Vodafone Smart ultra

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#1360642 7-Aug-2015 13:11

NikT: Smart ultra does not support 850MHz 3G, so is not suitable for use on Spark/Skinny.

Thanks for letting me know, but damn that's a pity (for us consumers, not Voda of course!). I'm glad I asked as I stupidly assumed it would support Spark given I understand the Prime does (and this is despite me knowing they're made by different manufacturers).

Back to the drawing board for the best-value mid-range phone that also works on Spark (kinda reliant on the Spotify package so not keen on moving)...

xiewe985

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#1360645 7-Aug-2015 13:14

jonathan18:
NikT: Smart ultra does not support 850MHz 3G, so is not suitable for use on Spark/Skinny.

Thanks for letting me know, but damn that's a pity (for us consumers, not Voda of course!). I'm glad I asked as I stupidly assumed it would support Spark given I understand the Prime does (and this is despite me knowing they're made by different manufacturers).

Back to the drawing board for the best-value mid-range phone that also works on Spark (kinda reliant on the Spotify package so not keen on moving)...

Maybe a Moto G 2nd / 3rd Gen? Or even the Moto X Play when it comes out in NZ.

NikT

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#1360646 7-Aug-2015 13:16

xiewe985:

@NikT: so does that mean it's 100% compatible with 2degrees? From what I can read, both Vodafone and 2degrees works with GSM-900, UMTS-900 and UMTS-2100. Thanks!

Correct.

Works best on the Vodafone network, of course. :)

Product Manager @ PB Tech

Smartphones @ PB Tech | Headphones @ PB Tech

xiewe985

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#1360649 7-Aug-2015 13:19

NikT:
xiewe985:

@NikT: so does that mean it's 100% compatible with 2degrees? From what I can read, both Vodafone and 2degrees works with GSM-900, UMTS-900 and UMTS-2100. Thanks!

Correct.

Works best on the Vodafone network, of course. :)

Thanks NikT! Much appreciated for your answer :)

lokhor

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#1360663 7-Aug-2015 13:36

NikT:
xiewe985:

@NikT: so does that mean it's 100% compatible with 2degrees? From what I can read, both Vodafone and 2degrees works with GSM-900, UMTS-900 and UMTS-2100. Thanks!

Correct.

Works best on the Vodafone network, of course. :)

Any implications for Fast Dormancy?

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

NikT

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#1360666 7-Aug-2015 13:47

lokhor:
NikT:
xiewe985:

@NikT: so does that mean it's 100% compatible with 2degrees? From what I can read, both Vodafone and 2degrees works with GSM-900, UMTS-900 and UMTS-2100. Thanks!

Correct.

Works best on the Vodafone network, of course. :)

Any implications for Fast Dormancy?

We don't test other networks' SIMs in Vodafone-branded handsets - the Smart ultra does support fast dormancy and has a Qualcomm service that runs at boot to assist with this. Thanks to App Ops being exposed out of the box, you can easily disable this service at bootup. Whether this has any effect...try it and let me know. :)

That said, ultra has exceptionally good battery life anyway and I haven't heard of anyone having issues in 3G areas, but of course the folks I have testing them for me aren't using 2d.

Product Manager @ PB Tech

Smartphones @ PB Tech | Headphones @ PB Tech

Brumfondl

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#1362351 10-Aug-2015 19:31

@NikT: do you know if there are any plans underway to fix the Stagefright vulnerability in the phone?

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dman

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#1363118 11-Aug-2015 19:30

NikT:
old3eyes:

Is it dual SIM though?? The Moto G is..

Vodafone as a whole doesn't sell dual SIM handsets - defeats the purpose of operator-branded phones. :)

Not really. Many people have uses of multiple phones, and would be nice to combine them into one.

For instance people could like to keep their personal phone number and business phone number separate.

Of an example from my own life, I'm about to start up a partnership company with a couple of friends which is similar to what I'm already doing. Thus would be very handy to keep track of what calls are coming in specifically for me, vs what is coming in for the new business.

https://www.youtube.com/c/SoundSpeeding

richms

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#1363151 11-Aug-2015 20:05

No dual Sims I have seen do 3g on both Sims. That's a showstopper for spark and I believe vodafone are not selling 2g only devices now which the second sim effectively is.

