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Test-Driving a $35 Firefox OS Smartphone
An anonymous reader writes: Ars Technica got its hands on one of the extremely low-cost smart phones running Firefox OS. The Intex Cloud FX retails for about $35 in India, and its intent is to bring smartphones to people who traditionally can't afford them. So, what do you have to sacrifice to bring a smartphone's costs down that far? Well, it has a 3.5" 480x320 display, a 1Ghz A5 CPU, 128MB of RAM, and 256 MB of storage. (Those a megabytes.) There's no GPS, no notification LED, and not even 3G support. They say the build quality is as poor as you'd expect, and if you aren't at a 90 degree angle with the screen, colors are distorted. But, again: it's $35 — this is to be expected.
How well does the phone work? Well, the UI works well enough, but multitasking is rough. Everything's functional, but slow, sometimes taking several seconds to register touch input. The real killer, according to the article, is the on-screen keyboard, which is unbearable. The article concludes, "Sure, we're spoiled, "rich" people compared to the target market, but it's hard to believe that this is a "best attempt" at a cheap smartphone. ... The problem is that Firefox OS just isn't the right choice of operating system for this device—it's trying to do way too much with the limited hardware. It isn't configurable enough." They say the phone doesn't even make sense for a $35 budget.
How well does the phone work? Well, the UI works well enough, but multitasking is rough. Everything's functional, but slow, sometimes taking several seconds to register touch input. The real killer, according to the article, is the on-screen keyboard, which is unbearable. The article concludes, "Sure, we're spoiled, "rich" people compared to the target market, but it's hard to believe that this is a "best attempt" at a cheap smartphone. ... The problem is that Firefox OS just isn't the right choice of operating system for this device—it's trying to do way too much with the limited hardware. It isn't configurable enough." They say the phone doesn't even make sense for a $35 budget.
With amazing reviews like this Android better watch out.
"The real killer, according to the article, is the on-screen keyboard" - Best OSK Ever
"Everything's functional" - This is a real smartphone
"Rich people compared to the target market" - Rich people wish they had it
"best attempt at a cheap smartphone" - it's the best cheap smartphone desired by rich people
"the right choice of operating system for this device—it's trying to do way too much" - It does so much the average user probably can't handle it
Can't wait to preorder!
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
What is the use case for a smartphone, which does not have a usable mobile network connection? If the phone is actually using any of those "cloud" apps, it might be quite a pain to use over 56kbps or so GPRS. In the rural areas I would rather have a phone that does not require charging every day and which works fast and reliably on the telephone side.
Heres an $89 phone.. and it has fairly solid performance overall for a cheapo device
http://microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/Unlocked-BLU-Win-Jr/productID.306014000
then again, Microsoft builds and tests its devices from the lower spec upward so I can only expect that
OS to become even better on even $60 hardware
I remember running WinXPe, on a 600mhz amd, that only had 128meg ram, and did have a 9gig HD, but the OS only took up under 200meg.
Boots up with less than 61meg usage, better than any smart phone today.
All it needs is a full screen DX based simple interface based on rendered shapes, no textures.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Walmart was selling two Android phones for $30. I bought an LG Optimus Fuel over the summer for $30 With 2GB internal memory, a 3.5" screen, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, SD card support, and more, this is an amazing deal for $30. It looks like Walmart realized that and raised to price to $60 (which is still a good deal).
.
Is voice quality OK when using it as a phone? Does it work well in weak signals?
But why is it so slow?
The resolution is comparable with computers from late 80s/early 90s but the CPU power and memory size is about 100 times what was used back then.
There is no hardware reason for this phone to not be as snappy as my Amiga, and when I've used it for a longer time I generally feel that my multi-code multi-GHz windows PC feels a bit sluggish.
This screams software bloat or software design that is unsuitable for user interaction.
Too many years of software developers focusing on mantras like "memory is cheap" and "let the compiler do the optimizing" might have led to a situation where we lost 99% of our hardware capacity. Either that or there is some other factor that makes things needlessly slow.
I remember running Amiga Workbench on a 7mhz motorola, that only had 1meg ram and did not have a HD, but the OS only took up under 1meg.
Boots up with less than 100kB usage, better than any smart phone today.
All it needs is a full screen intuition based simpe interface based on rendered shapes, no textures.
