Name: Smart Ultra 7
Brand: Vodafone

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Camera

Smartphone camera technology has come on in leaps and bounds over the years, and that includes among affordable handsets. The Vodafone Smart Ultra 7 packs an impressive-sounding 13MP rear camera with phase detection autofocus (PDAF), while the front camera is a 5MP unit.

Those are the kind of basic specs you'd have expected to find on a flagship phone not too long ago.

Of course, when you come down to the nitty gritty of taking pictures, the cheaper components soon tell. There's a slight pause when taking snaps, and an even longer one when you select HDR mode (yes, it's a manual process).

The results are just OK. Colours are reasonably accurate and well balanced and close-ups in particular look good from a detail point of view. But in more general shots, focus seems a little erratic, with odd background areas blurry whilst others retain their sharpness.

HDR mode, meanwhile, doesn't yield great results. Not only is it slow to take shots, but the results have that hyper-real bleached-out look that cheap phones have long struggled with.

Using the camera in less than optimal lighting won't yield great results either, with a noisy and washed-out look. But then, you'll find similar issues with all but the most expensive of phones.

In general you're getting a perfectly adequate camera for the money. There's also the small matter of a front-facing snapper with a dedicated LED flash. Vodafone clearly knows its young selfie-loving audience here.

The camera UI is one of the stronger ones we've encountered, with a nod to iOS in its stark simplicity, yet a simultaneous nod to Android with its manual mode. The latter lets you take direct control of ISO, shutter speed, white balance, and focus, which is something you don't get with the Moto G4.