ZTE Blade

The ZTE V880 is a smartphone manufactured by ZTE Corporation for the Android platform. Unveiled by Orange UK as San Francisco, it went on sale on 21 September 2010, with a white variant released later.[3] By 2011, more than 8 million Blade handsets have been sold in more than 50 countries worldwide.[4]

ZTE
ManufacturerZTE
ModelV880
First released21 September 2010
TypeSlate smartphone
Dimensions116 mm (4.6 in) H
56.5 mm (2.22 in) W
11.8 mm (0.46 in) D
Mass130 g (4.6 oz)[1]
Operating systemAndroid 2.1 Éclair or 2.2 Froyo
CPUQualcomm MSM7227 600 MHz (ARMv6 architecture)
GPUAdreno 200[2]
Memory512 MB or 256 MB RAM
Storage512 MB NAND
Removable storagemicroSD slot v2.0 compatible (supports up to 32 GB)
2 GB card included
Battery1250 mAh
Internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery, 4 hours talk time and 216 hours (9 days) stand-by time
Data inputsMulti-touch capacitive touchscreen display, 3-axis accelerometer, digital compass, proximity and ambient light sensors
Display480×800 px, 3.5 in (89 mm), 267 PPI, WVGA,
OLED or TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen
Rear camera3.2 or 5.0 megapixel with auto focus
ConnectivityWi-Fi (802.11 b/g), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, GSM 850 900 1800 1900 MHz HSPA/WCDMA 900 2100 MHz
OtherProximity sensor, Ambient Light sensor, Accelerometer, FM Radio, Compass, GPS, A-GPS, LED Notification.

The Blade II was released in March 2012 with Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM7227A 1 GHz processor and Android 2.3 Gingerbread.[5]

The Blade III was released in September 2012 with a 4 in screen, 4 GB storage, a 1600 mAh Li-Ion battery and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.[6]

The Blade brand has since been applied to successor models such as Blade C and Blade L.

Variants

In some countries, the ZTE Blade is available in customized versions with different cameras and touchscreen displays and often bears a different brand name:

