Vodafone 411

A stylish flip handset on a budget, Vodafone's 411 is a prepaid mobile with a solid features list. An external display showing caller ID, Bluetooth and a microSD card slot for extra storage make it a reasonable choice for a very competitive price.

The 411 is another handset manufactured by Sagem, but packaged and sold as a Vodafone mobile. Its positioning as an entry-level handset means it's aimed at first-time buyers or those after a second handset, so it's not packed with the latest bells and whistles. Although it's quite a compact handset, the 411 feels reasonably well constructed. When flipped closed it should easily slip into any pocket or bag.

The convenient external display and flip handset of the 411 is a nice touch. It displays time and date as well as a battery and reception indicator plus it also displays caller ID, meaning you won't have to flip open the handset to check who is calling. Inside, a low specified internal display does the job, though it lacks the sharpness and crispness of some competing models. Although the keypad and controls are flat, they are well spaced and easy to press, so using this handset is a breeze. A five-way navigational pad and two selection buttons bear the grunt of the work.

Ease of use is excellent – the simple menu and interface is well laid out and the 3x3 grid of menu icons makes it easy to access. Submenus are laid out in a simple list format and browsing the phone is easy enough thanks to the comfortable navigational pad.

Features include Bluetooth connectivity, a range of Java games, access to the Vodafone Live! Portal as well as SMS and MMS messaging with T9 predictive text input. A range of PIM features such as alarm, timer, calendar and calculator are also offered. A basic music player supports MP3 files and basic playback options, but the included proprietary headphones are poor. A microSD card slot on the left side of the handset should satisfy your memory requirements.

The 411 is a tri-band GSM phone and call quality is solid, without being outstanding. In-call volume could have been a little louder though – at times we struggled to hear the person when in a noisy environment. The included camera is what you'd expect from a VGA, that being said, it's not ideal for anything more than wallpaper images.

The Vodafone 411 comes with a free Prepay Pack, which includes a red SIM starter pack and $49 Prepay Maxi Cap with $310 worth of calls and messages.