Cheap T-Mobile Rapport Android Phone Available in the UK

Both Vodafone and Orange carriers have launched their own branded Android smartphones manufactured by Chinese handset makers such as ZTE and Huawei.

Monte Carlo / ZTE Skate, San Francisco / ZTE Blade and Stockholm / Huawei Ideos X1 are just a few models introduced by Orange and Vodafone this year.

Recently, T-Mobile UK decided to go live with a similar budget-friendly smartphone, the T-Mobile Rapport, which seems to be the same device launched by Orange a while ago as Stockholm.

The smartphone is now available at T-Mobile UK for £69.99 ($112 or 80 EUR) on PAYG (pay as you go) with a required £10 ($16 or 11EUR) top-up.

However, customers who prefer to grab the smartphone for free will have to subscribe to a two-year monthly plan starting at £10.21 ($16 or 11.6 EUR), which will net them 100 minutes, unlimited texts, and 500MB of data.

The Rapport comes with a 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen with 262k colors support and 320 x 240 pixels resolution, that goes along with accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate and proximity sensor for auto turn-off.

Although the T-Mobile Rapport is an affordable handset, it offers users almost the same level of functionality as any other Android device.

Aimed at customers who never owned an Android smartphone before, T-Mobile Rapport lacks the power to impress tech-savvy users.

The phone sports a 3-megapixel camera with autfocus and camcorder, as well as microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB).

As T-Mobile UK explains, “with Android 2.2 (Froyo), the T-Mobile Rapport gives you access to thousands of fun and useful apps on Android Market, and most are free to download.”

The full range of Google services and apps is offered as well, including Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, and Google Talk.

Other highlights of the smartphone include: HSDPA support, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and Stereo FM Radio.