MTN has cut the price of its popular low-cost Steppa 2 smartphone by 20%, from R999 to R799, a day after rival Vodacom launched its new Smart 6 smartphone, which retails for R799.

The operators are keen to get everyone off older feature phones and onto data-hungry smartphones and low-cost devices such as these are key to this strategy.

But how do the Steppa 2 and the Smart 6 compare?

The Steppa 2 has a 1,2GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of flash storage. Micro SD cards can be used to expand this. It has a 5-megapixel camera and a 1 500mAh battery. Connectivity is via Wi-Fi, 2G and 3G (HSPA up to 42Mbit/s). The phone runs Android 4.3. It has a 480×800 pixel 4-inch display.

The Vodacom Smart 6 is also a 4-inch, 400×800-pixel smartphone, but it runs a slightly more recent version of Android — 4.4.

The phone has a 1GHz dual-core processor, which is paired with 512MB of RAM. There’s 4GB of flash storage (only 1,9GB is available), but this can also be expanded by using a microSD card.

The phone has a 2-megapixel camera, though Vodacom says it uses “interpolation technology” to provide an effective resolution of three megapixels. Its battery is rated at 1 400mAh.

Connectivity is delivered via 2G (GSM/Edge) and 3G (HSPA+ up to 21Mbit/s) as well as Wi-Fi.