Vodafone 858 Smart Android Phone

[Al pacino]

Vodafone has released the most cheapest and functional android phone in India. The model name is Vodafone 858 Smart. At price of Rs. 4,995 you can get a lot more features in compare to any Smartphone. Surely there is not guarantee for the superb quality. It is not possible to get all the packages under one budget. But anyhow those who are looking for a low cost descent android phone, Vodafone 858 Smart is good enough. It is found that telecom providers do not really engage in releasing their own brands due to the competitive market. This time taking a step ahead, Vodafone launched its own brand 858 Smart. We will discuss in detail about the features, about the good and bad and many other stuff in the review. The model was available on some shopping site before, and what was the reason behind launching the same late. If you go on internet and try to find cheapest android phone list, still you can see the price range lies between Rs. 10,000 to higher. Under such conditions Vodafone 858 Smart, Micromax A60,etc comes much below the range of Rs. 8,000/-. Right now Vodafone 858 Smart is the cheapest one. Surely telecom providers enjoy an additional benefit over regular call or data plans which affects the device price.

Vodafone is proving the mobile with an offer of Double Data Benefit. This is a 3G plan where user get more for web. You can subscribe this plan and enjoy much better internet connectivity. Equipped with Android 2.2.1 and Snapdragon S1 processor the phone is enough smart to deal with your day to day web surfing and mail activities. Other than you can run tons of Android apps which suites the best to Android 2.2.1 version. After this version it has been possible to have voice enabled features on the phone. The same updates has recently released for Samsung Galaxy S. This is in short Android Froyo. I will not say it is super good, but for low budget phone like Vodafone 858 Smart it is much better. It is direct competition to some of the high end Smartphone like HTC Desire HD or HTC Magic or Motorola Droid. These phones have much additional in hardware support. But the operating system features are quiet similar. Snapdragon S1 processor which is commonly used in many mobile and tablets is found to be a successful part of mobile processors. More higher processors are available in this range which are Snapdragon S2 processor and Snapdragon S3 processor. Smartphone’s like HTC Rhyme, HTC Amaze, HTC Vivid, T-Mobile Springboard Tablet, Samsung Galaxy S II, HTC Jetstream, HTC Sensation, HTC Evo, etc are equipped with the S1 series processor with some higher clock rates.

This gives a better choice to choose what to go for. I will not say that Vodafone 858 Smart competes directly with the above phones, but it has the quality of these phones on low range and budget. What I can figure out with this model that Vodafone tries to figure out the best usage for today’s youth. The basic requirement is to regular internet usage, social networking, chat support, games, multimedia ,etc. As the response on android is quiet high this phone can be a part of major population. It fits your pocket at nice price of Rs. 4,995 approx.

[Al pacino]

Features :

• Operating System : Android 2.2 OS (Froyo)
• Storage : With the 32GB Micro SD Card Slot
• Super-fast Connectivity and Tethering : HSDPA enabled to give you a faster internet experience. Bluetooth 2.1. WIFI b/g/n for a stable and secure wireless connection.
• WIFI Tethering enables wireless WIFI connectivity for up to 5 WIFI enabled devices/
• Google Services : Speech to Text feature enabled. Send and receive mails on the go with Gmail. Chat with friends on Gtalk. Find your way anywhere with Google Maps.
• Watch your favorite videos on YouTube. Browse the Internet with Chrome Lite.
• Rich Multimedia : 2MP Camera. 7 cms (2.8”) QVGA TFT display. Up to 32 GB Expandable Memory. Stereo FM; MP3; eAAC+ Support & 3.5 mm jack.
• Vodafone TV Application : Watch live TV on the go with the Vodafone TV application.

Detailed Specification :

• Processor : Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 Mobile Processor Aderno GPU
• Screen : 7 cms (2.8”) QVGA. TFT capacitive touchscreen, 252K colors
• Hardware : 2 Megapixel camera. Sensors: Accelerometer, proximity, compass
• Power : Rechargeable battery : Li-ion 1200 mAh. Standby time: Up to 219 h (2.5G) / Up to 380 h (3G). Talk time: Up to 300 min (2.5G) / Up to 270 min (3G)
• Memory : Free user-memory capacity: 130 MB + 20 MB internal memory for camera usage. Micro SD memory card support up to 32GB.
• Network Access : 2G: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900. 3G : UMTS 2100. GPRS. EDGE. HSDPA 3.6 Mbps.
• Messaging and Email : SMS / MMS 1.2 / MS Exchange client / Email client / POP3 / IMAP4
• Multimedia : Audio code: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WAV, MIDI. Image formats: JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG. Video formats: MPEG4, H.263, H.264
• Connectivity : WiFi 802.11 b/g/n. USB 2.0 high speed. Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP. PC Suite (for Windows platform, via download). USB Mass Storage

There is nothing great in design. Vodafone tried to stay simple here. Major part is occupied by the screen itself with some quick navigation buttons. This are commonly found in many phone. On backside you can see a 2MP camera and of course the company’s logo. With an mid size thickness the phone adds nothing great on the hand but better for features. There is something more Vodafone added to make its device more attractive. This is called as vodafonesmart mydesign. The website www.vodafonesmart-mydesign.com offers you some customization support where you choose better back panel designs from colors to pattern and text. The phone comes with two colors. They are black and white and with that you can choose some catchy backgrounds. There are images, symbols, text, etc. Unfortunately this is not available in India. And the charge is also quite high. I am really hoping that Vodafone might start this in India also at a reasonable price.

Talking about the phones performance. Equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 Mobile Processor it is quiet enough to deal with regular android app. It is a low powered processor. The camera is sad part of phone. With 2 megapixel you cannot get a great quality of video and images. The video and image quality are somewhat acceptable to novice. With 2.8" captive touchscreen you can view the browser and play games with a little stress. Other regular stuff like wifi and Bluetooth or 3G are must have features. Today mobiles tends more to be computing. The reason is advancement in technology and availability of better networks which was a dream in past. It is usually on users whether this phone is success or not.

Vodafone entered the market with a low range phone. Surely the main motive might be to go with the existing consumer or enthusiast who wants to have a taste of android. Its 3G ability lets you to surf on great speed and download apps easily. The plus point of Android is that, it has tons of free apps where the manufacturer has to do nothing. Some companies invest more high in the OS and app development. Android is one platform which is compatible and easy. Some pre-configured apps are already provided in the phone so that it avoids the users end hectic of downloading and searching.

Conclusion

If you are really interested you can buy the phone on any nearby Vodafone outlet. Remember that this phone lacks upgrades but well with internet connectivity and app support. Android itself is a very smooth operating system. The phone is better of multimedia support. The Double Data Benefit on 3G is limited for some users only. This can be surely the first step by Telecom giant to enter phone market especially developing low budget Smartphone. Huawei is another company which has released an Android phone at Rs. 6000 with Adobe flash support and Android 2.2. But that phone greatly falls on the look and features. With multiple active desktop and android market support you can add more new apps and stay updated.