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The ZTE Anthem 4G's old-school Android phone (pictures)

Here's a look at the $199 ZTE Anthem 4G for Metro PCS. It promises the Android experience plus 4G LTE without the need to sign a binding service contract.

Brian Bennett
Brian Bennett is a former senior writer for the home and outdoor section at CNET.
Brian Bennett
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1 of 11 Sarah Tew/CNET

A basic Android device, but without strings

Don't expect a lot of bells and whistles on the ZTE Anthem 4G. The phone runs on a slow 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon CPU and an older OS (Android 2.3 Gingerbread), and has just 512MB of RAM.
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2 of 11 Sarah Tew/CNET

Stripes on the wild side

On the back of the ZTE Anthem 4G are its 5MP camera and LED flash. The surface is coated in a soft-touch finish with wildly curving stripes.
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3 of 11 Sarah Tew/CNET

Built to be thick

The ZTE Anthem 4G certainly won't win any awards for being thin. On the phone's left side, though, is a Micro-HDMI port for outputting video.
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4 of 11 Sarah Tew/CNET

Headphone up top

The only feature on the ZTE Anthem 4G's top edge is its 3.5mm headphone jack.
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5 of 11 Sarah Tew/CNET

Gingerbread keys

For punching out texts and e-mails, the ZTE Anthem 4G provides the stock Android Gingerbread virtual keyboard.
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6 of 11 Sarah Tew/CNET

Swype to type

Also included on the ZTE Anthem 4G is the one-handed text-entry method from Swype. Use it to draw lines through letters to form sentences.
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7 of 11 Sarah Tew/CNET

A stale OS

Android fans looking for the latest and greatest that Google has to offer won't find it in the ZTE Anthem 4G. The phone runs the 2-year-old Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
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8 of 11 Sarah Tew/CNET

Camera for no-frills shooting

The camera app for the ZTE Anthem 4G's 5MP camera is very bare-bones. Slick features such as panorama, HDR, or burst mode are absent.
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9 of 11 Sarah Tew/CNET

This Rhapsody is for you

One of the pre-installed third-party apps found on the ZTE Anthem 4G is the Rhapsody music service.
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10 of 11 Sarah Tew/CNET

Hidden panda

Is that a panda I spy? Why, yes, it is. The ZTE Anthem 4G comes with the full "Kung Fu Panda 2" movie stashed on a microSD Card and hidden in its slot. The phone also has a removable battery.
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11 of 11 Sarah Tew/CNET

A bluish view

Sadly, the ZTE Anthem 4G's 4.3-inch LCD (800x480-pixel resolution) screen is small and not very sharp, and paints images in a bluish hue.

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