Richard rich.ms

dman

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#1363162 11-Aug-2015 20:10

andynz:
moxpearl: I wonder how it compares to a K3 note.

http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_180346.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjw_rytBRDVhZeQrbzn_q0BEiQAjnbSHO6Us_bb58tI4szsvr5DQSK4GIoXgKsuiqNUkVodepEaAiFi8P8HAQ

Interesting question. I'm deciding between the Lenovo k3 note and the smart ultra. Smart ultra has local support but the K3 seems to be the best new mid priced phablet around.

I was also looking keenly at the Lenovo K3 Note recently, what did you andynz end up going with and why? :)

https://www.youtube.com/c/SoundSpeeding

old3eyes

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#1363402 12-Aug-2015 08:43

richms: No dual Sims I have seen do 3g on both Sims. That's a showstopper for spark and I believe vodafone are not selling 2g only devices now which the second sim effectively is.

Well they do but not at the same time. My Xiaomi Mi 4I does LTE on both SIMs but not at the same time. Was handy for the past two weeks in Ozzy with my Skinny SIM set as secondary and an Optus SIM as my primary running LTE.. Worked well.

Regards,

Old3eyes

andynz

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#1363404 12-Aug-2015 08:50

dman:
andynz:
moxpearl: I wonder how it compares to a K3 note.

http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_180346.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjw_rytBRDVhZeQrbzn_q0BEiQAjnbSHO6Us_bb58tI4szsvr5DQSK4GIoXgKsuiqNUkVodepEaAiFi8P8HAQ

Interesting question. I'm deciding between the Lenovo k3 note and the smart ultra. Smart ultra has local support but the K3 seems to be the best new mid priced phablet around.

I was also looking keenly at the Lenovo K3 Note recently, what did you andynz end up going with and why? :)

Still looking!!! The k3 note looks good and has a huge user base in the India etc. But at the same price as the Vodafone Ultra your taking a risk of the painful process if there is a fault. The Ultra is just popping down to your local Vodafone shop, a huge advantage.

I looked in the local Vodafone store last week and looked at the Ultra mock-up. Looks ok but then I saw the Note4 and loved it. So totally undecided...Not much help is it :)

dman

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#1365140 13-Aug-2015 00:18

A Samsung Note 4 would be lovely, but totally outside my price range for now.

Even going for the Vodafone Ultra is a good 20%+ more expensive than the Lenovo K3 Note.

Plus I believe the Vodafone Ultra doesn't work so well on the 2degrees network? (where I'd be using it)

While the Lenovo K3 Note suits both perfectly.

https://www.youtube.com/c/SoundSpeeding

richms

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#1365141 13-Aug-2015 00:23

old3eyes:
richms: No dual Sims I have seen do 3g on both Sims. That's a showstopper for spark and I believe vodafone are not selling 2g only devices now which the second sim effectively is.

Well they do but not at the same time. My Xiaomi Mi 4I does LTE on both SIMs but not at the same time. Was handy for the past two weeks in Ozzy with my Skinny SIM set as secondary and an Optus SIM as my primary running LTE.. Worked well.

When you have 2g to fall back on, that may be acceptable if the 2g signal is enough to get calls and texts. Until 2g is switched off in more places there is little reason for them to make the chipsets with usable dual sim for places without a 2g to use. Perhaps once at&t kill theirs off sometime, then it will wake the rest of the world up that it is a problem.

Richard rich.ms

xiewe985

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#1365142 13-Aug-2015 00:25

dman: A Samsung Note 4 would be lovely, but totally outside my price range for now.

Even going for the Vodafone Ultra is a good 20%+ more expensive than the Lenovo K3 Note. Plus I believe the Vodafone Ultra doesn't work so well on the 2degrees network? (where I'd be using it) While the Lenovo K3 Note suits both perfectly.

It works fine on 2degrees! Have tested it myself this week.

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