I ended up getting a full 7 days of usage out of my ZTE Open before I had to charge the battery. Granted this was VERY light usage with just a little data and a few calls each day. Now that I have had it for a few weeks I am really wishing that ZTE would get around to updating the phone to the new Firefox version. Some annoyances that I have run into is the browser remind me of my early days with a blackberry Curve trying to play a PHP game on it. Slow and Very slow at times. I still think it has great potential. The dialpad is very large on the screen and easy to use. The sound comes across clearly and the picture taking is manageable. There doesn’t seem to be an LED flash so no flash light apps for this phone.
Tag: firefox os
Day 3 and I am still at 78% battery on the ZTE Open plus What I have used on the phone thus far
I have only used the ZTE phone a little since I picked it up from the Post Office a few days ago. I work from home most of the time doing remote support. What this means is I spend a lot of time in front of the computer typing and talking to others. However, I work much faster with 2 hands (and 2 monitors). I take my calls through google voice or through Skype. I’ve had a very cheap unlimited skype plan for many years. The call quality is much better than my cellphones and I can wear a headset. I know I could use a bluetooth headset with my phone but reception can be a challenge in a cement building.
The ZTE Open with Firefox OS is my prepaid phone with my local area code 340. From all the moving I have done I have come to learn the hard way that people give preference to their local area codes. Throw out that society is much more mobile now and one can get a phone number from literally anywhere. In the past few months I have also ran into another issue in care of Google. Google Voice now considers Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands as international. This wasn’t always the case. I rely on google voice heavily for my business calls. Unfortunately the lack of support from Google has left me at a disadvantage. Unlinking Google Voice from my Sprint phone decreases the ability to get a hold of me when the google voice number is printed on all my business forms. To call my local area code of 340 would cost about 2 cents a minute. This is in fact cheaper than my prepaid plan of which I pay 5 or 10 cents a minute for. Contrary to what looks like simple math ($.02 is < $.05) I am only paying $10 a month to have a local number. My prepaid balance rolls over to the next month as long as I remember to Top Up before the due date.
I have not been dissuaded yet by the OS. I still see lots of potential in having HTML5 apps that can work across ecosystems. I wondered if someone in their 50’s or older could use this phone and I’m concerned that the screen would be too small for them. Typing or just reading the screen could be difficult.
Here is what I have accomplished with the phone thus far.
- I have set an alarm which went off at the proper time.
- I have updated some of the apps
- I have changed my bottom primary icons by removing 2 and adding a new icon (gmail)
- I have added a few apps
- I have searched for apps
- I have done some web browsing
- I changed my lock screen wallpaper
- I have manually added contacts
- I have actually made a call with my phone
- I setup Usage to track data although I have no data plan it will track wifi usage
- I took a picture
- I read my email
I’ve also done some more research on the phone to find out that I can’t update to 1.1 just yet. I also saw several sites with incorrect info about the phone.
- It DOES use a normal headphone jack
- It DOES take a regular sim card
- It DOES come with a 4 gig MicroSD
I’m sure there are more inaccuracies out there but these were the the glaring ones.
ZTE Open with Firefox OS
The ZTE Open with FirefoxOS is a simple and affordable smartphpone. I was one of the fortunate few that was able to snag one on ebay when ZTE was selling them directly. I wasn’t able to find one in Europe last month and am very excited to finally have it in my hands. I am going to enjoy testing this new smartphone.
The first thing I would like to mention is how much it cost. I paid $80 shipped. It came with a 4 gig microsd card, wall charger, usb cable and headphones. As usual the headphones look as cheap as cheap as a pair of Apple earbuds. Nevertheless, the phone is unlocked and it comes with a memory card? It’s tiring trying to correct the internet folk who say they can get a $100 android phone with all the bells and whistles. Sure, a flagship phone WITH a 2 yr contract will get you the best but $80 for a new smartphone, no contract and unlocked? Yes, I am interested!
I am not going to take this time to do a full review. This is my secondary prepaid phone. I have no intentions of replacing my HTC One.
