ZTE Blade 3 unveiled as mid-range smartphone on a budget
Available on Virgin Mobile for now
The ZTE Blade 3 has been officially announced by the Chinese firm and promises big value and a big screen experience.
ZTE is best known as a budget smartphone manufacturer, and while it's trying to shift that reputation with flagship products such as the Grand S there's no question where the Blade 3 sits in the market.
The Blade 3 will only set you back £69.99 plus £10 PAYG top up, or if you prefer you can have it for free on contact starting from £13 per month (as long as you are a Virgin Media customer).
Bargain?
For your £80 outlay you'll get a 4-inch 800 x 480 TFT display, 1GHz single-core processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage (of which 2.5GB is available), 5MP rear camera, 1,600mAh battery a Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich.
That's a decent set of specs for the money and puts the Blade 3 up against the more expensive Sony Xperia Miro and HTC Desire C which are both almost £100 dearer.
We were pretty impressed during our hands on ZTE Blade 3 review but we'll reserve proper judgement for our full in-depth review.
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TechRadar's former Global Managing Editor, John has been a technology journalist for more than a decade, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He’s interviewed CEOs from some of the world’s biggest tech firms, visited their HQs, and appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC, and BBC Radio 4.