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Prepaid ZTE Source features 4G LTE on a budget (pictures)

Available from Cricket Wireless for $220, the ZTE Source is a competitively priced Android prepaid smartphone.

Lynn La
Lynn La covers mobile reviews and news. She previously wrote for The Sacramento Bee, Macworld and The Global Post.
Lynn La
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1 of 9 James Martin/CNET

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.

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2 of 9 James Martin/CNET

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.

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3 of 9 James Martin/CNET

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.

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4 of 9 James Martin/CNET

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.

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5 of 9 James Martin/CNET

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.

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6 of 9 James Martin/CNET

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.

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7 of 9 James Martin/CNET

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.

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8 of 9 James Martin/CNET

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.

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9 of 9 James Martin/CNET

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.

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