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In my review of the Smart First 6, I commented on how the phone ran Android KitKat, rather than Lollipop. My opinion was that KitKat is a simpler (in terms of appearance, at least) mobile OS than Lollipop, thus making it more appropriate for first-time smartphone users. However, with the Speed 6, Vodafone have decided to include Lollipop 5.1 – which was until recently the latest Android version.
Despite this, I do not think it will be long before Marshmallow rolls out to existing Vodafone devices. That is because all of the Vodafone ‘Smart' devices run essentially stock Android. Theoretically, this means it should be much easier for Vodafone's software engineers to get a working Marshmallow OS pushed to current ‘Smart' devices. Still, we shall have to wait and see.
As this is essentially the same OS as included with 3 other ‘Smart' devices, I will not repeat myself unnecessarily, so please check back on my review of the Ultra 6 for a greater overview of Vodafone's mobile OS.
Still, despite being stock Lollipop, there remains one issue with the OS which is particularly annoying, and I know many of our readers will feel the same. That problem is bloatware. Vodafone include 7 of their own apps with the Speed 6 – as you can see above.
As far as I am concerned, only the ‘updates' app is actually necessary. This is especially a problem as there is only about 3.2GB of usable storage space after Android is installed.
Other aspects of the OS are great, however. The settings menu is clean and uncluttered, and the notification panel is quick and easy to use. Vodafone clearly listened to the discontent voiced over the past few years when manufacturers meddled with Android.
The only thing preventing this from being a perfect OS is the amount of bloatware preinstalled.