It's 35 bucks. Or 1/20th of an iPhone.
It's made for the Indian market, rather than the country with household debt of $11.65 Trillion.
My first thought upon reading the Ars piece was "why not get a Symbian Nokia? I have one in my pocket right now and with Opera Mini it does the job better than this thing"; the Ars readership seems to concur. There's also mention of a $48 (maybe $60 if the import duties are huge) Lumia 520 and a dozen other workable devices.
The bottom line: shoehorn your pet OS with HTML5 framework in ultracheap hardware, and everybody loses.
This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
There's no GPS
How is that even legal? I thought countries required phone makers to include GPS for enhanced emergency services. Or is that exclusively a U.S. thing?
It doesn't have a GPS. Doesn't that mean it's not legal in the USA? I thought that was required for all phones so that if you call 911, the dispatcher will know where you are. I also thought that the GPS was integrated into the chipsets that they have to use for other basic features anyway.
$35 is not a great deal for a phone. Granted, it is cheap. But you can get Chinese smart phones for around $100. Phones just as good as flagship phones for $200. $35 isn't even a good price point for those in poverty. And no GPS? That's just a deal breaker right there. No 3G and no Led is not big deal at all... not even worth mentioning.
Give it a couple more years and you'll be buying smart phones out of vending machines.
I'm using a 20 € Samsung phone that works at amazing speed and has 25 days of autonomy. Who needs a 35$ smartphone that is not usable as a smartphone?
That's plenty of hardware. Hell, my first color laptop was less machine than that is. Someone just needs to rip the bloated goat of software they've put on there. I bet it'd be pretty damn snappy with a text-mode UI and a bare-bones Linux kernel.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
The Tata Nano was a cheap car made on the cheap for the masses....and it's reception was lukewarm to cold. Even the least favourable of Indian society did not want to be seen buying the "cheap" Tata car.- sales were atrocious - ..they would rather buy a used, higher end car
Not as a main phone, hell no. But there are times when I might not want to carry my expensive, fragile phone - going to a metal show, or a bad neighborhood, or whatever.
For that, being able to pop my SIM out of my Nexus 5 into something literally a tenth the price would save a lot of hassle and cash if it gets broken or stolen, and as long as it can still make calls and texts, it will work for most purposes. There isn't a single app I rely on, even email, but I do rely on being able to make phone calls and send texts. I briefly looked into buying a second-hand phone to see if it was cheaper, and it still can't beat the price of $35.
That said, who the hell said "let's make a dirt-cheap phone OS so the entire planet can enjoy the web!" and then decided to do everything in HTML and Javascript? Even Android is better than that. That's one of the areas where you would really want the speed and efficiency of a low-level language.
I remember running Amiga Workbench on a 7mhz motorola, that only had 1meg ram and did not have a HD, but the OS only took up under 1meg.
I remember running CP/M on a Intertec Superbrain with a 4Mhz Z80, that only had 64KB and two 180KB floppies. The OS plus a complete Office suite fitted on one of those floppies...
FFOS is a good mobile OS. I have tried version 2.0 in a ZTE Open and although this is also a crappy phone (single core CPU, 256 MiB RAM), it is not as crappy as the Cloud FS. The keyboard works well, and the OS runs rock solid (no hangs, decent speed). The only problems with this phone are the crappy camera (slightly better than the one in the Cloud FX) and the poor multitasking due to the low RAM amount. If you install FFOS e.g. on a Nexus device, you will find it performs great and it has no multitasking problems. I like FFOS and I've been considering switching from Android to FFOS, the only things I'm missing right now is a good SSH client that works "offline" (e.g. not connecting to a web page through the Internet) and a swype-like keyboard. About these extremely low spec smartphones, I think something like the almost dead Symbian would make a lot more sense. I owned a Nokia 5800 some time ago, with the same amount of RAM (128 MiB) and a weaker CPU, and it performed pretty decent. 128 MiB is just too low for a full featured mobile OS like FFOS.
Tech moves fast.
In two years this sort of phone will be on par with mine, an HTC Desire HD. It's 3.5 years old and does all I could ever want from a Phone. Appart from being a little sluggish at times maybe. But that's hardly an issue, given that it is very sturdy and has a replaceable battery - which most modern phones don't.
