Vodafone : A DECADE OF VODAFONE DEVICES MARKED BY THE LAUNCH OF PREMIUM SMART PLATINUM 7

• 85 million sales of Vodafone Devices in 10 years.
• Smart platinum 7 is first premium 4G+ smartphone: super slim aluminium and glass frame; 2k AMOLED display; 16MP rear camera with zero second shutterlag; up to two days' battery lifetime.
• Vodafone also launching first virtual reality headset.

Vodafone has launched the Smart platinum 7, its new flagship smartphone to mark a decade of creating mobile devices. Customers can pick one up for £300 Pay as you go or £28 per month - which includes unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 1GB of UK data and 500MB of inclusive roaming allowance.

Back in 2006, Vodafone began creating devices to reduce the cost to its customers of owning the latest mobile technology, and therefore to enable more of them to access well built, slim and sleek handsets and its fast and reliable mobile networks.

The first Vodafone Device was launched in October 2006. The Vodafone 710 was a low cost 3G clamshell feature phone.

The Vodafone Devices range now includes 3G and 4G smartphones, tablets, mobile data products and broadband routers. Over 85 million Vodafone devices have been sold to date.

Vodafone has built up a wealth of experience in creating devices over the last decade, working closely with component makers and manufacturers. Its aim has been to deliver great value experiences using the latest smartphone technology, while never compromising on build quality.

The Smart ultra 6, Vodafone's highest specification smartphone of 2015, was praised by many expert reviewers. The smartphone won a series of awards, including: best value smartphone 2015 - Recombu; best budget smartphone of 2015 - Mobile Choice; best budget smartphone of 2015 - PC Advisor; best budget smartphone of 2015 - Btekt; and best buy award - Expert Reviews.

Vodafone has now leveraged its experience to create its most compelling smartphone, the Smart platinum 7.

The Smart platinum 7 is designed to meet customer requirements for a smartphone that contains the latest mobile technology, delivers top class performance and is tuned to the operator's fast and reliable 4G+ networks.

Daniel Schubert, Head of Industrial Design for Vodafone, said:

'We've designed the Vodafone Smart platinum 7 to be beautifully elegant. It is super slim, below 7 millimetres thick, has sensually curved 2.5D gorilla glass on the front and back to give it extra depth and tone and its aircraft grade aluminium body and diamond cut detailing have a precision finish that evokes the feel of luxury jewellery.'

The Vodafone Smart platinum 7 also contains the latest smartphone technology. Its features include:

• fingerprint sensor placed on the back of the device (in a convenient holding position) for fast activation and added user security;
• 5' 2K AMOLED display and front facing landscape stereo speakers that deliver a cinematic experience ideal for watching high definition multimedia including virtual reality;
• octa-core processor supported by 3GB of RAM delivers significant computing power;
• 32 Gigabytes (GB) of internal memory (22 GB available to end user), which can be expanded by up to 128 GB with an SD card;
• Up to two days' battery life from 3,000 milliampere hour (mAh) battery and Quick Charge 3.0, which will restore half the smartphone's charge in just 30 minutes;
• 16 megapixel (MP) HDR rear camera with super zoom, Phase-Detection Auto Focus and zero second shutter lag. Both the rear and 8MP front camera have flash. There is also a dedicated key to take photos and launch the camera with a double press from sleep mode or the lockscreen to ensure users never miss a shot; and
• The smartphone is 4G+ capable with a responsive antenna tuned to the Vodafone network.

Vodafone will also be selling its first virtual reality (VR) headset as a separate accessory to the Smart platinum 7. The Vodafone Smart VR headset is comfortable and lightweight (260 grams) to deliver a fully immersive VR experience.

Patrick Chomet, Group Director of Terminals at Vodafone, said:

'A growing number of our customers take a closer look at Vodafone Devices when choosing a new smartphone because they deliver outstanding quality and value for money, particularly when combined with our Vodafone Red price plans. I am particularly excited about the Vodafone Smart platinum 7, which makes premium smartphone design and technology more attainable, so many more Vodafone customers will enjoy streaming everything from HD TV to virtual reality over our fast and reliable 4G+ networks.'

The full specifications of the Vodafone Smart platinum 7 are:

About Vodafone UK

Vodafone is one of the world's largest telecommunications companies and provides a range of services including voice, messaging, data and fixed communications. Vodafone has mobile operations in 26 countries, partners with mobile networks in 58 more, and fixed broadband operations in 17 markets. As of 31 March 2016, Vodafone had 462 million mobile customers and 13.4 million fixed broadband customers. For more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com

Vodafone UK partners with businesses of all sizes - from start-ups and small businesses to the largest corporates and the public sector. The company has worked with UK businesses for over 30 years, starting out as a mobile provider and becoming one of the UK's leading total communications partners. It provides a range of voice and data services, secure communications infrastructure, fixed and call centre capability, unified communications and was the first mobile phone operator to offer a truly converged service for fixed and mobile.

Vodafone is currently spending around £1 billion on its network and services across the UK following a similar amount spent last year. This includes £200 million on its network in London, the introduction of its 4G service to more than 848 cities and towns, as well as thousands of smaller communities whilst also making network improvements across its UK 3G network. Meanwhile, The Vodafone Rural Open Sure Signal programme is also aiming to bring 3G coverage for the first time to 100 remote communities across the UK.

Vodafone UK

Vodafone UK Media Relations

Vodafone Limited