an article about difference between Nokia and all the other WP-devices. I mean an apps and functions comparision, updating and so on. Which apps are not availible on some devices at all...
  • What is with just doing just 4gb of memory when it should be 32 or more
  • This phone is well below Lumia 530, both in price and in function.  
  • I took one look at it and decided that I really dislike the shape and look of it.
  • Looks better than one metal (esq)phone that's hundreds of dollars more. Looking at you, Samsung.
  • Good Lord, he didn't mention about RAM. The comment sections will be flooded by "RAM Whiners".
  • The b*****ds! It has a bigger battery than the 620 lol.
  • At first I read it like "50 MP camera" at the back of the phone!!! and then realized there's a dot between them.. LOL!