ZTE Skate The New Flagship

2011-04-14 Liu Chao

At the Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona ZTE unveiled its flagship mobile device, called Skate. Skate comes with a big 4.3-inch screen and runs on Android OS v2.3. It is the supporting product behind ZTE’s new “Light Your Smart World” marketing campaign. So what are the unique aspects of this new flagship smartphone?

Appearance
ZTE Skate was inspired by a skateboard. Although it packs in a big 4.3-inch screen, it is a slimline phone that weighs only 120g and is only 11.3mm thick. In contrast to the majority of flagship with a smooth, rounded shape, Skate shows off sharp and masculine lines, making it look like a “tough guy”. The back cover is made from plastic processed by atomization and features the Android mascot. With edges and corners and a matte back cover, Skate can be comfortably gripped and will not slip from the hand.

Standard Android phones have four touch keys, but Skate has three physical keys. Although it may feel a little uncomfortable at first, you can feel its convenience when you get familiar with it. The device is equipped with a 5 megapixel camera that sports a flash and auto-focus. While it may not have the higher 8 megapixel or even 10 megapixel camera of other flagship phones, for the relatively lower price, Skate’s camera still more than caters for the shooting needs of the average user.

Features

Skate is powered by an 800 MHz processor with a Qualcomm MSM7227T chipset and an Adreno 200 graphics processor (41 million triangles/sec). With these features, it can easily “eat the gingerbread” (Android OS v2.3) and make full use of its 4.3-inch screen. The 4.3-inch screen has a resolution of 480 × 800 pixels, and the display performance is good.

The handset also supports multitouch gestures. As flagship phone, its hardware configuration is optimal for smoothly playing mobile games like “Angry Birds” or “Tiny Wings”.

The open Android operating system ensures that Skate can run an extensive range of apps, meeting not only the in-depth customization needs of operators, but also providing a user-friendly UI,

A light sensor, proximity sensor, digital compass, GPS (A-GPS), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi are also present in the handset. Skate supports GSM/GPRS/EDGE at 900/1800/1900MHz and HSDPA/UMTS at 900/2100MHz and can be customized according to the requirements of the operators.

For most users, a handset with a fashionable appearance, high-end configuration, and reasonable price is a great attraction. The big-screen Skate offers amazing features at a reasonable price.