News - Orange launches own-brand £99 Android PAYG phone

[HEXUS]

The San Francisco is positioned as an entry-level Android phone and comes with version 2.1.

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[Mike Fishcake]

In fact, that tariff calls into question the attractiveness of phones like this. You can get a much higher specced HTC Desire from Orange for the same upfront cost on a tariff that costs £22.50 per month and gives you 300 minutes and 500MB of data per month. Having said that it does tie you in for 2 years...

Exactly. The 2 year contract is what's putting me off getting a Desire/Wildfire, as good as the phones might be.

Not sure that the criticisms about the performance are valid for a budget phone like this. If you're a phone enthusiast that loves the shiny bits on your iphone/desire, obviously this one isn't going to be for you. The price difference clearly illustrates that.

And I wouldn't be at all surprised if Orange soon announce this phone on a cheapo contract deal, if the reviews come out ok. I very nearly got a Wildfire, but don't like phone contracts and the PAYG price put me off. However, this basic smartphone may well be what I'm looking for. Plus, seeing as I've currently got £27 in my Orange PAYG phone fund, I would personally be paying £72 for the phone if I bought one today...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Supposedly it has an 800X480 OLED screen, a 600MHZ CPU and around 512Mb of RAM.

[Mike Fishcake]

Yep - maybe the original news story was put out before all the info had been released, but there appear to be plenty of phone freaks getting really excited about this!

http://android.modaco.com/content/zt...-i-go-in-here/

[directhex]

Hm, ZTE Blade. That's the third £100 Android PAYG phone in the UK, following LG GT540 and T-Mobile Pulse (Huawei U8220)

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I am tempted by this phone but TBH with dual core smartphones coming out in the next year I will probably wait.