Wileyfox Spark Plus 4G, Unlocked Dual SIM-Free, Android Smartphone - 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.

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.

Bought as a Christmas present for my son, for which he contributed weeks of pocket money. He wanted to support a British company. He loved the phone for the first six weeks but since then it has refused to charge. The phone reboots continually when connected to the charger. The Amazon order states that 'the return window is closed' after the end of January.I have sent a number of emails to Wileyfox, all of which have been ignored. Zero customer service. I have since found out in online forums that this is not an uncommon fault. I suggest you steer clear of Wileyfox as you could be left with a very expensive paper weight.

My previous phone was a Samsung Galaxy S5 and I far prefer that. However for the price this phone is good, takes a long time to get going after being turned on and out of the box software looks cheap etc, but its designed for people to customize so I assume if I put in the time/effort to customise it then it would be better.Battery life is probably about 1/3rd to a half what I used to get from my S5.

Warning - The phone is great and suits all my needs but the battery is poor.I am not a heavy user of a phone and to put this in perspective I use £10 on PAYG per six months. I have had this phone for approx. ten months and it spends most of its time being charged (3-4hrs per day) and is used occasionally for text and calls. I have to turn it off at night as the battery would not last a full day.Replacement battery is £25 which is extortionate for a £100 phone and would be no better than the original capacity. I optimise the battery and Geenify app to extend life to no availIts a shame as it is a British make and for me a great OS. It is now used as a small file storage and music unitGreat pity as it would have received 5stars if the battery would last 2-3 days