I'm Jessica Dolcourt, senior associate editor, in CNET and this is your first look at the ZTE Salute with Verizon.
This is ZTE's first phone release with a top-tier US carrier.
So, if you haven't heard of the manufacturer, there's the reason why.
The Salute is an attractive phone with rounded corners and a black and silver motif.
This got a 2.4-inch QVGA screen, but we found that the menu did not look very vibrant.
We like ZTE subtle design flare like the triangular soft keys
and circular navigation array that goes along with the talking keys and with the clear key.
Slide up the face to reveal an alphanumeric dial pad.
Even though the buttons are slightly raised, it still felt a little bit flat.
On the back, there is a 1.3 megapixel camera with a small vanity mirror.
The pictures were okay with the camera, but not great and there are lots of overexposed whites and a lot of blurriness.
Inside the Salute is a decidedly basic phone, which has a few extra features to round up a list of givens.
So in addition to your calendar, your clock, and your WAP browser, there is also support for Bluetooth 2.0, Instant Messaging, and the VZ Navigator, which costs $999 for a monthly subscription.
Call quality was also acceptable on this phone, although we did notice some vocal fussiness and a slight echo on our end.
Callers thought we were muffled and said our words sometimes weren't together.
That's said most of the time we had few problems carrying on a conversation.
Well, it may not sound too impressive, the Salute is a decent budget phone for Verizon
and one of the least expensive available.
It costs about $20 for the $50 mail-in rebate and a new 2-year service agreement.
I'm Jessica Dolcourt, and this is the ZTE Salute for Verizon Wireless.
