ZTE Blade 3 unveiled as mid-range smartphone on a budget

ZTE Blade 3 unveiled as mid-range smartphone on a budget
The rule of 3 - something about being cheap we think

The ZTE Blade 3 has been officially announced by the Chinese firm and promises big value and a big screen experience.

ZTE is best known as a budget smartphone manufacturer, and while it's trying to shift that reputation with flagship products such as the Grand S there's no question where the Blade 3 sits in the market.

The Blade 3 will only set you back £69.99 plus £10 PAYG top up, or if you prefer you can have it for free on contact starting from £13 per month (as long as you are a Virgin Media customer).

Bargain?

For your £80 outlay you'll get a 4-inch 800 x 480 TFT display, 1GHz single-core processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage (of which 2.5GB is available), 5MP rear camera, 1,600mAh battery a Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich.

That's a decent set of specs for the money and puts the Blade 3 up against the more expensive Sony Xperia Miro and HTC Desire C which are both almost £100 dearer.

We were pretty impressed during our hands on ZTE Blade 3 review but we'll reserve proper judgement for our full in-depth review.

John McCann
Global Managing Editor

John joined TechRadar over a decade ago as Staff Writer for Phones, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He's interviewed CEOs from some of the world's biggest tech firms, visited their HQs and has appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC and BBC Radio 4. Originally specializing in phones, tablets and wearables, John is now TechRadar's resident automotive expert, reviewing the latest and greatest EVs and PHEVs on the market. John also looks after the day-to-day running of the site.