UK smartphone maker Wileyfox goes into administration

[HEXUS]

Firm closes just three years after its debut. Russian backers collapsed in Dec 2017.

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[Millennium]

Wow, they had a lot of hype, this seems a shame. Expensive operation to run in the UK though, no doubt, competing with all those Chinese phone vendors.

[watercooled]

That's a shame. They seemed to have some decent devices, it's just a pity everything they sold seemed to use entry-level SoCs. The big manufacturers obviously upsell to higher-end devices by using these on their cheaper devices but it's not like Wileyfox had that problem. I know there's more to a phone than it's SoC but a decent mid-range+ SoC would make a lot of phones much easier recommendations IMO - not everyone cares about cameras or QHD screens after all. And from what I read they seemed decent with updates unlike so many other manufacturers.

Precious few devices seem to use the likes of the Snapdragon 650, 660 rather than just a bunch of A53s. Even ARM have tried to argue the case for using a couple of big cores in place of a load of little cores (e.g. 2+4), saving area and improving user experience in the process!

[entigy]

I bought the Wileyfox Storm based on the price/specs.
As a 'daily driver' it proved hopeless though, as the battery life was shocking and there were no decent protective cases available.

[Lanky123]

Had my Wileyfox Swift just over two years now and it's still going strong. For £130ish I have no problem with it being 'entry/mid-range' hardware - they got the important things (for me) right. Removable battery (which I still get a couple of days light usage out of), solid build quality and I've already had more bloat-free software updates than I could reasonably have expected.

I certainly would have considered another Wileyfox when I finally need a new phone. Hopefully somebody brings them out of administration but I suspect it would involve a certain amount of 'restructuring' and they might not be the same.

[cheesemp]

That's a shame. They seemed to have some decent devices, it's just a pity everything they sold seemed to use entry-level SoCs. The big manufacturers obviously upsell to higher-end devices by using these on their cheaper devices but it's not like Wileyfox had that problem. I know there's more to a phone than it's SoC but a decent mid-range+ SoC would make a lot of phones much easier recommendations IMO - not everyone cares about cameras or QHD screens after all. And from what I read they seemed decent with updates unlike so many other manufacturers.

Precious few devices seem to use the likes of the Snapdragon 650, 660 rather than just a bunch of A53s. Even ARM have tried to argue the case for using a couple of big cores in place of a load of little cores (e.g. 2+4), saving area and improving user experience in the process!

This was always my issue too. I've always viewed a 600 series snapdragon as minimum and as such always skipped Wileyfox phones. Ended up going Moto (lenovo) G5 plus to get a 617? A 400 series chip is just to compromised IMO...

[Salazaar]

That's a shame. I'd only recently bought a Swift 2X and so far I've found it to be a very solid budget/mid-range phone, no chance of getting it up to Oreo now (without installing a custom ROM - been there before can't be bothered with the headaches).

[daddacool]

Dammit. Bought one of the kids a wileyfox for Christmas on a Black Friday deal. Suppose I'll be off to the xda forums to see if any kind soul there will be offering updates.

[lissajhone]

I Think this is expensive operation to run in the UK

[pastymuncher]

I nearly bought one of their phones at Christmas but was put off by reports of bugs and phones breaking after only a couple of months use so glad I didn't buy one now. It's a shame really as you got a lot for your money.

[spacein_vader]

Shame, I have a Swift and it was updated with the January 2018 Google security patch despite being a 2+ year old device costing about £130 which isn't bad.

For those looking for longer support they're officially supported by Lineage OS and are bootloader unlocked from the factory (or at least mine was.)

[Lord Midas]

I'm currently watching McMafia. Seriously, never trust Russian backers. Dodgy gangsters.

[deejayburnout]

My mate has one and I was quietly impressed with it. Not sure what one but it has some heft to it which in this age of paper thin devices was rather nice.

Another one bites the dust

[maxp779]

I bought a Wileyfox Swift for £99 when it first came out. It wasent the worst smartphone I had ever had (Moto G5 get's that award) but it was definitely a pain to deal with at times.

- Design flaw with the recessed charging port meant very few chargers would stay plugged in.
- The on/off button which is also the lock/unlock button required significant force to register a button press after ~2 years. Basically this button was breaking making unlocking the phone a pain in the ass.

It could have been a decent phone but those two issues just killed it for me... Because I unlock the thing and charge it daily they crop up daily.

Got myself a £600 Sony Xperia XZ1. Best phone experience ive had since the last flagship I owned (Galaxy S2).

[Bagpuss]

A real shame, IMO.

I got the Swift 2 Plus in Dec 2016, for the price & specs (£150) there was nothing else to touch it.

Octa Core CPU
32Gb Storage (128Gb Micro SD support)
3Gb Ram
2700 mAh Battery, Type C USB
4G, dual sim
5 inch 720p screen
Fingerprint, NFS, Android Pay
16mpixel camera

Still going strong today and I'll keep using it until it stops working.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I also read elsewhere the dip in the pound and the RAM cartel upping prices also didn't help the company much!