Wileyfox returns to form with the £159 Swift 2

Wileyfox’s Swift made quite the first impression when it arrived around this time last year. At launch, it was easily one of the best affordable smartphones you could buy in the UK, and from an altogether new British brand, no less. This summer, Wileyfox muddied its own name somewhat, following up on the Swift with a trio of unexciting devices. Today, however, the company has announced what could be a worthy successor to one of last year’s best budget devices. Or two successors, we should say: The Swift 2 and Swift 2 Plus.

The Swift 2 features a 5-inch, 720p display, 1.4GHz octa-core Snapdragon 430, 2GB of RAM and 16 gigs of internal storage (expandable, of course). A new 13-megapixel camera (Samsung sensor) with phase detection autofocus is your main shooter, with an 8MP front-facer for selfies and the like. Move up to the Swift 2 Plus and you’ll find 3 gigs of RAM, double the storage and a beefier 16MP primary camera (Samsung sensor, 1 micron pixel size). Otherwise, the devices are identical and by the numbers, not serious upgrades over the Swift.

The real difference between the generations is down to build materials and extra features. There’s no textured plastic here. Instead, we’re looking at aircraft-grade aluminium instead. Then there’s the fingerprint reader and NFC chip — hello, Android Pay — as well as dual loudspeaker grilles and the USB-C port with fast-charging support. These are where the Swift 2 really one-ups its predecessor, and it’s reflected in the price. While the Swift launched at £129 last year, the Swift 2 comes in at a more expensive but still very competitive £159.

The Swift 2 Plus, with its better camera and higher RAM/storage capacities, is obviously a tad pricier at £189. Both are available to buy direct from Wileyfox today, with Amazon releasing its stock this time next week.