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Previously, I have praised Vodafone for including what is essentially stock Android on their other smartphones. The same can be said here, only rather than Lollipop, we have Android KitKat. The reason for this seems to be that as the Smart first 6 is aimed at users buying their first smartphone (hence the name) KitKat appears a better option for Android newbies as it is just a little bit simpler than Lollipop.
Lollipop is a great OS, but its flash looks are probably not the ideal starting place if you have just picked up your first smartphone. Still, Android KitKat is a very solid mobile OS, and this version is no different.
The home screen is a fairly standard affair – with the usual Google apps on show, as well as a few from Vodafone. What Vodafone have done is to make sure all the essentials – namely, the messaging app, Chrome, Play Store and the phone app itself – are all available on the home screen. Vodafone say, that this way, it means everything you need most is always just a tap away. Usually this might not seem noteworthy, but for someone who has just received their first smartphone, it is a nice touch.
The quick-settings drop-down is just how I remember KitKat, with a tiled interface giving you access to your most used settings. The same can be said for the settings menu itself, with its clean black and white theme and simple layout.
One problem with the OS is just a few Vodafone bloatware apps which are not necessary. There are 4 of these – namely ‘Smart Tips', ‘My Web', ‘Discover', and ‘Updates'. This may not sound a lot, but when there is only 4GB of internal storage, every bit counts.
Still, stock KitKat is a good OS, particularly for newcomers to Android and smartphones in general. It does the job in a simple and intuitive way, so other than the few bits of bloatware, it gets the thumbs up from me.
