Sturdy build, 4G, Android 4.4 KitKat
Sub-HD screen, camera not as good as the Power, poor battery life
The Smart 4 Turbo is the smaller of Vodafone's recent pair of 4G smartphones.
It costs a bit less than the Smart 4 Power too -- but is it any more of a bargain?
Chassis & screen
The Smart 4 Turbo has much the same size and look as the standard Smart 4, with a similar flimsy back panel. It's similar to the Smart 4 Power too, but besides being a little smaller, the microUSB power/sync port is on the top rather than the bottom, next to the 3.5mm headphone jack.
The sub-HD screen measures 4.5 inches -- a little less than the Power's 5 inches. But along with the size the resolution has also shrunk, so it delivers just 854x480 pixels, which boils down to 218ppi -- roughly the same as the Power's 220ppi, even though it's larger and the pixels should be more spread out. The screen's lack of quality is however less pronounced on the smaller screen, though it still very much lacks that HD "pop" that we've gotten used to elsewhere.
Software & processor
The latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat is on board, which isn't always a given at this end of the market. As usual Vodafone has given the interface a few tweaks but aside from some of its own bloatware (an app featuring Vodafone news updates, anyone?) they neither add to, nor detract from, the overall Android experience.
The quad-core processor has been beefed up a little from the basic Smart 4's -- it's still 1.2GHz backed by 1GB RAM but is now quad-core rather than dual core. It performs better too, and delivered an AnTuTu benchmark score of 17,304, putting it well ahead of the Smart 4's 10,000.
Photography
The 5-megapixel camera comes with autofocus and flash and on paper looks as if it will be the same snapper as the one on the Power. It's different however, with less options and the old-style list-based settings interface that the more expensive phone moves away from. In terms of pic quality it's not quite as good either -- the autofocus seems a little less reliable and automatic light settings seem to struggle more to produce half-decent pics.
The basic VGA resolution camera on the front for video calls and selfies does without the Power's additional options too, making do with simple point and shoot. Like the Power, there's only 4GB of memory on board, which won't get you very far, but you can add up to 32GB via microSD card. The battery is a bit of a let-down however. Barely more than half the size of the Power's, it struggled to get us through a full day of use.
Conclusion
The Smart 4 Turbo offers a better screen, more powerful processor and 4G to distinguish it from the standard Smart 4. But for another 40 quid the Smart 4 Power delivers a bigger (though not higher resolution screen), a more powerful processor, a better camera and considerably improved battery life, making it the better value buy.
Software: Google Android 4.4.2 KitKat
Processor: Quad core 1.2GHz
Memory slot: Yes
Display: 4.5in LCD, 854x480 pixels
Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Ports: microUSB, 3.5mm headphone jack
Camera: 5 megapixel, LED flash, autofocus; VGA front-facing camera
Video playback: MPEG-4, H.264, H.263, Xvid, WMV
Audio playback: MP3, eAAC+, FLAC, WMA
Radio: Yes
Battery: 1880mAh
Size: 135x68x10mm
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