When robots have advanced far enough into manufacturing, we'll have the equivalent of iPhone 6es come out of vending machines and the likes, for prices simular to that of this model. The predecessor to my current phone was a Blackberry Curve 8310. The superiour keyboard and battery runtime aside, the entire device seems way outdated and strangely anachronistic to me, like from a different era - and it's only 7 years old!
It's actually quite realistic when Google claims that they want to put the second half of humanity on to the internet within the next 5 years.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
There are plenty of low-cost unlocked smartphones. For about $50, you can get a new Android phone with similar specs and GPS, and you get a heck of a lot more software for it.
I remember running OS-9 on a Color Computer 2 with a 0.895 MHz 6809E, that only had 64KB and only one floppy.
I can't wait to see the next reply.
I think any OS that could run somewhat bearable on Openmoko Neo Freerunner would be a great fit for such cheap phones.
You are correct. I was repeating something that I had heard many times, but turns out not to be true.
Here, I Googled it for me:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/...
A lot of the concerns are legitimate and likely due to needing 2x-4x the RAM to function properly. But a notification LED? Why the fuck would I want that? I don't even have one on a desktop or laptop. No comment on GPS (law enforcement and drone strikes may use GSM triangulation anyway). Lack of multitouch and prediction on the keyboard? like I would want to hit different keys at once and want my keyboard to wipe my ass for me? (also in such place as India I guess they still have dozens languages). The camera shots? exponentially better than my dumbphone. Losing time? If I remove the CR2032 on my desktop or battery on my phone, I lose time. Just don't remove your fucking battery. No storage? add 32GB SD and it beats iphone 6.
Multitasking? not really needed. But sadly the phone kind of fails at single tasking. (and music or FM playback should be "almost multitasking" that works).
That's said it's a failure ; someone needs to invent micro-DIMM DRAM I guess (not that it would make much sense, though). Same lesson as on a desktop computer : 512MB is usable (yes even today, latest linux+lxde+firefox), 256MB you're pushing it, 128MB it's slideshows and you're pretending stuff works but only really good for music playback, video playback, text editor and minesweeper.
I have a ZTE Open C and while I'd say Forefox OS 1.3 is not yet ready for prime time the basics work. I believe 2.0 will be a significant step up. I picked this phone up to use while my Galaxy Nexus was repaired. Worked fine for basic stuff. Phone, maps, websbrowsing.
Maybe the reviewr has too high expectations for this level of phone.
A $35 phone running just about any OS is likely to be crap. That's not a bad thing, sometimes you're looking to buy crap. I bought a $50 Android phone by Huaweii. It sucks. But it was cheap and disposable and it handled my work calls.
I purchased the Flame and have been writing some apps for it. I had some limited knowledge in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, so I figured I'd have fun with it. It's more of a mid-level phone and the hardware is great. I'm running 1.3, but have been meaning to upgrade to one of the 2.0 nightly builds. (I don't have the copy/paste feature until upgrading to 2.0.)
Here's the Flame:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox_OS/Developer_phone_guide/Flame
Firefox OS runs great on decent hardware. Same story as with an Android phone.
I remember running OS-9 on a Color Computer 2 with a 0.895 MHz 6809E, that only had 64KB and only one floppy.
I can't wait to see the next reply.
Anything that doesn't run on valves is dangerously cutting edge to some people...
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
I used to support 12 users on a PDP11 wit 1MB of RAM (4 disk drives and two tape drives). Also no G's, nor GPS but not much chance of it moving anywhere - it filled an 18 ton truck, and used 415V at 20A, (provided you spun up the disks one at a time).
The spec of this phone is way better than the original IBM PC, and the build quality is probably better than a lot of the original clones. But it would be better to buy a second hand phone if you are spending under $100. You can by a Samsung Galaxy S2 for that. (A PDP11 would probably cost more, but it might also be more fun).
Meanwhile, my Samsung Note 3 does not even support tape drives! No scsi port, and no drivers for my USB DAT drives. I am still waiting for MT-ST to be ported to Android. Shame.
Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
that smartphone sounds like old Palm Treo 6xx for T-mobile. Just saying. At least the Intex Cloud FX has a faster CPU.
I only made it about 3/4 of the way through the first page. I clicked expecting an article about a phone. Maybe I would even get to see just what Firefox OS looks like, what features it has, what it does. Instead I found a not-very well done article about the digital divide. Maybe it gets better farther on? I don't know. I lost interest.
is the on-screen keyboard, which is unbearable.
