Wileyfox underwhelms with €249 Windows phone at IFA 2017

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
last updated

A new Windows Phone isn't something most would expect at IFA 2017, but Wileyfox is showing off just that.

British phone maker Wileyfox initially announced plans to release a Windows phone for the B2B market earlier in 2017, but it was pretty mum on details. Now, as first spotted by mobile industry analyst Ben Wood on Twitter, Wileyfox is showing off the goods at IFA 2017.

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At €249, Wileyfox is sticking to its original pledge to appeal to more budget-conscious B2B buyers. The firm is also trying to position this as a phone without compromise, using the tagline: "We don't compromise, so you don't either." Unfortunately, both of these points are undercut once you take a closer look.

For specs, Wileyfox's device packs a Snapdragon 210, 2GB of RAM, and a 5-inch IPS HD display. That's rounded out with a 2100mAh battery, with cameras coming in at 8MP on the rear and 2MP up front. Those are specs that definitely aren't going to turn any heads in 2017. More problematic, however, is that this appears to be a rebranded version of the Archos 50 Cesium, a phone that has also been sold under other brand names for a much, much cheaper price. The only discernible difference is an extra 1GB of RAM over the standard Archos model.

It's interesting to see a brand mainly known for its Android handsets jump into the Windows phone ring, to be sure. However, the combination of price point, specs, and questionable timing here are underwhelming at best.

Thanks for the tip, Daniel!

