Vodafone Smart Tab 4 goes head to head with EE's budget slate

Vodafone follows EE into cheap 4G tablets with new 8-inch Smart Tab 4

Voda's latest attempt to snare you onto a 4G contract

Vodafone has announced its latest tablet, the 3G-enabled Smart Tab 4 which follows on, unsurprisingly, from the Smart Tab 3.

The low-end, 8-inch tablet has a resolution of 800 x 1280 and packs a 1.2GHz MediaTek quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, 2MP rear camera, VGA front camera and a 4060mAh battery pack.

Can it fly higher than an Eagle?

The launch comes just a day after rival network EE made its play in the own branded tablet arena with the budget EE Eagle.

Also an 8-inch tablet, the Eagle is made by Huawei and comes with the same screen size, resolution and memory. However the quad-core processor clocks slightly faster at 1.6GHz and it's also 4G enabled.

The Eagle lands on May 28 for £199 upfront, although it can be nabbed for £49 on a £15 a month 2GB contract, promising 4G speeds at 24-30Mbps.

A technology journalist, writer and videographer of many magazines and websites including T3, Gadget Magazine and TechRadar.com. He specializes in applications for smartphones, tablets and handheld devices, with bylines also at The Guardian, WIRED, Trusted Reviews and Wareable. Chris is also the podcast host for The Liverpool Way. As well as tech and football, Chris is a pop-punk fan and enjoys the art of wrasslin'.