This seems to be about the only way ZTE can get into the US. That’s creating low-end or mid-range phones for no-contract carriers like Cricket. This time they’ve brought over the ZTE Source to Cricket who will be selling the device starting on October 20th. Now remember, Cricket is a no-contract carrier, so you’re paying full price for their devices. Which is why a phone like this is going for $19 at MSRP. As far as specs go here’s what we are looking at:
- 4.5-inch 480×854 display
- 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor (probably the S4 or S4 Pro)
- 1GB of RAM
- 4GB of internal storage
- 5MP camera that shoots 720p video
- Android 4.1
No word on a front-facing camera or battery size. Which isn’t all that surprising. I mean look at the specs, it definitely doesn’t screen “Galaxy Note 3 killer!”. Which for Cricket to sell any, it shouldn’t. Unlike all the other carriers like Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, you’re not tied to a contract, which means no subsidized pricing. As far as plans go, Cricket is offering their $45 unlimited plan which offers 2.5GB of high-speed data along with their Muve Music service. I haven’t checked out their Muve Music Service, but I don’t think it’s better than Google Play Music All Access, although the name definitely is shorter.
Cricket runs on 4G LTE and 3G CDMA networks. I’m not 100% sure, but I believe they run off of Sprint’s network. The good thing about it being a no contract carrier is that you check it out and see what you think before making the complete move over to Cricket. Which is probably a good idea. Especially if they are running on Sprint’s network, since they don’t have the network strength of AT&T and Verizon. That also means you can’t bring your own device over to their network since they are a CDMA network, unfortunately. The ZTE Source looks like a great phone for the price. Definitely worth checking out if you’re on Cricket.
