VODACOM UNVEILS V8, N8 4G SMARTPHONES

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Vodacom has launched two new 4G smartphones to bolster its suite of highly popular Vodacom Branded Devices (VBD) that are designed and priced to appeal to the value conscious customer looking for a high quality device that is reliable, affordable and that offers the latest smartphone technology.

The latest devices – Smart V8 and Smart N8 come with the latest Android Nougat operating system.

Vodacom’s Chief Officer, Consumer Sales and Distribution, Jorge Mendes says: “affordable devices like the new Smart 8 range are proving to be the biggest contributors to the uptake of smart devices on our network. 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 affordable high quality branded devices, accounting for over 30% of the total device sales.

Since launching 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 Vodacom Branded Device range includes 3G and 4G smartphones, tablets, mobile data products and broadband routers.

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.

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.