Vodacom has launched two new 4G smartphones to bolster its suite of branded devices designed and priced to appeal to the value-conscious customer. The Smart V8 and Smart N8 both ship with the latest Android Nougat operating system.
“Affordable devices like the new Smart 8 range are proving to be the biggest contributors to the uptake of smart devices on our network,” says Jorge Mendes, Vodacom’s chief officer for consumer sales and distribution. “In turn, this contributes to the overall sustained growth in data demand. Our Vodacom branded devices combine high quality design with making the latest mobile and Vodacom technology available at a great price for our customers.”
In the past financial year, Vodacom sold over 3.4-million branded devices, accounting for over 30% of the total device sales.
Since launching the range 11 years ago, the Vodafone Group has shipped more than 100-million devices to its various businesses across the continent. The devices were first launched in 2006 to reduce the cost for customers to own the latest mobile technology. The Vrange includes 3G and 4G smartphones, tablets, mobile data products and broadband routers.
Vodacom provided the following pricing and specifications on the new devices:
Vodacom Smart V8- @ R199PMx 24 months on a uChoose Flexi 150. Prepaid price R3 599
The Smart V8 has top of the range features like a fingerprint sensor, 5.5” Full HD screen with reinforced 2.5D Dragontrail glass, high spec 16 megapixel (MP) rear and 8MP front camera with dual flash and 3000 milliamp hour battery. It has already won a 2017 World iF Design Award for the premium look and feel, underpinned by its elegant and durable full-metal casing. Its powerful processor can stream media at speeds of up to 300 megabits per second (Mbps) over Vodacom’s 4G network.
Vodacom Smart N8- @ R129PMx 24 months on a uChoose Flexi 110. Prepaid price R1 999
The Smart N8 (another winner at the 2017 World iF Design Awards) has a fingerprint sensor which provides increased security and enhanced parental controls on the device. Parents can control which apps their children can access, or temporarily unlock apps as a reward using their fingerprint.
The Vodafone Smart N8 is also great for those wanting to watch videos anywhere at any time, with a 5” screen, dual front speaker, 10GB of available storage (that can be increased by up to 32GB with a microSD card) and good battery power.
Vodacom expects to launch another two devices later this year- the Smart Tab N8 and the Smart Vodafone Smart E8.
