Vodacom smartphone offers high specs at low cost

Vodacom has launched the Vodafone Smart Mini, an entry-level smartphone that promises high performance at low cost.

The inexpensive Android phone is now available at Vodacom World in Midrand and from other participating outlets.

It runs on the Android Jelly Bean 4.1 operating system, and carries a 3.5″ HVGA touchscreen, 2 megapixel camera, 1GHz processor and 4GB storage.

“”The phone offers high quality at an attractive price point when compared to other low cost smartphones,”” according to the Vodacom announcement. At R799, it is priced slightly below the Samsung Galaxy Pocket, which has similar specs, but sells at R899.

Customers who sign up on a Top Up 135 plus contract at R149 per month will receive two Vodafone Smart Mini handsets for the price of one. The deal also includes R135 worth of airtime, 100MB of data per month and a free Starter pack for the second phone.

The recommended pre-paid price is R799, but pricing may vary at stores. Prepaid customers will also benefit from a promotion – if they recharge with a minimum of R55 worth of airtime over a 30 day period, they will receive 250MB of data and 250 SMSs. This promotion will be valid for 6 months from the date of activation on the Vodacom network.

‚””We currently have over 6 million smartphones on our network which represents 20% of our South African customer base,”” says Enzo Scarcella, Managing Executive of Postpay at Vodacom. “”This presents a huge potential for customers to migrate from feature phones to smartphones. The Vodafone Smart Mini is a perfect phone for that it’ll introduce a new wave of customers to the smartphone experience.

‚””We will continue to work with Vodafone to introduce low cost smartphones and also partner with manufacturers to drive costs of smartphones down. With the launch of the Vodafone Smart Mini we’re continuing with our focus of putting the power of the Internet in the hands of our customers.‚””

* “