Compare 
There are plenty of 4G phones around now, but the most affordable options are still often network own-brand ones.
Take the EE Harrier Mini and the Vodafone Smart Prime 6 for example. Both are under £100, yet they don’t skimp on quality, with some solid specs for the money. But just how do these two own-brand handsets compare? Read on for a full comparison.
Build
EE Harrier Mini (138 x 67.9 x 9.5mm 124g plastic) vs Vodafone Smart Prime 6 (141.7 x 71.9 x 9mm 155g plastic)
Given how affordable these two phones are it’s no surprise that they don’t have flagship designs, but they’re certainly not ugly.
The EE Harrier Mini has a plastic shell with a metallic effect, giving it the illusion of being higher end than it is. The design is otherwise quite plain but at just 124g it’s surprisingly light, so it won’t weigh you down.
The Vodafone Smart Prime 6 has a similarly plain plastic design with a chrome finish. It’s slightly slimmer at 9mm thick but it’s also slightly heavier, so there’s little to choose when it comes to design.
Display
EE Harrier Mini (4.7-inch 720*1280 312ppi) vs Vodafone Smart Prime 6 (5.0-inch 720*1280 294ppi)
These two phones might have similar designs but they have quite different screens. There are still some similarities, as both the EE Harrier Mini and the
Vodafone Smart Prime 6 have a 720 x 1280 display, but the Harrier Mini is a compact 4.7 inches while the Smart Prime 6 is a larger 5.0 inches.
That size difference impacts them in two key ways. For one thing as they’re the same resolution it leaves the smaller Harrier Mini with a greater pixel density. It has a sharp 312 pixels per inch, while the Vodafone Smart Prime 6 is a slightly less crisp 294 pixels per inch. It’s not a huge difference but it works in the EE Harrier Mini’s favour.
At 4.7 inches it’s also more pocket friendly than the Vodafone Smart Prime 6 and easier to use one handed. On the flip side the Vodafone Smart Prime 6 gives you a larger window onto media and apps, but the Harrier Mini is still hardly small, so we’d say given the resolution it strikes a better balance overall.
Power
EE Harrier Mini (1.2GHz quad-core 1GB RAM) vs Vodafone Smart Prime 6 (1.2GHz quad-core 1GB RAM)
Both the EE Harrier Mini and the Vodafone Smart Prime 6 have 1.2GHz quad-core processors and 1GB of RAM, so there’s little to choose here.
Those are fairly entry level specs but some higher end phones are similarly set up, so in that sense they’re both pretty powerful for the money and they certainly have enough horsepower to cope with most apps, games and media.
Camera
EE Harrier Mini (8MP rear 2MP front-facing) vs Vodafone Smart Prime 6 (8MP rear 2MP front-facing)
The EE Harrier Mini and Vodafone Smart Prime 6 also have similar cameras, with both handsets sporting an 8 megapixel snapper on the back and a 2 megapixel one on the front.
8 megapixels is a generous number for an entry level phone and is enough to take fairly detailed photos.
There’s more to cameras than just megapixels of course, but both snappers are more than up to taking Facebook and Instagram worthy shots.
Battery life, memory and connectivity
EE Harrier Mini (2000 mAh 8GB 4G) vs Vodafone Smart Prime 6 (8GB 4G)
The EE Harrier Mini has a 2000 mAh battery, which isn’t massive but should more than get the job done for a compact low-end smartphone. In fact the Harrier
Mini can easily last over a day on a single charge and if you’re not constantly using it the phone could potentially stretch as far as two days, which is pretty impressive.
Vodafone hasn’t confirmed the size of the Smart Prime 6’s juice pack, but it has claimed that it can last for up to 18 hours of talk time or 915 hours of standby time. That’s pretty impressive too, though the EE Harrier Mini seemingly has the slight edge.
Both phones have 8GB of built in storage and both also have a microSD card slot so you can bulk that up.
Connectivity options are similar too, with both handsets supporting Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G and Bluetooth. However the EE Harrier Mini deserves a shout-out here for its support of WiFi Calling, allowing you to call and text seamlessly over WiFi, so you can stay in touch with people even when there’s no mobile signal.
Not only does the Vodafone Smart Prime 6 not support WiFi Calling but the EE Harrier Mini is actually the cheapest handset to offer it, so that’s a major feature, especially if you live or work somewhere with patchy signal.
Conclusion
For the money the EE Harrier Mini and the Vodafone Smart Prime 6 are both pretty impressive phones, offering 4G, smooth performance and surprisingly good cameras for very little.
One of the biggest differences between them is the network they run on, as of course the EE Harrier Mini is locked to EE and the Vodafone Smart Prime 6 is locked to Vodafone.
In that sense the EE Harrier Mini has an advantage, as EE has wider spread 4G coverage and higher speeds. Network aside the EE Harrier Mini is also the slightly better phone of the two, primarily thanks to its sharper screen and support for WiFi Calling.
You won’t go wrong with either, but if you’re happy to be on EE then the Harrier Mini is the one to go for. It’s both slightly better than the Vodafone Smart Prime 6 and one of the best smartphones you can get for under £100.
Check out the EE Harrier Mini in store.
Have you read our EE Harrier vs EE Kestrel article.
