ZTE showing off ten smartphones at MWC

ZTE's quite an ODM powerhouse these days, taking boatloads of low- and midrange contracts for carriers -- especially when having a brand-name manufacturer's badge appear on the device isn't a priority. To that end. the Chinese company has announced that it'll be "unveiling" some ten smartphones at MWC next week, though it appears most of the devices have already launched somewhere in the world (like China Mobile's U981) -- and others, like the pictured VF 1231 for Vodafone, have already been well-leaked courtesy of our friends at the FCC. The goods run the full range from CDMA and GSM all the way up to HSUPA, so clearly, ZTE's aspirations may not rest merely in the low-end; look out, Nokia.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 11th 2009 12:49AM]

Are they going to be running Android? Huwai will hopefully make an appearance at MWC with their Android handsets. Can't wait to see what they've got in store for the Aus market :)

[bonesb Posted Feb 10th 2009 11:22PM]

There's a couple of ZTE handsets I'd like to see in the US, including the 165i.

What I'm wondering about that Chinese company - does the government allow for knockoffs of products originating in their own country? And, if not, why not?

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 11th 2009 12:14AM]

ZTE produce some truly terrible products.
I bought a ZTE handset here in australia last year from telstra and it was one of the most unreliable handsets i've ever used. It would consistently fail to sent or receive sms messages, wouldn't tell me I had missed calls until DAYS later and would drop out on phone calls every time i was on a call...

While some of their handsets may look good, that is really where anything 'good' about the phone stops...

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 11th 2009 7:26AM]

The early ZTE handsets in Australia were, for want of a more diplomatic expression, rubbish: the F850 and F252 were pretty much to fill the budget plan segment and had the build quality and reliability to match. Later handsets have been somewhat better on both counts, but one can see something of a pattern arising: ZTE handsets are only available in those segments (budget phones, ruggedised phones, high-sensitivity phones for rural users, etc.) that brand-name manufacturers won't adequately cover.