Is this Kenya’s cheapest smartphone?
BY NAIROBI NEWS REPORTER
Telkom Kenya have launched Kaduda Smart, Kenya’s cheapest smartphone, barely a year after their similar device, Klif, was withdrawn after Mozilla abruptly discontinued Firefox OS on mobile.
In 2015, Orange Kenya (now Telkom Kenya) introduced Klif, a smartphone retailing at KShs 4,000 in Kenyan market. The phone ran on Mozilla’s Firefox OS. Mozilla abruptly discontinued the mobile operating system thereby dealing a fatal blow to the phone that was barely six months old in the local. Telkom Kenya had to act fast and look for an equally cheap replacement of the dying brand.
According to Techweez, a leading technology blog, Orange partnered with Google in other African markets to roll out Rise 31, another cheap brand. However, the now independent Telkom Kenya has launched Kaduda Smart to take over from Klif.
The Kaduda Smart joins the Kaduda family in the bludgeoning Kenyan smartphone market. Telkom Kenya claims that the first Kaduda (dubbed Kaduda 2) sold over a million units and they needed to ride on their popularity with a better and improved version. Hence, Kaduda Smart.
Kaduda Smart is a low-cost Android smartphone manufactured by Chinese company ZTE. It comes with an adaptor, a USB cable, a pair of earphones, a warranty card and an instruction manual alongside the device.
Technical specifications of Kaduda Smart are as follows:
| Name | KADUDA SMART™ | |
| Available Colors | White and Black | |
| Operating System | Android OS, v5.1 (Lollipop) | |
| Display | 4.0 inch WVGA | |
| Processor | Quad Core 1.3 GHz | |
| RAM | 512MB | |
| 4 GB, expandable via MicroSD card slot (up to 32GB) | ||
| Internal Storage | *Note: User available memory might be lower than the 4GB stated as the OS and preloaded | |
| apps do occupy some space too | ||
| Camera | Main: 5MP with LED flash | |
| Front: 2MP | ||
| Video Recording Resolution | HD (1280 x 720) @ 30fps | |
| Video Playback | MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM | |
| Audio Playback | MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI | |
| Ports | 3.5 mm stereo headset connector, Micro-USB 2.0 | |
| »3G (SIM One) | ||
| »Dual SIM (SIM one locked to Orange and SIM two open to any network) | ||
| Connectivity | »Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz, Wi-Fi hotspot | |
| »Bluetooth | ||
| »Micro-USB 2.0 (for charging and data transfer) | ||
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS | |
| Radio features | FM Radio, Internet Radio | |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, Light | |
| SIM Card Type | Dual SIM (Micro/Micro) | |
| Battery | Removable 1400 mAh battery | |
| Availability | In all Orange and Partner shops country wide | |
| Introductory Price | KES 3,999/= | |
The Kaduda Smart is easy to setup and the out of the box experience is great. The writer had one month user experience of the phone. The browser is fast and responsive giving the user a hassle-free experience. Other preinstalled apps include Clean Master Lite, music player, gallery, calculator, file manager, FM radio, video and email and Google applications and a Google Camera.
However when you add more apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook and other social media apps, it becomes slower due to its limiting memory.
Telkom Kenya has cleverly locked Kaduda Smart users on its network by programming it to be activated by its SIM. Since it’s a dual SIM phone, the other slot can be used by any other network. A win for everyone!
The Kaduda Smart comes in black and white colours.
