Amóvil has been able to review the Vodafone Smart 4G thanks to a loan by the Vodafone Spain Foundation. This is an affordable Smartphone made for 4G data network that comes equipped with several state of the art features. It also accommodates the needs of the hard of hearing, people with low vision, and with poor manual dexterity skills.

This model is lightweight (155 grams) and sports an elegant yet simple design that includes a removable casing that measures 164x67x10 mm. Its display is a 4.5-inch IPS panel with 960x540 pixels resolution. Running on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), the phone includes GPS, NFC, Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity support. In addition, it comes with a primary 8 MP camera with autofocus and a secondary camera for videocalls.

Accessibility Review

Vision

The Vodafone Smart 4G is unsuitable for the blind. Although TalkBack, Android’s inbuilt screen reader, does talk these users through most of the available content and menus, it failed to identify a few elements in the interface such as the alarm clock menu bar.

The Smart 4G may be suitable to people with low vision. It includes a screen magnifier and allows customizing the size and type of fonts. However, reversing the background and foreground colors is not possible, so persons with sensitivity to light or color blind may not have difficulties using this smartphone.

Hearing

Vodafone does not offer information on the device’s hearing aid compatibility rating. Although hearing aid and cochlear implant users might be able to use it in the microphone mode, they will not be able to use it in the T-coin mode.

However, the 4G may be suitable to the Deaf. It supports instant messaging and video calls. In addition, it comes with customizable LED notifications lights.

Dexterity

The Smart 4G can be useful for people with poor manual dexterity skills. The predictive text works smoothly. Also the lock and unlock system is intuitive and easy to do as it requires pressing only one single button.

However, users lacking manual dexterity skills will be unable to use this device. The voice recognition software that comes built-in did not work well during the testing. It failed to open the Settings, the email and the phone call bar, among others. In addition, using this phone with stylus, mouth sticks or head wands, and the like is not possible.

Comprehension

Amóvil cannot recommend this device to people with cognitive disabilities or limited comprehension skills. It includes icons and symbols that do not conform to accessibility standards.

For more details about accessibility features included in the Vodafone Smart 4G, please see the full accessibility report available in Amóvil.