It was only a week ago that Wind Mobile changed their name to Freedom Mobile as they attempt to get their LTE network up and running. According to Freedom Mobile, the system is in place and live but receiving further testing before it is turned on for public use. Up until recently, Wind Mobile started selling their first “Future Ready” or LTE device – the LG V20. It is rather high-end device and expensive, so Freedom Mobile knocked the two-year price down to $249. For those a little more budget conscious, Freedom announced its second LTE device, the ZTE Grand X 4. You can get one for as low as $0 down on a $5/month MyTab Boost or for $99 on MyTab.
Canada’s government has been trying for years to bring in more competition for the ‘Big Three’ – Rogers, Bell, and Telus – and Freedom Mobile might just be the one carrier that can get the job done. Of course, the carrier must have LTE capabilities to make this happen and as Freedom’s LTE system continues to expand, so should the company. They now offer an LTE device for all budgets, and more of them should be on their way. The two bands, Band 66 and Band 4, are both compatible on Freedom Mobile’s LTE network.
The ZTE Grand X 4 measures 155 x 76 x 9.0mm and weighs in at 170 grams. It comes sporting a 5.5-inch LCD HD display with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels protected by Gorilla Glass 3. It packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 412 quad-core clocked at 1.4GHz along with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, which can be expanded another 64GB via a micro SD card. The Grand X 4 also boasts a 13MP primary camera and a 5MP front-facing camera for selfies and video chatting.
The Grand X 4 has the usual suspects – WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, and even the newer reversible USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer. It packs a large 3,140mAh battery, is running Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and sports a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor for unlocking the device or for authorizing mobile payments, including Android Pay. The ZTE Grand X 4 is certainly on the lower end of the specification sheet; however, it does pack a few surprises for a device priced this low.