Hands on: ZTE Skate review

Interface

For some reason, ZTE has seen fit to make the keyboard nonsensically small; even in landscape mode it seems stunted and fiddly to hit the right keys.

ZTE skate review

In portrait mode it's nigh on unusable.

ZTE skate review

While the 800MHz processor doesn't pack quite the punch that we're used to from 1GHz processors, but it's not what we'd call slow to use either, although there's some occasional lag when switching between functions.

The five-megapixel camera does a fair job, although it's a little slow to capture images.

Aside from that, it's pretty standard Android fare, with widgets and Home screen customisation as standard.

ZTE skate review

The touchscreen itself is quite responsive, although you do have to be a little firmer with it than you do on the likes of the iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S2.

Still, if the price is right, it could be a sound investment for someone who wants a good Android experience on a low budget. Our full ZTE Skate review will reveal all.

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.