MobileTechTalk Yesterday I had the pleasure of being invited up to London for the new Wileyfox Swift 2 Plus and Swift 2 launch, and this is my hands on.
Let me just say that after the mess that was the Spark, I’m happy to say that Wileyfox has returned to form with the Swift 2 and Swift 2 Plus (naming aside). The S2P is a remarkably well-made device, there is no creaking, no rattling, it doesn’t feel cheap or flimsy, and there isn’t a stupid coating over the aluminium back plate to detract from the feel. Wileyfox put a fair bit of effort into this, and it shows.
Starting at the front, we have a 5″ 720p IPS display, and it looks awesome. It is bright, it is vibrant, it has decent touch response and it seems to have an oleophobic coating on it! and if it doesn’t, then it is just a very smudge resistant glass that other OEMs should use. That display is flanked by larger bezels that I would like on a 5″ device, especially the chin bar, of which Wileyfox decided that adding their logo there would be a good decision. Above the screen, we have the LED notification light, 8MP selfie camera and earpiece along with the Ambient light and proximity sensors. As with the original swift, the Swift 2 and Swift 2 Plus have circular earpieces, though this one is a lot larger and has a rather unusual pattern to the grille that I’m not the biggest fan of.
Up top, we have the 3.5mm headphone jack and the secondary noise-cancelling microphone. Yes, unlike apple Wileyfox decided that keeping the headphone jack would be a great idea, though sadly they put it up top and not down on the bottom where I prefer it. Flipping down to the bottom we have the USB-C charging and data port (Wileyfox wouldn’t tell me whether it’s USB2.0 or 3.0, but based on the price of this device, I’d be surprised if it is not USB2.0). There are also 2 Torx screws and two speaker grilles, except that only the right grille actually houses a speaker, and my guess is that under the left grille is the primary microphone.
The left-hand side gets the Dual-SIM/MicroSD tray, which can house a MicroSIM and MicroSD or NanoSIM and MicroSIM, though it weirdly goes in upside down. Not a problem, just an oddity. The right-hand side gets the power and volume buttons. I actually quite like the placement and texture, but sadly they are a little shallow with little travel, but they could be worse. Lastly we have the rear, which houses the 16MP Samsung made ISOCELL sensor with Dual-LED flash, fingerprint scanner, Wileyfox Logo and regulatory information.
Inside of the Swift 2 Plus is a Snapdragon 430 SoC, 3GB RAM, 32GB Storage, 2700mAh battery with QuickCharge 3.0, 16MP camera, 8MP selfie camera, 5″ 720p IPS screen and more.
Do you like the look of the WileyFox Swift 2 Plus? Let us know in the comments and look out for our full review of this device in the coming weeks.
