If you’re among the hallowed influencers on social media, or simply in the habit of checking your Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat feeds every few minutes, you’ve got to get your hands on one of these devices. There’s one for every pocket.
Best cameras
These smartphones will satisfy all the snap-happy social media users, from the Insta-addicts and Snapchat posers to amateur food stylists and the #ihavethisthingwithfloors folk. Bonus: they’re all available on Vodacom’s Summer Deals, which means they come with fab freebies!
With the P9, Huawei has created a phone that has surpassed many people's expectations. Aside from its 5.2-inch screen, beautiful design in Mystic Silver, fast performance and long-lasting battery, perhaps its best feature is a dual-lens camera created in partnership with iconic photography brand Leica. 'Leica and Huawei share an uncompromising commitment to imaging excellence, and our partnership will put outstanding photography into the hands of more consumers around the world,' said Oliver Kaltner, CEO, Leica.
SUMMER DEAL ALERT: When you sign up in Summer, you'll also get a great bonus - a Woolworths Gift Card to the value of R2 000. That could really help with the holiday shopping!
LG has long been known for delivering sleek, beautiful smartphones with impressive specs. The LG V20 is the next generation in this lineage, a phablet with an incredible camera. Armed with two rear camera lenses, the V20 performs well in low-light conditions, thanks to the 16 MP camera with an aperture of f/1.8. Plus, the 8MP camera has a super-wide-angle lens (135 degrees!), so you can take some amazing shots of your holiday destination; and the selfie cam boasts a 120-degree lens. This video goes into more detail on the camera, showing us three surprising features.
SUMMER DEAL ALERT: Not only will it deliver on this promise, but you also get a FREE LG 360 Cam, worth R3 199, and a FREE phone cover. The LG 360 Cam can capture 360° and 180° images with one click, with its dual 13 MP wide-angle cameras. It has 2K video recording and 16 MP spherical image support, as well as 5.1-channel surround-sound recording.
The flagship of 2016’s Vodacom-branded devices, the Vodacom Smart platinum 7 is anything but camera shy. The 16MP main shooter has a dual-tone LED flash and dedicated shutter button, plus built-in features such as super zoom, phase detection auto-focus and zero-second shutter lag. What about the selfie shooter? The 8MP front camera has its own dedicated flash and will have no problem capturing your beautiful face.
SUMMER DEAL ALERT: When you take out a contract for the Vodacom Smart platinum 7, you get a FREE Smart VR Headset worth R1 500.
Best battery life
We just CAN’T with phones that don’t even last a day without being charged. How are you supposed to keep up with the lit people you follow who live in the States if you don’t have any charge left on your phone after lunchtime? (You know what else is lit? The Summer Deals packages they come with!)
The XZ is powered by a 2 900 mAh ‘smart’ battery. It detects when you are charging your battery overnight, and then stops fast-charging around 90%, taking its time to charge your battery up to 100% before the morning. In theory, this means you'll get double the lifespan out of your battery, compared to if it fast-charged all the way up to 100% and then stayed plugged into your charger for the rest of the night.
SUMMER DEAL ALERT: When you upgrade in Summer, you also get a FREE Walkman Water- Resistant Headset worth a whopping R999 with the Sony Xperia XZ.
With the S7 and S7 Edge, Samsung made use of larger batteries (3 000 mAh on the S7 and 3 600 mAH on the S7 Edge). Samsung has also introduced faster wireless charging technology, and reckons your phone will go from zero to 50% in just 30 minutes – charge your phone while you’re recharging with a holiday siesta and you’ll be good to go for the rest of the afternoon!
SUMMER DEAL ALERT: When you purchase a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge you get a FREE Samsung Tab 3 Lite, worth R2 399. It's the perfect tablet to use while relaxing, or to pass on to a family member or your child for school.
Best display
There’s no point following the hottest designers and all those Nat Geo freelance photographers if your phone’s screen doesn’t show their pictures in the crispest, sharpest, brightest light. Here are the two phones that we think have the best display on the market today – one high-end option, and the other a very reasonable mid-range.
The iPhone 7 Plus has all the great features of the 7, but it has a 5.5” screen against the 7’s 4.7” display. The screen is also the best, hands down, brighter and sharper than ever before, with a wider range of colours. It’s great for watching video – and the new stereo speakers mean you’ll have an incredible, immersive sound experience as well.
This mid-range phone has a high-end display, 5 inches long and with a high resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. This means you'll get bright, true, crisp colours, great for viewing your photos. It’s one of the features that makes the Huawei Y6 a sensible choice if you're in the market for a well-designed phone that looks pricier than it is.
Most ‘life-proof’
Flagship devices such as the Samsung S7 and S7 Edge, iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, and the Sony Xperia XZ are water resistant – but what about a budget phone that will also withstand falling in the pool or being dropped on the dance-floor?
It’s got to be the Alcatel Go Play.
This is one tough smartphone. It's water resistant, can withstand five-metre drops and has better-than-average battery life. And consider that you'll pay R149 per month when you sign up for a uChoose Flexi 200 plan - meaning you'll actually be paying less than the airtime is worth! It's an obvious choice for those who need a phone that will withstand the bumps and bruises of everyday life.
