Specifications


Dimensions (mm): 133 x 73 x 18.5
Modem: 5G
Colours: Black
Ethernet ports: 1
Download speeds: Up to 3.8Gbps
Wi-Fi specs: 802.11b/g/n/ac/ax, dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz
Power: Battery powered
Launch date: Out now

If you’re a Vodafone fan, then that could make your decision easy, but everyone else might be wondering whether this is the one to buy or not.

In short: it’s definitely a strong option, with good battery life and competitive specs, but the competition is fierce, so it’s worth reading this review in full and considering the alternatives too.

Design

The Vodafone 5G Mobile Hotspot is actually a rebranded ZTE MU5001 5G, but that’s a common practice, with many network-branded devices actually being other gadgets with a new name.

So how does the Vodafone 5G Mobile Hotspot / ZTE MU5001 5G look? Well, pretty good in all. It’s a compact black rectangle with a 2.4-inch screen on the front (more on which further down), and a ZTE logo on the back.

The frame is a slightly different colour – more of a grey – and it houses various ports and buttons, such as the power button, the USB-C charging port, antenna ports, and an Ethernet port.

It comes in at 133 x 73 x 18.5mm, so it’s just about pocket-sized (if a bit chunky), and it could certainly easily be carried around in a small backpack or a handbag. In fact with a bigger screen and a slimmer build it could almost be mistaken for a smartphone.

All in all, while the Vodafone 5G Mobile Hotspot doesn’t have the most exciting of designs, it looks fairly good, and importantly it’s small enough not to be too inconvenient to take out with you.

Setup

Like most mobile broadband devices, the Vodafone 5G Mobile Hotspot is designed to be simple to get up and running. It includes an easy-to-use online interface, so just pop the SIM card in and follow the simple instructions.

Where this has the edge over some mobile broadband devices is the addition of a touchscreen that you can interact with, further simplifying its configuration.

Performance and speeds