  • Belarus: velcom offered ZTE Blade unlocked with TFT display, 3.2 MPX camera and 512 MB (256 MB before October 2011) RAM. It runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
  • Belgium: Mobistar offers the ZTE Blade unlocked with a 3.2-megapixel camera, 512 MB RAM, and TFT capacitive touchscreen display under the name San Francisco with no brand or manufacturer.
  • Bulgaria: Globul offers a branded Globul Z3 phone with Android 2.2 and a 3.2 MP camera.
  • China (mainland): China Unicom offers the ZTE Blade with 512 MB ROM and 256 MB RAM and a 3.2-megapixel camera called ZTE V880 (GSM and WCDMA). China Mobile offers the ZTE Blade with 512 MB ROM and 512 MB RAM and 5.0 MP camera called ZTE U880 compatible with TD-SCDMA. China Telecom offers the ZTE Blade called ZTE N880 (512 MB CDMA) compatible with CDMA2000.
  • Greece: Wind offers the ZTE Blade, with a 3.2-megapixel camera and TFT capacitive touchscreen display, running Android 2.1 Eclair. Update to Android 2.2 FroYo is available.[7] Officially, it comes with 256 MB RAM. However, there is a patch that reveals 256 MB extra RAM that seems to be locked. So despite customers buying it from Wind with 256 MB RAM, they have the ability to patch it and unlock the RAM in order to have 512 MB.[8]
  • Finland: Saunalahti (Elisa) offers ZTE Blade with a 5.0-megapixel camera and TFT capacitive touchscreen display.[9][10]
  • France: Orange and Bouygues offer the ZTE Blade with a capacitive touchscreen display (LCD for Orange and AMOLED for Bouygues), 512 MB RAM and a 3.2 MP camera. It runs on Android 2.1 Eclair. SFR also distributes the ZTE Blade but under the rebranded "Android Edition by SFR STARADDICT".[11]
  • Germany: Base, an E-Plus brand, offers the ZTE Blade under a different name. The device is called Base Lutea and has a 5.0-megapixel camera and TFT capacitive touchscreen display.[12]
  • Hungary: T-Mobile offers the ZTE Blade with a capacitive touchscreen LCD display, 512 MB RAM and a 3.2-MP camera. It runs on Android 2.1. Due to a faulty OS image, devices with only 256 MB of available RAM were distributed until middle December 2010, but an updated OS was later released to fix such devices.[13] Telenor will also offer the ZTE Blade.[14]
  • India: Dell offers the ZTE Blade under the name Dell XCD35, with a 3.2-megapixel camera and a TFT capacitive touchscreen display.[15] Idea Cellular also offers the Chinese model of ZTE Blade as Idea Blade, with 256 MB RAM (not unlockable to 512 MB unlike other models[16]), 3.2-megapixel camera and a TFT capacitive touchscreen display. Latest offering from ZTE in India is the Blade A2 Plus which comes with 5000mAh battery and is priced at Rs. 11,999.
  • Indonesia: SmartFren offers the CDMA version of ZTE Blade N880s (256 MB CDMA) under the name SmartFren Wide, followed by Telkom Flexi, with a 3.2-megapixel auto focus camera, a capacitive touchscreen display, and 256 MB RAM. It runs Android 2.2 Froyo, and 2 Gb memory card. Later, a GSM version of ZTE Blade with similar specs and running Android 2.2.2 was offered.
  • Japan: SoftBank offers the Blade under the name SoftBank 003Z, with a 5.0-megapixel camera, running Android 2.2 Froyo.[17]
  • Lithuania: Omnitel offers the Blade, with a 5-megapixel camera and TFT capacitive touchscreen display, running Android 2.2 Froyo.[18]
  • Moldova: Orange Moldova offers the ZTE Blade with an LCD display and a 3.2-MP camera. It runs Android 2.1 Eclair.[19]
  • Netherlands, the: KPN offers the ZTE Blade with an LCD display and a 5.0-MP camera. It runs Android 2.2 Froyo.
  • Philippines: Smart Communications began to offer the Blade as the Smart Netphone 701 on September 1, 2011 as a platform to launch its "Smartnet" social network.[20] It has a TFT capacitive touchscreen, 512 MB of RAM, and runs on Android 2.2 Froyo.
  • Poland: PLAY offer a version with 3.2-megapixel camera. Also offered by Orange Polska as Orange San Francisco[21] and by Red Bull Mobile as RBM One (version with a 5.0-megapixel camera, OLED capacitive touchscreen and Android 2.2 Froyo).[22]
  • Portugal: Optimus offers the ZTE Blade under the name Optimus San Francisco, with a 3.2-megapixel camera and an OLED capacitive touchscreen display. Recently, Optimus provided an update to Android 2.2. TMN offers a customized version with a 5.0-megapixel camera and a TFT screen, under the name SAPO a5. The exterior design of the device was also changed.
  • Russia: Beeline offers Beeline E400 with TFT display, 3.2 MPX camera. It runs Android 2.2.[23]
  • Spain: Yoigo (76.6% belonging to TeliaSonera) offers the Blade with a 3.2-megapixel camera and TFT capacitive touchscreen display running Android 2.2 Froyo for €0 with any contract.
  • Sweden: Tele2 Comviq offers the ZTE Blade with a capacitive touchscreen LCD display, 512 MB RAM and a 3.2-MP camera. It runs on Android 2.2 Froyo and was previously offered with Eclair 2.1.[24][25] An update to Android 2.2 FroYo is available for Telia and Comviq customers who purchased the device with 2.1.[26] Telia is again offering the phone. A version running Android 2.1 is available in stores from ZTE Sweden without affiliation to any network.
  • Switzerland: Orange and Valora offer a version with a 3.2-megapixel camera and TFT capacitive touchscreen display.[27]
  • UK: White and grey versions are sold with TFT or OLED screens. The only way to check which screen the phone has is to look in Settings > About Phone > BUILD.
  • USA: Sold as FTV phone for 'Fashion TV'.[28]
  • In European countries: Named Orange San Francisco on Orange U.K., Optimus Portugal, Orange Romania, Orange Moldova, Orange Austria, Orange Slovakia, Orange Switzerland, Mobistar and Orange Poland.

Reviews

Reviews of the ZTE Blade have been positive due to the number of features offered while maintaining a low price.[29] The screen in particular received praise, while the camera/camcorder quality was identified as one of the few downsides to the device.[30]

Community reception
A Blade without a customized brand name.

