Vodafone doesn't make its own phones, but instead rebrands existing models as its own
Most of Vodafone's prepaid phones are locked to the Vodafone network
What to consider when choosing a Vodafone phone
Vodafone offers a wide variety of premium and mid-range phones on contract terms to Australian consumers. But in terms of phones that specifically bear the Vodafone brand name, it has typically only focused on very low-cost prepaid devices.
It's not as though Vodafone has its own factory and phone R&D division pumping these phones out, though. Like similar devices you could buy that are labelled as "Telstra" or "Optus" phones, they're standard designs being built by a Chinese Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), although you rarely see much of that manufacturer's branding on Vodafone's phones.
With a focus on basic features and value, here's what you need to consider when choosing a Vodafone phone:
Vodafone's phones tend on the much cheaper side, typically selling for around $100 or less, and that does constrict how much storage each phone has. By modern standards, they're often very low storage devices, with the Vodafone Smart C9 3G, for example, shipping with just 4GB of onboard storage. The good news here is that they often support storage expansion via microSD card if you do run out of space on the phone itself.
Again, cost considerations mean that you're rarely looking at a huge phone when you buy a Vodafone model, although that may suit you if you prefer smaller screened devices. The use of smaller screens does also rather hide that typically these are phones with very low resolution.
Vodafone's own-brand phones are sold to its prepaid customers on a value basis, meaning you typically won't pay much for them. After all, Vodafone will quite happily sell you a contract phone worth quite a bit more, but it recognises that there's also a market for more affordable devices and folks who would like the assurance of a phone that carries the Vodafone brand. Vodafone's own-brand phones have varied over the years anywhere from $60 to $200 outright.
It's an oddity of the mobile phone space that many premium phones have dropped standard 3.5mm headphone jack, but they're quite common in cheap phones. Vodafone's own devices typically work off reference designs that still include standard headphone jacks, as well as support for Bluetooth headphones.
Cheap phones are rarely awash with high-end security features, and much of Vodafone's offerings in this space have been lucky to even include simple fingerprint sensors. The other issue here is software updates, and, like many low-cost phones, these can be rather few and far between.
Vodafone hasn't updated its prepaid smartphone fleet in quite a while (indeed, they're conspicuously absent from the telco's Mobile Phone portal). Even within the budget space, that means that they feature very ordinary cameras indeed. We've seen a lot of rapid movement in the budget space at around $200 in terms of camera quality, but Vodafone's more ordinary camera tech is unlikely to deliver particularly good results.
Vodafone's 5G network may be up and running, but to date their are no Vodafone-branded 5G phones. Indeed, its budget models don't even support 4G, let alone 5G. Vodafone's 3G coverage in populated areas of Australia is far better than it used to be, but a 3G phone isn't going to be particularly fast at any task you throw at it.
You just don't see wireless charging in phones as cheap as Vodafone's prepaid offerings, so it's no surprise to not see it present. Fast charging is also absent, but that's totally in line with expectations at this price point.
Expect smaller battery capacities due to a mix of the lower price points and smaller physical frames of many of Vodafone's prepaid devices. Again, as an example, the Vodafone C9 3G runs on a 1,500mAh battery, which is astonishingly small by current standards. Vodafone says it's good for up to 5 hours of talk time or 10 days on standby, but if you're using it as a smartphone with apps, you'll probably see less than that.
Again, this is a feature you just don't see in real low-level budget phones. A little light rain is probably okay, but any kind of immersion will turn your Vodafone branded phone into a brick in most cases.
Vodafone's phones have all been simple and slow phones, in line with what you pay for them. They have at least picked up on the use of Android Go, the low-fat version of Android designed to run on cheaper processors, so there's a small quantity of room to move for app performance.
Looking for a Vodafone phone on a plan?
Vodafone offers plenty of plans for phones from the big brands, but when it comes to its own phones, it rarely makes them available on contract terms. That's because they're designed to sell to the crowd that just wants a simple Vodafone prepaid plan and cheap phone instead.
To find out more about Vodafone's current crop of prepaid plans, check out the table below.
A multi-award winning journalist, Alex has written about consumer technology for over 20 years. He has written and edited for virtually every Australian tech publication including Gizmodo, CNET, PC Magazine, Kotaku and more. He has also been the Editor of Gizmodo Australia, PC Mag Australia, CNET.com.au and the Tech and Telco section at Finder. Alex has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England and a serious passion for retro gaming.
The 3G-only Vodafone Smart C9 delivers basic smartphone functionality at an affordable price.
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