Cellular17.01.2025

Vodacom R199 4G phone tested

Vodacom launched the 4G-enabled Mobicel S4 cloud-based phone in September 2024, and I’ve been using one for the past few days to test the experience.

First things first: the main reason for purchasing this phone is to ensure you don’t get left behind when South Africa switches off its 2G and 3G networks, not to prioritise photography or social media.

With support for 4G, the Mobicel S4 will ensure you can still communicate with loved ones via telephone and SMS.

The device was available for R249 at launch, and the Vodacom website is currently advertising it at R199 once-off. However, when I purchased mine from Vodacom World, I was charged R249 for the “prepaid deal.”

Even at the higher price, the Mobicel S4 is the only 4G-enabled phone you can buy in the country for under R399, making it great value for money.

Setting up the phone was straightforward, provided you have used feature phones before. The device has a removable battery, a 5W micro-USB charger, and a single wired earbud inside the box.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I drew a short blank on how to insert a SIM card into the phone, which is dual SIM and supports nano SIM cards. However, it returned to me after a minute or two of tinkering.

I then inserted the battery and secured the back cover before powering on the phone.

Booting takes a few seconds and takes you straight to the home screen, which provides information like the date and time, which SIM slot is in use, battery percentage, and the type of data connection you have.

The device supports apps like TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram. Users must open the “Cloud Phone” app and connect to access these platforms.

Loading into the Cloud Phone app

I should note that the first time I booted the phone, it showed that I had a 3G data connection but refused to connect to the Cloud Phone app.

However, after checking that these network settings were correct, I restarted the phone and established a 4G data connection. I could then access the Cloud Phone app and use the various social media apps provided.

I was disappointed to see that WhatsApp — an app I use daily — isn’t supported. However, this is understandable, as it would require the user to enter the Cloud Phone before seeing if they have any new messages.

This means users wouldn’t receive WhatsApp message notifications.

The Mobicel S4’s operating system is very basic, but this is a good thing as its functions are snappy, and responses are quick despite the device only having 48MB of RAM.

Regarding its other specs, the Mobicel S4 has a 2.8-inch display, 128MB of internal storage, and a 1,000mAh battery. It also has a 0.08MP VGA camera.

While the display is low resolution, it is bright and not too reflective, making it easy to read even in bright sunlight.

As expected, photos taken using the camera aren’t high-quality, but they also don’t take up much space. This means the device’s 128MB of internal storage should be plenty to store photos.

However, for those who require more storage, it can be expanded by up to 32GB with a microSD card.

The 1,000mAh battery provides good battery life for general phone functionality, but I noticed that the battery percentage plummeted when using social media platforms through the Cloud Phone app.

Admittedly, I was primarily watching YouTube Shorts, but a roughly five-minute session on the app cost upwards of 10% of the Mobicel S4’s battery life.

Calls made on the Mobicel S4 are clear, and the speakers are loud enough that I never struggled to hear what recipients were saying. It also has a unique built-in feature: a call recorder.

The user can select “Record” during a live call within the call interface. The phone will record the conversation and store it internally.

More photos of the Mobicel S4 cloud-based phone are included below.

What comes in the box
Examples of the social media platforms you can access through the Cloud Phone app
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