In the annual handset opinion survey of The Best non-htc Device of 2010, organised by xda-developers forum, the ZTE Blade won a total of 24.66% votes, placing it first among the 32 handsets including Samsung Galaxy S and Google's flagship phone Nexus S, placing them on the second and third position right behind ZTE Blade, as judged by forum users.[31]

Various websites, mainly MoDaCo and xda-developers, have created a very large modifications scene around the Blade. Offering various custom ROMs (such as de-branded ROMs, for the re-branded devices) which remove all software that phone companies put on the device like applications and games, etc., or upgraded software versions (like Froyo, Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich, or Jelly Bean) which do not come on the device in its stock configuration. Users who flash custom ROMs void their warranty and take risks in doing so, however it is possible to restore the original stock ROM.

  • Android 2.2 (Froyo) is appearing on the Blade but with only certain carriers/re-branded devices. It is also available through custom ROMs such as Swedish Spring and an improved version, Portuguese Spring.
  • Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) has also been released on the Blade through CyanogenMod 7, and modified ROMs originally made for the ZTE Libra.
  • Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is being worked on through ColdfusionX,[32] unofficial CyanogenMod 9, ICS4blade project,[33] and later several builds and ports of modified ROMs like AOKP (Android Open Kang Project) or MIUI V4.
  • Android 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 (Jelly Bean) is available as an unofficial port of CyanogenMod 10,[34][35] 10.1,[36] 10.2[37] and several builds and ports of another popular aftermarket ROMs like AOKP (Android Open Kang Project), Paranoid Android, or MIUI V4.1.
  • Android 4.4 (KitKat) based on CyanogenMod 11 is also available for testing,[38] but it's work in progress (both Blade port and CyanogenMod 11 itself) and not suitable for daily use, yet.

At first, because of the lack of essential components such as OpenMAX libraries for ARMv6, Blade running Android 4.0+ lacks hardware video acceleration. However, the fix has been found[39] and the current Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean ROMs can be considered as fairly stable ROM for daily use, as all the major features have worked and been fixed.

See also

References
  1. "Orange newsroom".
  2. What type of GPU has Blade?
  3. "San Francisco from Orange in white". Orange UK. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  4. ZTE Debuts New Mobile Phone Design Concept
  5. "ZTE Blade II Makes a Powerful Debut". ZTE. 22 February 2012.
  6. World Premiere of ZTE Blade III Smartphone in Nordic Markets
  7. "Wind 2.2 Update".
  8. "Unlock the 512MB RAM".
  9. "Saunalahti ZTE Blade".
  10. "TeliaSonera Finland ZTE Blade".
  11. "SFR STARADDICT".
  12. "Modaco Forum - ZTE Blade coming to Germany".
  13. "Update to Unlock 256MB Devices to 512MB".
  14. "Telenor Hungary ZTE Blade".
  15. "Dell XCD35".
  16. "idea blade (zte blade sold by idea cellular india) help!". CyanogenMod Forum.
  17. "SoftBank 003Z".
  18. "ZTE Blade".
  19. "Orange San Francisco in Moldova".
  20. "Smart's Netphone Coming this September".
  21. "Orange San Francisco".
  22. "RBM One".
  23. "Beeline E400".
  24. "Comviq Sweden ZTE Blade".
  25. "Telia Sweden ZTE Blade".
  26. "ZTE Blade 2.2 Updates".
  27. "Orange and Valora launch new PrePay mobile offer".
  28. "FTV phone".
  29. "Paul Reviews the Orange San Francisco".
  30. "Orange San Francisco review from Techradar UK". TechRadar UK. 2010-10-19. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  31. XDA Developers - FINAL RESULTS The Best non-hTC Device of 2010
  32. ColdFusionX for the ZTE Blade
  33. ics4blade
  34. CyanogenMod 10 (Android 4.1.2)
  35. CyanogenMod 10 (Continuation of KonstaT's work)
  36. CyanogenMod 10.1 (Android 4.2.2)
  37. CyanogenMod 10.2 (Android 4.3.1)
  38. CyanogenMod 11.0 (Android 4.4.2)
  39. XDA Developers - Modified libstagefright to use legacy Qualcomm OMX IL libs on ICS for MSM7x27 SoCs
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