Vodafone 858 Smart review

Sadly, touch-sensitive shortcut keys are becoming more prevalent on handsets – gone is the handy optical trackpad/button from the 845. Instead, you get touch-sensitive controls for the four common Android functions – Home, Menu, Back and Search. The phone is lightweight and completely cased in plastic, but feels well made.

Thankfully, Vodafone has resisted customising the operating system to excess, and you’ll only find a couple of Vodafone apps installed. There’s a Music Shop, which lets you listen to 30 second clips and buy a selection of pop tracks for 99p each, and a separate Shop app with a selection of apps – but we couldn’t see much advantage in using this instead of the Android Market. The only really useful extra app is the Vodafone PAYG Manager, which lets you check your balance and top up with a voucher.

Vodafone has also installed a few 3rd-party apps, including a file manager, office document viewer and a keyboard app called Touchpal, which replaces the standard Android keyboard. Its only advantage seems to be that it takes up slightly less vertical space, but it wasn’t as easy to use as the native keyboard.

You can design your own customised back cover for the Smart for about £12, which may appeal to teenagers after their first smartphone. Busy adults, though, will find its small screen, limited app space and under-powered processor frustrating. If you’d like a phone on prepay, the Samsung Galaxy Fit feels faster and has a larger screen, and is well worth the extra £25.