Phones

If the charms of an ‘i’ device are not top of your wants list then the name top of the Android wants list will be whatever the Samsung machine has to offer. Here is one of their most recent offerings courtesy of Vodafone the Galaxy S6.

The Moochies Phone Watch has been designed to provide children with certain mobile phone features while, at the same time, giving parents a degree of control over the telephonic activity of their children.

Joining the Vodafone series of handsets is a 4G budget offering.

A trip down London’s Brick Lane introduced me to a new smartphone from Huawei’s Honor range.

Archos are a French company that have had a presence in the UK for many years. Like many other companies they have decided that mobile phones are a field they wish to participate in. Here an entry into the 4G market the 4G LTE.

Offering DECT phone functionality, plus both waterproof and dustproof features, is a handset from BT.

No sooner do I finish checking out the Vodafone Smart Prime 6 handset than the company releases the follow up product. This is the Vodafone Smart Ultra 6 smartphone which is available as a pay-as-you-go basis priced at £125 or on a monthly Vodafone contrast priced at £17.

This phone is only available from Vodafone and as such needs a Vodafone SIM. It is part of the ‘Smart 6’ series of phones. Android Lollipop 5.02 is the operating system and while some of the installed Apps are Vodafone’s it is still an Android Phone.

Did you know that 84% of smartphone users feel they cannot go a single day without using their device; 60% of users admit they sleep with their phone; while 17% claim to have showered with their handset?

This Android phone is smart and looks that little bit different from the majority, maybe it’s the copper colour of the back and sides and maybe it’s the shape with edges that do not shave away, whatever it is its just that little bit different.

While the big boys in the arena of Smartphone manufacturing tend to price their hardware at a level that many of us find incompatible with our financial constraints, other manufacturers of these “must-have devices” have a more economically viable approach to the pricing of their various models. One such company is ZTE, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and mobile phones, with its Blade range of handsets.

The Smart Prime 6 is a new member of the Vodafone family of smartphones. In this particular case, the Smart Prime 6 offering is a Vodafone 4G enabled model that is being targeted at the budget market sector with a price point of £80.00 on a PAYG basis.

Motorola certainly opened a Pandora style box with the release of its Moto G smartphone. As a result other companies are now developing handsets that combine reasonable specifications with a price point that does not cause you to catch your breath or feel a pinch on your wallet. One such example of this trend is the Idol 3 from Alcatel OneTouch. For those unfamiliar with Alcatel OneTouch, I should explain that the brand is the result of a joint venture betwe

The Microsoft Lumia 640 from Vodafone is a slim 4G 5 inch versatile smartphone which, being Windows Phone based, will also provide the compatibility with Microsoft Office applications that will be a boon to many serious users.

A full featured SmartPhone for £79 is something to make anyone stop and listen, the logic is that corners must have been cut, as far as I can see this has not been the case so I say again a full featured SmartPhone for £79 is this offering from Vodafone.

This next mobile handset is smart enough to act as a clock while it is being charged or not used for other purposes.

Nuisance call blocking, Android apps and Internet access are all supported by this next phone.

A large SmartPhone running Android 4.42, it looks like many recent offerings from a range of companies it has two SIM slots so those who get an allowance for a work phone can save the problem of having to carry two phones around.

While ‘i’ devices battle it out for supremacy with Android there is another player in the field and that is Microsoft with Nokia to mention but one. This the a rather nice Windows phone here sent courtesy of Vodafone in the UK.

While Android and iOS are the dominant force with regards to smartphones, they are not the only choice. Windows Phone 8.1, with a promised upgrade to Windows Phone 10, is a viable alternative.

Whether you refer to them as Cold Calls or, probably more appropriately, Nuisance Calls, they are unwanted interruptions to your daily living routine. While some of these calls are merely annoying, to say the least, others are more criminal orientated in that they are designed to relieve you of your hard earned cash by illegal methods.

A 4inch screen phone may seem small today – it certainly did to me as I put my own phone away for the duration of this test – but as I got used to it I found it did everything I needed so this is not only about the phone but also the service.

Unlike the major players of Apple, Samsung, LG and HTC who prefer the top end of the market, ZTE positions its smartphone products in the budget arena.

This small smart phone looks slightly retro but as mobile phones devolve so quickly it would have looked very modern not that long ago. So has this latest budget priced offering got something to make you switch for its charms?

Continuing my look at mobile devices available from Vodafone, it is the turn of the Sony Xperia M2 Aqua offering.

Typed the characters “P8” into your favourite search engine and you are likely to get hits that refer to aircrafts, pistols and even electrical engineering software. You should also get links to a new smartphone from Huawei. This is the company’s latest addition to its P series of handsets, namely the P8 which was presented to the world at large at London’s Old Billingsgate event centre.

The Sony Xperia Z3 is a waterproof smartphone. This particular model is available in a choice of white, green, copper or black with my review sample being of the latter colour. I have to thank Vodafone for kindly provided the unit that is the basis of this review.

This is a value phone that looks like it should cost more. It has bright easy to read screen apart from when you are in strong sunlight and then those who hanker for a mirror should be accommodated by the ultra-reflective screen.

At this year's Wearable Technology Show in East London's ExCel Exhibition Centre one ubiquitous topic of conversation was the staying power of today's batteries. Smartphones, ever hungrier for power while dieting down to wafer thinness, exemplify the problem. My own solution is to stick with phones like Samsung's Galaxy Note series that have easily replaceable batteries, but these are becoming rarer as designers seek to outdo each other in the race towards edge-on invisibility.

As with some of the company’s other products, such as Moto G and Moto X, Lenovo has released the second generation of its Moto E smartphone offering. Aimed specifically at the budget market sector, this latest version of the Moto E is now available in 3G and 4G LTE varieties depending upon the needs of the user.