Introduction
Vodafone might be the network operator that sells the most proprietary branded phones, or at least they have lots of such models. Of course it’s rather evident that these handsets are not assembled by the night shift customer support team between two calls, but Vodafone trusts a manufacturer to create a phone, they brand it with the Voda logo and the product is done.
The red operator has such relations with Sagem, Huawei and ZTE. ZTE is a Chinese manufacturer, who also make networking equipment and nowadays they are into solar cell phones as well. Still, the manufacturer of Vodafone 331 is not one of these companies, as in this case Alcatel is responsible for the handset. This becomes evident in a single place: it’s imprinted on the battery.
Why is a product like Vodafone 331 good? On one hand if the network operator specifies the hardware and the software requirements than it will probably work on the network without problems. On the other hand they can keep the price low, because the manufacturer doesn’t have to cope with marketing and sales expenses, and it’s not very probable that the phone will be unlocked later on. What are the dangers of such a product? If the operator brands a big pile of crap then their image can be seriously affected – as if any network would have any kind of image…
Currently Vodafone sells this handset for 10 euros in a prepay package. The product, that came from GSM Takács, won’t cost much more when not in a promotion either, we shouldn’t expect a price higher than 25 euros, which makes it one of the cheapest phones available. What should we expect from a handset at this price? Much less than it has to offer in fact.
A cikk még nem ért véget, kérlek, lapozz!
