Vodafone Smart Prime $149

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46 posts

Geek

#1342238 13-Jul-2015 14:42

On the Vodafone website it states that the Prime 6 supports video calling, yet there is nowhere in the dialer UI that shows any option to make a video call?

Jaxson

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#1342243 13-Jul-2015 14:49

Got ours up and running on 2deg. The unlock process was quick and painless.
Phone seems good.

Just need to check it's working frequencies against what 2deg offer out in the country. Had a weird experience where the phone asked to turn on global roaming.
Maybe it's not a perfect capability match for 2deg frequencies, which is of course no fault of Vodafone's.

All in all though, it seems fast enough to handle the android 5 OS nicely, so I think it's an excellent choice for new users.
It will certainly be my first point of call for anyone needing a new phone in my family.
Ours was $99 on special but I see the ultra model is on sale occasionally now at $230 which seems excellent value for a more powerful unit as well.

NikT

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#1342247 13-Jul-2015 14:54

Jaxson: Got ours up and running on 2deg. The unlock process was quick and painless.
Phone seems good.

Just need to check it's working frequencies against what 2deg offer out in the country. Had a weird experience where the phone asked to turn on global roaming.
Maybe it's not a perfect capability match for 2deg frequencies, which is of course no fault of Vodafone's.

All in all though, it seems fast enough to handle the android 5 OS nicely, so I think it's an excellent choice for new users.
It will certainly be my first point of call for anyone needing a new phone in my family.
Ours was $99 on special but I see the ultra model is on sale occasionally now at $230 which seems excellent value for a more powerful unit as well.

Frequencies are fine, 2d use the same bands we do (Else the roaming agreement wouldn't work).

It's just software - because it is not a 2d handset or tested against the 2d network, the device interprets in-country roaming the same way as international roaming.

Product Manager @ PB Tech

Smartphones @ PB Tech | Headphones @ PB Tech

Jaxson

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#1342329 13-Jul-2015 16:01

NikT:

Frequencies are fine, 2d use the same bands we do (Else the roaming agreement wouldn't work).

It's just software - because it is not a 2d handset or tested against the 2d network, the device interprets in-country roaming the same way as international roaming.

Thanks for the update. I had a nagging suspicion that 2Deg offered a different frequency of their own either in town or outside in the rural environment?
If the phone can do all of these hardware compatibility wise then all good.

How should one approach this then?
Should global roaming be enabled to allow connections when out in the country/driving between towns?

Just want to ensure no additional costs are incurred as this is on a work contract sim, so we don't have easy access to the specifics of the 2Deg plan.

As before, no problems with the phone, we're just looking to use it off the Vodafone network in this case.

NikT

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#1342366 13-Jul-2015 16:37

Jaxson:
NikT:

Frequencies are fine, 2d use the same bands we do (Else the roaming agreement wouldn't work).

It's just software - because it is not a 2d handset or tested against the 2d network, the device interprets in-country roaming the same way as international roaming.

Thanks for the update. I had a nagging suspicion that 2Deg offered a different frequency of their own either in town or outside in the rural environment?
If the phone can do all of these hardware compatibility wise then all good.

How should one approach this then?
Should global roaming be enabled to allow connections when out in the country/driving between towns?

Just want to ensure no additional costs are incurred as this is on a work contract sim, so we don't have easy access to the specifics of the 2Deg plan.

As before, no problems with the phone, we're just looking to use it off the Vodafone network in this case.

2d uses the same 900/2100 3G & 1800/700 4G. Smart prime does not support 700MHz 4G, but nothing else in this particular price bracket does either and I don't believe 2d are very far along in their deployment of 700.

If Smart prime isn't connecting when switching between the 2d and Vodafone networks, you will likely need to turn roaming on. As long as you remember to turn roaming off before you travel internationally, there shouldn't be any issue.

Costs are up to you, your employer, and 2d. Historically they have charged differently for on-net data and off-net data, but I believe this has been scaled back in recent years. If you haven't been charged any differently for using past devices in the same areas, then the same will apply here. Roaming is just a switch that tells a handset it's allowed to try to attach to other networks.

