Vodafone don’t really come to mind when it comes to handsets, a SIM card yes but Vodafone’s Smart Platinum 7 could change that after being announced today.
It might not seem it but Vodafone has been releasing smartphone for years, ten years in facts so the UK network has decided to do something extra special with their latest release, the Smart Platinum 7. For years Vodafone has been releasing budget smartphones to allow its customers to enjoy premium quality phones with low specs.
The Platinum 7 is a drastic change in strategy from Vodafone. Its last smartphone the Smart Ultra 6 was £100 sporting specs that weren’t much to shout about. Now with the Platinum 7 we have a device that really deserves some extra attention.
A 5.5-inch QHD (2K) display is on show with 534 pixels-per-inch, supported by a glass back and metal chassis. A fingerprint sensor is on the back, accompanied by a beefy 16-megapixel rear-camera. For your selfies there is an 8-megapixel front-facing camera.
Powering things is a mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 652, a chipset making the Platinum 7 comparable to high-end devices in 2015. It’s also the chipset in the first Google Tango device, the freshly announced Lenovo Phab 2 Pro. Accompanying the Snapdragon 625 is 3GB for multi-tasking duties.
A massive 3,000mAh battery will be in tow, including Quick Charge 3.0. There’s 32GB of internal memory which can be upgraded by 128GB via microSD. Oh and it’s 4G ready.
Android Marshmallow 6.0 will be available with the Smart 7, but seeing as this is smartphone from a network carrier, expect a lot of Vodafone bloatware. But for your troubles there will be a free VR headset for those that snap up the Platinum 7 quick. You’ll be able to slot your Platinum 7 into the Vodafone VR headset much like the Samsung Gear VR.
So how much will this bundle of goodness set you back? For Pay-As-You-Go the Platinum 7 will set you back £300 or £28 per a month with 1GB of UK data and 500MB roaming as well as unlimited calls and texts.
For £300 and what you get it’s a great deal, it is definitely the best deal for a network carrier smartphone. But there are better deals out there, being released today is the OnePlus 3 which will have high-end specs for a predicted price of under £300.
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