Android Magazine 58 - 2015 UK

When the Wileyfox Storm was announced,
alongside its little brother Swift, the Android
community was instantly intrigued. The British
startup has partnered with Qualcomm and
CyanogenMod, one of the world’s most popular
Android forks, to create an Android phone that
has that much needed unique element.
Cyanogen’s big selling points are its
customisation and security. To get the Storm’s
range of themes and security features you’d
usually have to root your phone and fl ash a
custom ROM yourself or download a ton of apps.
However, by making Cyanogen the stock OS,
Wileyfox has brought that level of customisation
to the masses and given its users the chance to
create a truly original phone.
Cyanogen has an enormous, ever-growing
stock of wallpapers and themes for you to
choose from. Not only that, but you can mix and
match using a particular font with a different
wallpaper and app icons. Customisation on this
scale is out of the reach of most users so
Wileyfox really has carved a niche for people
wanting a personal experience.
From a security point of view, Cyanogen again
comes up trumps. It has Privacy Guard pre-
installed, where it denies certain apps access to
sensitive data on your phone, and Caller ID, so
you know who is calling you even if you haven’t
got their number saved in your phone.
The speed with which Cyanogen is able to roll
out updates, bug fi xes and general
improvements is impressive. While Android users
have to wait months for incremental changes to
their software, Cyanogen’s open-source nature
means that updates can occur on a weekly
basis, so you will always have the most up to
date phone possible.
The design of the Storm isn’t pulling up any
trees. From the front it is a pretty standard
5.5-inch smartphone, albeit with extremely thin

side bezels that make single-handed use very

achievable. The rear of the phone is made of a

strange textured plastic that has an almost

cardboard feel to it. This lets the phone down

considerably, but at least they have continued to

try something a little different. Nevertheless, the

orange and black theme is pretty striking and it’s

defi nitely the kind of phone that will get a lot of

people talking.

Considering Wileyfox and Qualcomm have

partnered together to create this new phone, it

does come as something of a surprise that

they’re only using the Snapdragon 615, a 1.5GHz

octa-core processor. Admittedly you wouldn’t

expect a normal phone that costs under £200 to

house the very latest processor, but as they

have partnered, it’s a bit of a let down that they

haven’t at least gone for the 808. This is

refl ected in the Storm’s benchmarking scores

that rank way below its big rivals. It doesn’t feel

particularly slow and games and videos aren’t

hampered but you also don’t get the same kind

of zip you get from the ZTE Blade S6 or the Moto

G. It also gets very hot extremely quickly, even

with only medium use.

The camera app is really enjoyable to use.

Both the 20MP rear-facing and 8MP front-facing

cameras use Sony imaging sensors and they are

extremely quick to focus. A simple swipe on the

display can change the shooting mode, which

proves to be a very useful feature and HDR

brightens up images nearly as well as using the

fl ash. The app is refreshingly different from the

stock-Android camera app and all the changes

have been positive.

For one of its fi rst-time phones, Wileyfox has

done a pretty good job. There are things to work

on as there always are, such as material quality

and power, but on the whole this is certainly a

mobile that can mix it with the big hitters in this

increasingly crowded market.

Review

This is a great start from Wileyfox

and puts root-style customisation

into the hands of non-modders

Wileyfox Storm

£199

»^ More information Wileyfox.com

»^ Supplied by Wileyfox

»^ Operating system ............. Cyanogen 12.1

»^ Processor ................................^ Qualcomm Snapdragon 615

1.5GHz octa-core

»^ Memory ..................................... 32GB storage / 3GB RAM

»^ Dimensions ............................ 155.6 x 77.3 x 9.2 mm

»^ Weight .........................................155g

»^ Display size ............................5.5-inches

»^ Display resolution .............1920 x 1080 (400 ppi)

»^ Front camera ........................8MP

»^ Rear camera..........................20MP

»^ Connectivity .......................... Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4

»^ Expansion slot .....................microSD up to 128GB

Te c h n i c a l s p e c s

For a sealed in battery, you would hope for more than

2,500mAh for added security

Battery life

Verdict

Good for

Bad for

Cyanogen is rightly one of the best Android forks due to

added customisation and security settings

The excellent OS

The Sony imaging sensors are excellent and they’re

backed up by an innovative app

Cameras

The phone does feel a little bit cobbled together and not

sleek in the slightest

Material problems

The Storm has good specifications apart from a lacklustre

processor that denies it any real power

Slow processor

Sealed in battery

The2,500mAhbatteryis

sealed inside an unremovable

back, so unfortunately you

aren’t able to swap the

batteryoutforafreshone

should you be caught short. It

will generally last about a day

of average use

Storage wars

Despiterunningarivalto

stock Android as the OS, the

Storm still comes with the full

suite of Google apps. The

preloaded apps eat up about

5GB of the 32GB storage, so

youhaveplentyofspacefor

your personal storage