Android Magazine 58 - 2015 UK

»^ Operating system........Android 5.1

»^ Processor ...........................MediaTek MT6735M 1 GHz

quad-core

»^ Memory ...............................8GB storage / 1GB RAM

»^ Dimensions .......................132.2 x 65.1 x 10 mm

»^ Weight ...................................146g

»^ Display size .......................4.5-inches

»^ Display resolution ........480 x 854 pixels (218 ppi)

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

»^ Camera ................................5MP rear, 2MP front

technical specs

Price £50/$TBA

»^ More information vodafone.co.uk

»^ Supplied by Vodafone

information

Don’t expect too much from

this £50 phone and it just

might surprise you. Good

on the inside, but not so

impressive on the outside

»Verdict

Vodafone

Smart speed 6

»head-to-head

Benchmark score

Unbelievably the speed 6 benchmarked

higher than the LG G4c, registering

impressive scores for its RAM speed. Its

storage also ranked higher, so this is

defi nitely something to consider.

Looks

The speed 6 is right at the bottom of

the pile for its looks. It’s boxy, has some

strangely designed buttons on the side

and those capacitive buttons are hideous.

The rear camera creates a tiny bulge too.

Value for money

You can’t deny this is very good value for

money. At just £50 you get 4G, a decent

processor and the same amount of

internal memory as the G4c. This could

prove to be an excellent backup phone.

Cameras

These are very much lacking. 5MP and

2MP simply isn’t enough these days, even

accounting for the incredibly low price of

the handset. You’ll only take photos very

rarely on this phone.

Group test

Budget phones (^) «
When you’re talking about budget phones, you can’t
get much more budget than £50 for a device.
Samsung is selling cases for the Galaxy S6 that cost
more than the Vodafone Smart speed 6, so it has an
awful lot of work to do to keep pace with the other
options in this test.
Vodafone has had some recent success in making
its carrier-exclusive phones, with the Smart ultra 6 in
particular really impressing us with its 1080p screen
and 2GB RAM. The Smart speed 6, on the other hand,
is right at the opposite end of the spectrum and
offers users a spectacularly cheap phone that
Vodafone hopes can show enough to be considered
along the likes of the Moto E and Honor Holly.
However, with its 4G capability, could Vodafone be
aiming a little higher?
The speed 6 is a really compact 4.5-inch phone,
which is a size rarely seen these days, but it fi ts
perfectly in the pocket and can be easily used with
just one hand. Despite its small size it is the thickest
of the four handsets and it is fairly weighty. The rear is
a smooth plastic fi nish and isn’t as scratchy and
nasty as similar models that we’ve tested in the past

• a big relief. The corners are pleasingly rounded, but
  the capacitive buttons on the body look quite vulgar
  and a bit more thoughtful design work could have
  been put into these.
  It’s running Android 5.1, which is impressive for
  such a cheap phone as often the real budget devices
  will run a couple of Android versions behind the rest.
  The screen is noticeably lacklustre with tired
  colours and fairly poor vertical viewing angles.
  Vodafone has made savings by only offering a screen
  with 480 x 854 pixels and it does show.
  The cameras take surprisingly good images when
  stable and in pretty decent lighting conditions, but
  even the slightest camera shake or drop in light will
  make it go haywire.
  It is a plucky little handset that is working hard to
  challenge its competitors and is surprisingly quick off
  the mark, but there are a lot of limitations with the
  hardware and build quality.

Can the ultimate bargain phone

catch up with the big boys?

Vodafone Smart

speed 6

Chunky

monkey

TheshapeoftheSmart

speed6doesfeelstrange

andthatthickframeisn’t

particularly enjoyable to hold.

It is quite heavy for its size

aswell,sodon’texpect

Hidden battery quality here

Vodafone has taken the

strangedecisiontosealin

its1,780mAhbatteryso

you can’t swap it out for a

freshone.Usuallythisis

onlyafeatureinpremium

metal phones, so we’re a

little bit surprised

Extra apps

Vodafonelikestopreload

itsownapps,whichwould

DGƒPGKHKVJCFCDKVOQTG

native storage, but

unfortunately these apps

takeupahugepartofthe

8GB storage available