Vodacom Smart 4 Turbo is company’s newest low cost LTE smartphone

If you thought Vodacom releasing a few smartphones and tablets last year was a one off, think again. The latest handset in the company’s ever wider lineup, the Vodacom Smart 4 Turbo is an interesting specimen boasting LTE capabilities as just R1499.

It’s clearly not for the heavily-budget orientated, like fans of its Smart Kicka — probably one of the best phones we handled last year — but it caters for those wanting a little more without shelling out mountains of cash.

Read more: Vodacom Smart Kicka review: tiny phone, big value

Buzzing around the same price as Microsoft‘s newly launched Lumia 535, Vodacom Smart 4 Turbo boasts some interesting features and looks to be a capable rival.

The user gets 2GB of RAM which is quite something alongside a more common Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset. There’s also a 5MP camera lurking behind the device and a VGA camera up front, which should suit video calling needs just fine.

More impressively, the phone boasts an NFC chip, a relatively large 1880mAh battery and a 854×480 4.0-inch display.

It will be interesting to see how well the device sells in South Africa, considering the success of the ultra-low cost Smart Kicka, which retails for just R549. But it’s also clear that Vodacom doesn’t want to be known for dirt cheap handsets alone — it wants a finger in the midrange pie and the Smart 4 Turbo may just be the very weapon it needs.