Premium
This is an archive article published on October 21, 2014

Spice Fire One review: Good intentions but a long way to go

At this point of time, it is hard to recommend this as a budget smartphone for first-time users.

Spice Fire One Firefox phone review At this point of time, it is hard to recommend this as a budget smartphone for first-time users.

Spice Fire One and Intex Cloud Fx Firefox smartphone are the only Firefox smartphones currently available in India. Spice is offering a free silicon cover with its Fire One handset. The specifications of both the smartphones are similar with the only difference of a 1400 mAh battery, a 1.3 MP rear camera with flash and a VGA front camera in the Spice Fire One.

Spice Fire One Mi-FX 1 Firefox smartphone

Specs: 1 GHz processor, Firefox OS, 128 MB RAM, 256 MB ROM, 1.3 MP rear camera with flash, 1400 mAh battery

Price: Rs. 1,999 (after recent discount). Add the price of a 4 GB microSD card if you don’t have one.

Story continues below this ad

Design: You really cannot expect much in terms of design from a phone in this price range. It appears pretty solid despite being made of inferior quality glossy plastic. The front face of the device features a 3.5-inch display along with one capacitive home button located at the middle just below the screen. At the back, the device mounts a 1.3 MP camera with flash. The glossy back cover is removable and users will have to remove the battery to get access to the microSD card slot and the two SIM card slots.

Display: The device comes with a 3.5-inch display. The viewing angles are bad and I found it difficult to use the phone under direct sunlight.

Camera: The device comes with a 1.3 MP rear camera with flash and a VGA front camera. The images taken from this smartphone will remind you of the first generation of camera phones. The quality is really bad and users can just feel happy about the fact that they are getting two cameras in a sub-Rs. 2,000 phone.

Spice Fire One Mi-FX 1 Firefox smartphone

Performance: You can expect lags and frequent app crashes. Also, the screen may become unresponsive occasionally. Nothing much to comment about the multimedia experience in this phone. Users will have to be very patient to use this phone.

Story continues below this ad

Connectivity: In general, there are no issues with connectivity, however, you can expect sudden drops in connectivity while using WiFi or 2G data.

Apps: Firefox OS still needs to do a lot of homework in this space. Popular Android apps and games are not present for the current Firefox smartphones. There is no direct WhatsApp application. You can use WhatsApp via third party apps via ConnectA2 or Loqui IM. However, it’s pretty unstable and unpredictable. Games available for this device are very basic.

Storage: Internal memory is very low. So, you will have to get a microSD card. The device supports up to 4 GB microSD cards only.

Spice Fire One Mi-FX 1 Firefox smartphone

Battery: If you expect your device to last for two or three days like normal feature phones then welcome to the world of smartphones, in which you simply cannot afford to forget your charger or power bank at home. The device is powered by a 1400 mAh battery. The battery life is not great. On regular usage with WiFi or 2G data, the battery can last for around 8 to 10 hours.

Story continues below this ad

Verdict: Both the Firefox smartphones appears to be an experiment in the ultra-low-cost segment. At this point of time, it is hard to recommend this as a budget smartphone for first-time users.

Latest Comment
Post Comment
Read Comments
Advertisement
Loading Taboola...
Advertisement