Product Manager @ PB Tech

Smartphones @ PB Tech | Headphones @ PB Tech

Jaxson

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#1342443 13-Jul-2015 17:55

NikT: If you haven't been charged any differently for using past devices in the same areas, then the same will apply here. Roaming is just a switch that tells a handset it's allowed to try to attach to other networks.

Awesome, thanks,

So 2 degrees has an agreement to use Vodafone when not in one of it's own network areas?

All in all I'd highly recommend this phone over everything else I've seen in this price bracket easily.
Especially considering it's running Android 5 and has enough specs to run this smoothly.

johnr

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Inactive user

#1342479 13-Jul-2015 18:16

Jaxson:
NikT: If you haven't been charged any differently for using past devices in the same areas, then the same will apply here. Roaming is just a switch that tells a handset it's allowed to try to attach to other networks.

Awesome, thanks,

So 2 degrees has an agreement to use Vodafone when not in one of it's own network areas?

All in all I'd highly recommend this phone over everything else I've seen in this price bracket easily.
Especially considering it's running Android 5 and has enough specs to run this smoothly.

2D customers can't connect to the VodafoneNZ 2G/3G sites in locked out LAC areas, So a 2D customer could not connect to a Vodafone cell in Auckland

I have had a few DMs on Geekzone asking why they can't select Vodafone NZ doing a manual network selection to a cell providing inbuilding coverage

2D subs can't connect to any VodafoneNZ 4G 700 / 1800Mhz site in any location

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

Bee

732 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1346140 17-Jul-2015 12:08

Hi,

So After managing to get Facebook installed on the phone, the update for Facebook now wont install... Downloads ok, but says" unknown error" when installing.

Don't know if this is a Facebook , or google or a phone problem? Everything else installs and updates perfectly fine...

Obviously not a huge issue because the app still works fine, but just mildly annoying... any ideas of a fix? or is there an update to the phone software at all?

Doing your best is much more important than being the best.

macuser

2120 posts

Uber Geek

#1353245 28-Jul-2015 11:26

Does this support miracast? Does anyone have any experience with performance? I want to mirror the Skygo app on a miracast TV and want to know if it will run relatively fluidly

dylanp

840 posts

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#1354310 29-Jul-2015 12:06

macuser: Does this support miracast? Does anyone have any experience with performance? I want to mirror the Skygo app on a miracast TV and want to know if it will run relatively fluidly

I asked Nik in passing, we think it should work, but haven't tested it ourselves. Let us know how it goes. :)

bluey

82 posts

Master Geek

#1356332 31-Jul-2015 20:44

So reading through all this it seems the phone would be fine on Spark network if you were not needing 4g?

Cheers

ghettomaster

387 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1360594 7-Aug-2015 11:14

I just grabbed one of these as my S5 screen was cracked and it had some other problems. Unlocked it for use on Spark and I'm very impressed.

So far I have found it to be as responsive if not slightly faster than the S5 although I suspect it'll slow down over time. I can get 4G on Spark although this will naturally not be as good as a phone with 700mhz support.

The only downsides I can see compared to the S5 is a slower processor and less storage although 40GB should be plenty once I get an SD card. I cannot see why you need 1080p on a 5" device.

ghettomaster

387 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1360596 7-Aug-2015 11:22

Oh - just noticed the "swipe right for phone" option on the lock screen. Such a brilliant option. Never thought about it before but makes a lot more sense than the camera option phones always have.

Dairyxox

1594 posts

Uber Geek

#1360605 7-Aug-2015 11:42

What about the camera, compared to your S5?

Its funny my brother just got an S5, and he was showing my some photos he took, about 9 out of 10 of them were really blurry. He'd upgraded from an S3, and it took really good photos. Not sure what hes doing wrong, but it might be the 'mode' (Auto) that affects this.

weetbix43

120 posts

Master Geek

#1365822 13-Aug-2015 18:39

When I plug the phone into windows 8 laptop it works as normal, can load pics off and onto and files etc
But when I plug it into windows 10 it comes up with the yellow mark no drivers installed. I tried to do a auto update but could not find any. Im stuck don't know what to do. Please help.

Operating system Windows 10 Pro 64Bit

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