Those of you whose carrier is Sprint may already be aware that the phone company has added another Smartphone to their 4G handset array: the ZTE Flash. The rumors that this device would become part of the Sprint family were floating around since July, and last month, it became official.
There was no fanfare, no streamers and party hats. The Smartphone quietly started appearing on retailers’ shelves sometime last month.
The ZTE Flash is powered by a dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor with a speed of 1.5 GHz. The device is definitely not going to enter, forget win, any beauty pageants. But it could very well win a Greenpeace Award, if there is such a thing. You can recycle the parts and the packaging, and has the ULE Platinum certification. This means that the material used in making the ZTE Flash that are not harmful for the environment. All of you, who are eco conscious, will certainly love this green factor.
The display is an HD touch screen that is 4.5 inches big with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The viewing angles are great, thanks to IPS. Gaming and movie watching are a pleasure thanks to the crisp and clear images.
The rear camera is probably the best part about this Smartphone from the Taiwanese manufacturer. It is a whopping; hold your breath, 12.6 MPs! It also has an LED flash and autofocus. Another great feature of this camera is that you can shoot panoramic pictures with just a single motion. It also has HD video recording capability at 1080p. There is a 1MP front camera for video calls and chats.
The Flash features 8 GB storage expandable up to 32 GB via microSD card and one GB RAM. As far as connectivity is concerned, it has NFC, Bluetooth, 4G and Wi-Fi capability. Google Wallet is also expected to feature on the ZTE Flash.
Sprint also offers unlimited data plans, so if you like to be hooked to the web constantly, this should be a huge plus. AT less than 150 grams in weight the Flash is nice to hold and portable enough, but the size is slightly on the chubby side. The battery (1780mAh) talk time is at a very good 8 hours with an impressive 19 days of standby capability.
The ZTE Sprint Flash runs Android 4.0 ICS and has Sprint ID for extra support. There is no word from the company whether the device will receive the Jelly Bean upgrade; so if you’re keen on Android 4.1, you may want to keep this plan on hold.
It is very reasonably priced at $129, and you can buy it from the carrier’s website with just a few clicks. You would be required to sign a contract for at least 2 years.
With these specifications, you’re more or less getting a phone similar to the Samsung Galaxy S III, minus the huge price or screen. Of course, this Smartphone from ZTE has some competition from LG with the Mach and Optimus, priced at about the same or even lesser, and available on the Sprite network.
