14 DAY TRIAL // ZTE Skate, also known as Monte Carlo has just arrived at Orange UK, one month earlier than it was initially expected.
Announced in June, Monte Carlo is now available for free on select plans or from £149.99 on PAYG (pay as you go).
Despite its low price, Monte Carlo has some nice high-end features to offer that will certainly appeal more than the usual budget Android smartphones available on the market.
Orange Monte Carlo comes with a large 4.3-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen display with 16 million colors support, 480 x 800 pixels resolution, as well as accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate and proximity sensor for auto turn-off.
Among other strong points of the handset is Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread platform, along with HSDPA and HSUPA support.
One of the few features that might categorize it as a budget smartphone is the 800MHz processor under the hood.
A 5-megapixel main camera with autofocus, LED flash and video recording capabilities has also been included.
Monte Carlo packs 512MB of RAM, as well as microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB).
Software-wise, the phone provide users access to more than 250,000 apps via Android Market, but also comes pre-loaded with Orange Maps, full social networking service integration, Google Search, Gmail, YouTube and Google Talk.
It is also worth mentioning that the phone supports HD Voice, which makes it easier to hear and be heard in noisy environments.
However, to be able to enjoy HD Voice calls both the caller and person getting the call need HD Voice handsets and be Orange customers. The technology also requires for both persons to be in a 3G area.
According to the manufacturer, the phone's 1400 mAh Li-Ion battery should provide up to 288 hours of standby time or up to 5 hours of talk time.