Cricket Wireless' ZTE Source
Today, Cricket Wireless announced the 4.5-inch ZTE Source. Sporting 4G LTE, Android 4.1, and a 5-megapixel camera, the phone will be available on Sunday, October 20, for $219.99 in retail stores and online.
Underneath the hood
Powering the smartphone is a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor. Underneath the battery door, you'll find a microSD card slot (which accepts cards of up to 32GB), and the removable 2,070mAh battery.
Tipping the scales
The Source measures 5.31 inches tall, 2.64 inches wide, and 0.4 inch thick. Though the build quality was solid, at 5 ounces, the device did feel a bit dense and heavy.
All around the edges
On the left edge are a Micro-USB port and volume rocker. Up top is a 3.5mm headphone jack and the right edge houses a sleep/power button. Located on the back are the rear-facing camera lens and flash.
Viewing the 4.5-inch display
The 4.5-inch TFT display has a 480x854-pixel resolution and 218ppi. During my brief time with it, the screen appeared to be responsive, and icons and text looked crisp.
Ready for 720p video
On the back is a 5-megapixel camera with a F2.8 aperture lens that's capable of shooting 720p HD video.
Only fixed-focus here
Above the display you'll find a 1-megapixel camera. Unfortunately, while the rear-facing camera has autofocus capabilities, the front-facing camera only has a fixed-focus lens.
MiFavor user interface
The device runs Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and features ZTE's user interface called "MiFavor." Although I prefer a more pure, minimalistic version of Android (which has been featured in previous ZTE handsets), the UI is intuitive and features clean icons that are easy on the eyes.
Get into the Muve
As a Cricket device, the Source will have Muve Music a music subscription service from the carrier that enables users to access and play thousands of songs and albums offline.