Vodafone Smart A9 3G: Features | Pricing | Specs

Where to buy

Smartphones aren't for everyone. Between their complex interfaces and hefty price tags, they can be overkill for folks who just want to stay in touch with friends and family on the go.

That's where feature phones like the Vodafone Smart A9 3G come in. Harking back to phones of the late 90s and early 2000s, the Smart A9 does away with fancier features like app stores and touch screens in favour of physical buttons and a static operating system.

Design

• 2.4-inch colour screen
• Physical keypad
• Locked to Vodafone's mobile network

• Read our full overview of the Vodafone Smart A9 3G's design

  Put simply, the Vodafone Smart A9 3G wouldn't look out of place in an early 2000s music video. Its candy-bar design is decidedly old school, as are the physical buttons that featured so prominently on phones prior to the adoption of the touch screen.

  Speaking of screens, the one on the Smart A9 measures in at 2.4 inches. It's a colour display, so you're not time travelling all the way back to the world of monochromatic phones, but it's still a far cry from the high-resolution, 6+-inch displays on modern smartphones. If you're looking for a portable video player, the Smart A9 isn't going to be it.

  Playing music on the go, however, is well within the Smart A9's wheelhouse. It houses a 3.5mm headphone jack for connecting wired headphones as well as supporting Bluetooth 4.0 for wireless headsets. While it only comes with 512MB of storage out of the box, you can bump this up by as much as 128GB with a microSD card. Plenty of room for your music collection, that.

  Like most feature phones, the Smart A9 is a 3G-only device. Odds are you're not going to be doing a whole lot of web browsing on its small screen, so the lack of 4G shouldn't be particularly noticeable. Standard calls and texts use the 3G network even on 4G phones and should function just fine. That said, if you do want faster download speeds, the Smart A9 supports Wi-Fi connections, allowing you to hook it up to your home wireless network and use your fixed broadband connection if you prefer.

  Despite the nostalgic ambitions of the Smart A9, it does make one concession to our modern, always-connected society. WhatsApp and Facebook Lite apps come pre-installed on the phone, providing basic access to their respective social media networks.

Camera

• 2MP rear-facing camera

• Read our full overview of the Vodafone Smart A9 3G's camera

  Perfunctory sums up the camera on the Smart A9. To be fair, most of the pre-smartphone handsets it's modelled after lacked cameras entirely, so even the relatively bare-bones 2MP camera mounted on the rear of the Smart A9 is a marked step up.

  That said, 2MP is the lowest resolution you'll find in a modern phone, and you're going to have your work cut out for you convincing it to produce clear, sharp shots. Even with its built-in flash, you'll probably only want to use it for emergencies.

Performance

• Low-end processor and limited memory
• Should handle basic tasks but not much else

• Read our full overview of the Vodafone Smart A9 3G's performance

  The pared-back approach continues with the guts of the Smart A9. You've got an entry-level MediaTek MT6572A processor coupled with 256MB of RAM – a meagre combination by modern standards, but it should be sufficient for the basic tasks the Smart A9 is designed for. So long as you only plan on using the phone to call, text, listen to music and occasionally check your Facebook, the limited grunt shouldn't be an issue.

Battery

• 1,000mAh removable battery

• Read our full overview of the Vodafone Smart A9 3G's battery

  Battery size typically takes a hit in smaller phones, simply because there is less space for the battery to go. Such is the case with the Smart A9. Its 1,000mAh battery is a fraction of what you find in most smartphones these days, but that's offset by the significantly lower power consumption of its small screen and budget processor.

  Though Vodafone does not provide benchmarks for the Smart A9's battery life, we can make a rough estimate based on the phone's component parts. Under light use, you should get at least a day out of a full charge. On standby, this should increase to a week or more.

  If that's not enough juice for you, you'll be glad to know the Smart A9's battery is fully removable. For longer trips or times when you can't risk running out of power, you can stock up on spare batteries and swap them in and out as necessary.

Pricing and availability

Price

RRP $39

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Compare SIM-only plans for the Vodafone Smart A9

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Name	Product	Data	Price	Apply	Price
Vodafone Small SIM-only Plan PostpaidNo lock-in contract $40/mth when you stay connected with the plan, instead of $45/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 14.12.23 Vodafone Small SIM-only Plan Postpaid $40/mth when you stay connected with the plan, instead of $45/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 14.12.23	Unlimited national calls & texts Vodafone 5G/4G network	40GB No excess data charges	$40 per month	Go to site View details	$40/mth when you stay connected with the plan, instead of $45/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 14.12.23 Unlimited standard national calls & texts 40GB Data $40 per month Go to siteView details		loading Fetching your data...
Vodafone Medium SIM-only Plan PostpaidNo lock-in contract $50/mth when you stay connected with the plan, instead of $55/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 14.12.23 Vodafone Medium SIM-only Plan Postpaid $50/mth when you stay connected with the plan, instead of $55/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 14.12.23	Unlimited national calls & texts Vodafone 5G/4G network	150GB No excess data charges	$50 per month	Go to site View details	$50/mth when you stay connected with the plan, instead of $55/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 14.12.23 Unlimited standard national calls & texts 150GB Data $50 per month Go to siteView details		loading Fetching your data...
Vodafone Large SIM-only Plan PostpaidNo lock-in contract $60/mth when you stay connected with the plan, instead of $65/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 14.12.23 Vodafone Large SIM-only Plan Postpaid $60/mth when you stay connected with the plan, instead of $65/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 14.12.23	Unlimited national calls & texts Vodafone 5G/4G network	300GB No excess data charges	$60 per month	Go to site View details	$60/mth when you stay connected with the plan, instead of $65/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 14.12.23 Unlimited standard national calls & texts 300GB Data $60 per month Go to siteView details		loading Fetching your data...

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Specifications

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