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

52 Comments
  • I'm sure WileyFox have a reason for doing this. As you say, for a phone, it's fairly underwhelming. For a business phone, again, fairly underwhelming for the price. The original Lumia 650 was half this price and a better phone. So why is it in the market? Who knows... perhaps they are trying to fill a gap at the low end of the market for companies that want the seamless integration with Exchange and Security features Windows 10 Mobile offers? Could a low cost Android handset so the same things? Probably - but you'd have to buy additional software to get the Exchange integration with all the overhead a small / medium size business wouldn't want (enabling google store to get the software, that means a google account, then you've got the management of the phone - would it be compatible with Microsoft tools etc). Could the low cost vendor support the phone, patch it, update it etc. Only higher end Android and iPhones could really do this comparable to Windows 10 Mobile.
  • The only problem I see with this device is the price, if they would sell it at $99 it would proably do great. There is really not much cost associated with this device versus it's Android counter part, they are just trying to fill the gap left by Microsoft.
  • Looking at the specs and the current state of the platform, i absolutely agree.
  • LOL
  • 707
  • lmaoo
  • Nice to see a new flagship device out there.
  • Internet Award awarded!
  • Surface Phone confirmed!!!
  • i really like how this phone has no onscreen keys, hate onscreen keys
  • If they really can sell in that price, the profit margin will be huge for each device. Good business decision.
  • See, this is the problem! This is the reason we users don't have a friggin clue what to expect! On one hand we get told Microsoft are trying to kill and eradicate every last link to their previous mobile efforts so they can start on a clean slate with a cellular enabled full windows on arm solution. We get told they want every last consumer memory of Windows Phone deader than dead so the market will give them another chance with a different mobile solution. Jason Ward writes about this angle all the time. Then what happens.....we see yet another small phone manufacturer popping up with a brand new and frankly Goddam awful, Windows phone that was actually pushed for by Microsoft themselves. If that wileyphone was even half way to decent that's one thing, but it's a pre 2012 joke. It's like Dell launching a penguin 1 with 256k ram and telling us it's worth buying. How can Microsoft even put their name to this phone? Seriously they need to stop the crap. Either kill Windows phone and start again or bring out some incredible hardware running w10m.  But for Godsake make your mind up  
  • LOLOLOLOL ^ Best commentary ever. And I agree 100% LOL. This is what happens when you let a clueless Indian run an American company.
  • That last sentence though...
  • What about it?
  • You're right
  • Who is the clueless Indian you're talking about?
  • I am 100% with you!
  • You don't understand; This *IS* the strategy to kill of W10M.  Those of us left will see this article, throw our existing W10M phones at the wall in fustration, and finally get an Android/iPhone device.  They had to introduce something so mediocre we would accidentally break our own phones in rage. Edit: You know what will really get you to throw your phone in rage?  This is supposedly priced at ~250 Euros.  The snapdragon 210 processor was intended for phones priced $75 dollars OR LESS.  BOTTOM of the market phones. Edit#2: I think maybe the price he saw was 24.9 Euros, not 249.  The upside of this is, at least they didn't get screwed trying to support continuum...
  • They did not say when Microsoft asked them to release the phone. I doubt it was in the last six months. In fact, unless MS confirms they requested the phone I am highly skeptical.
  • Just confimed by WileyFox, No US release of this phone.   https://twitter.com/Wileyfox/status/903640793616834563
  • Should make it no release of this phone, period.
  • Damn, too bad. I was in the market for an overpriced, under-specced phone using a dead platform 😕
  • 🤣
  • My dinosaurs Lumia 810 with windows 10 looks alot more better! Bigly!
  • Jozef...giving you a green mushroom (1up) for your pic!  Agreed and TRUE!
  • Bayram Edition Windows phone. Nice.
  • Hey...it's better than the Wharton Brooks Offering...ha ha ha!
  • But Greg will have another hope from that. Lol!
  • Yes,  he just sourced the note 1 left overs from samsung and creating the "most disruptive" mobile technology since the original Wharton Brooks windows device.   Right from the geek squad room at best buy!
  • Wait what year is it? 😅
  • 2017
  • Shockingly underwhelming specs for the price, I actually expected something decent since this company does have a couple of Android phones with impressive specs for a cheap price. Are they drunk when they were planning this phone?
  • I think it is very interesting that the OS of this device is marketed as Windows 10, and not Windows 10 Mobile.
  • Windows 10 and boot to app
  • So 249€ For :
    - A new windows 10 mobile smartphone
    - With a 8/2 mp cams
    - SDGR 210
    - 2g ram...
    Is that 2011 or ? What was the price for the Idol 4 pro already ?
  • Shockingly bad specs. It is beyond a joke how awful W10M has become. I am glad I jumoed ship two years ago. My Lumia 640 XL won't allow me to sign in. Had to box it and put it away.
  • Actually, w10mobile has become fantastic. I'm in the fast ring with my L950 and it works good as never before. Faster then ever before. 
  • W10m has improved since its inception in 2015, but it still sucks compared to WP8.1. God, WP8.1 was great. Smooth, polished, attractive, and a joy to use. I mean, what the hell is up with W10m's lockscreen? You slide up to reveal the keypad, and the clock fades out, which is good. But then when you slide the keypad back down, the clock just *blinks* back in. You're thinking, "so what?" My problem is that it's just indicative of how rough and unpolished W10m still is. Try putting a large Dropbox tile in a Live Folder, and watch half of it get cut off. Look at the Edge tiles. The Edge icon is transparent, but the bookmarks are ugly opaque squares. Put the People tile in a Live Folder, and it scrunches down into a smaller version of its Live Tile instead of the mini icon from the All Apps list. I mean, it's just really ugly and rough compared to WP8.1.
  • WP8.1 was really geat in some ways but had no decent calendar app or mail app and the settings app was horrid.  Those were my only complaints with it really.
  • Here I felt bad that I missed this but after reading it, not so much. I don't even know what to say.
  • ... and Trekstor 5.0 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvxo5uLn3jM
  • It lives! The WhartonBrooks phone LIVES LOL!
  • Mistagreg's vision of an overpriced terrible phone lives on 👍
  • At the price you can buy a Lumia 950 on ebay. Probably far better value.
  • Seriously 2mp front camera
  • Why not? Actually this phone fits well with teenagers. At least pimples go away in their selfies.
  • :)) Fits well with teenagers?? Like teenagers want a pathetic dead os with no apps and a mediocre phone.
  • Seriously Microsoft.  Stop asking for cheap, crappy phones.  Ask someone like hawuei to make a top spec awesome windows phone.  Not crap like this!
  • The one thing I kept wondering is how long will Microsoft support this phone? If it is the usual 2 years, that would put support until September, 2019.  I could see this being the last Windows 10 Mobile device being supported while all of the others are retired.  But if Microsoft will continue to support this phone for that long, I'm hoping my 950 can benefit from the extended support that this phone should get.
  • Can someone please put out a WIndowsphone that people want to buy in 2017. This is really mediocre stuff. 
  • Sorry but those specs remind me of my old Lumia 800. No wonder nobody wants to buy Windows Mobile devices or make apps because 95% of the phones OEMs put out there are sh*t.   The Elite and Idol are pretty good, they make up the remaining 5%.