So it's like the keyboard on an iPhone?
Typing on an iPhone is like being in a pile of naked people in a dark room. You know you're touching something, you're just not sure what.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
How'd "eating your words" taste here http://news.slashdot.org/comme... ? Flavored with YOUR FOOT IN YOUR MOUTH to 'ram them down' & then washed down with "the bitter taste of SELF-defeat" too, perhaps? R O T F L M A O, & now, the "TrAnStEsTiCuLaR-MoNsTrOsiTy" Tom (BarbaraHudson, the resident 'confused' on who/what he/she is, evidenced also by multiple sockpuppet accounts on slashdot for cheating moderation http://slashdot.org/~BarbaraHu... = http://slashdot.org/~tomhudson... = http://slashdot.org/~Barbara%2... ) will, of course, "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" on command from the questions in that link above as always!
Try running Android with 128 MiB and you'll be glad if it ever boots. I have an Android tablet with a Tegra 2 CPU (dual core 1.2 GHz) and 512 MiB RAM Running Cyanogenmod 10.1 (Android 4.2.2 IIRC) and it runs painfully slow. Of course I don't think iOS would be able to run properly with these specs. FFOS does a great job squeezing poor hardware, but it cannot do miracles.
seriously, the one place where you most need to conserve CPU and bandwidth is the place where you have the least control of bandwidth hog graphic ads. 3MB of ads when all i want is 60k of text in a news article is not a fair trade off.
In a couple of years, you're going to be able to buy hardware with x4 the specs of what this phone has for less than $50.00 and it'll be able to run an older version of android decently. If you look at China it's starting to happen now although not yet in bulk supply.
"It's good enough for poor people" is very condensing. Just because they have no money, it doesn't mean they'll be happy to use an unusable phone. They're better off with a feature phone until hardware prices drop.
It's funny that the last thing that matters to people when they buy a phone these days is how well it performs as a phone, i.e. its ability to place and receive calls.
The computer I had back in 1998 was awesome it had a 300mhz single core processor and a fully functional multitasking OS. It had 512 MB of ram and a 10 Gig hard drive. The monitor was a standard VGA 800*600 display.
This $35 smart phone is better in every way than my old computer from 1998. How is it trying to do too much? My experience with these kinds of things is that there are two reasons people get this feeling. 1) The programming is really poor compared to older hardware. This is usually poor algorithmic choices or really poor implementation. or 2) The hardware cant support the level of graphics processing that you are trying to use. This can be anything from advanced 3D rendering to not having enough ram to support your display. The latter is a hardware issue, the former is a simple choice. My guess is that the only reason this device is considered an under performer is that it has been programmed specifically to feel that way.
Heck the smart phone I have in my pocket. I have a 2.5Ghz quad core processor, 2 Gigs of ram, a 16gigs of internal storage (with external that supports up to 128 Gigs) and full 1080p display. It also has GPS accelerometer, compass, and a few other useful sensors.
Yet I felt I could do more and for cheaper on my old 1998 computer, than anything on my smart phone. Well except for GPS, but that was simply that GPS sensors weren't available back then, and my old computer wasn't exactly portable.
Is this even legal in the U.S.? That feature alone will sell this puppy like hotcakes!
GPS is a RECEIVER UNIT ONLY. Unless your phone keeps GPS always on and transmits your GPS location via wireless or mobile connection, GPS is useless for tracking.
And government, your network provider and emergency services can track your phone just fine without GPS by using triangulation and comparing signal strengths from several mobile towers surrounding you.
--Coder
If you need open, Linux-based and hackable, try getting a Jolla. http://jolla.com/
It is not available in US yet, and it's a bit pricy, but it's being developed at a good pace, and I hope it will get there. I'll get one when I retire my current phone, just because Google is closing up Android more and more with each release.
I wonder how Jolla would cope with low-end hardware like in this 35$ phone. It's supposedly faster than recent Androids on same hardware, not sure how low can you go though.
--Coder
I understand, but the biggest problem in my view is not running slow, it is expected in a limited hardware. What bothered me on the test was how Firefox OS dealt with this limited hardware, failing to perform basic activities when it should be executing then (even if slowly).
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