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Stelph

7:10 AM on 26 January, 2011

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One comment, this originally came with an AMOLED screen however last time I checked ZTE had switched to LED due to shortages of screens, that saying most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference

Glad you've been able to get a reviewunti, it really is amazing what ZTE has managed to cram into this phone at this pricepoint! Detonator gives you moment to pause when most smartphones seem to be at 400+!

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Sleeper

7:33 AM on 26 January, 2011

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I just bought a second hand unlocked and debranded one on eBay. Looking forward to getting and playing around with Android again.

I don't think it'll replace the N8 but it'll be a hell of a nice back up!

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rav

8:40 AM on 26 January, 2011

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This is why Android doesn't and shouldn't have a minimum spec. I'd still prefer a high end handset but for the money it's just amazing.

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Trevor Totten

8:59 AM on 26 January, 2011

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Yeah, they're all TFT screens now, but I've seen both and they're both very good. Have the AMOLED version myself. Unlocked for free, and flashed with Android 2.2, with all the Orange bloatware removed, and a nice Android 2.3 Gingerbread theme. I was an Android noob myself, and I can't tell you how easy it is to do, so no one should be intimidated by it. Go to blade.modaco.com and you'll find all you need there, even step-by-step video tutorials. And given the limited onboard storage (150MB), Android 2.2 is a must as you can move apps to the SD card. Camera is rubbish, but if you want a good camera, then go buy one. Also, be aware that flash is not supported on this CPU. Anyone thinking of moving to Android but has been put of by the price of smartphones, shouldn't even think twice about this one. No better phone anywhere for the money. Would be bargain at twice the price!

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Xamph

9:50 AM on 26 January, 2011

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Don't bother wasting time uninstalling the Orange cruft. Just wipe and install a 2.2 Froyo ROM from the guys at Modaco!

How to unlock your San Francisco so any SIM will work (completely free):

http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blade-blade-modaco-com/322848/free-sim-unlock-codes-for-orange-san-francisco-and-zte-blade/

How to install a Custom ROM on the San Francisco (aka the "ZTE Blade"):

http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blade-roms-rom-customisation/329864/25-jan-guide-how-to-install-a-custom-rom-on-the-zte-blade/

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gredawarha

10:17 AM on 26 January, 2011

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Got one of these on PAYG a couple of weeks ago as when my contract with vodafone runs out in May I will be mobing to Giffgaff. The Orange crud is easily removed, I am now running standard rooted Android 2.1. Have not bothered with a custom ROM as happy as is. Great phone, really pleased.

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GeekinTraining

10:19 AM on 26 January, 2011

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The contract on my HTC Hero runs out soon. I was going to keep it as back up for when I upgrade to, most likely, the new Desire - assuming it won't be a monstrosity like the Desire HD.

However, it looks like I'd be better off selling the Hero and getting this for just a few quid more. Has anyone used both? Would they agree?

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simonm

10:27 AM on 26 January, 2011

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Excellent review of an extraordinary phone.

This spec level at £99 makes all the other smartphone prices seem to belong to a parallel reality. And the network unlock codes are available for free, so if you are so inclined this is also the unofficial SIM-free price.

As other comments have noted, the screens are no longer AMOLED, which is a shame.

I echo the review comments on build quality. I found mine to be very well built - slim, comfortable in the hand, and surprisingly solid. One or two reviews were negative about the build quality. Either there is variation in the samples, or their perceptions were conditioned by expecting the build quality to be poor rather than the objective reality. (Or they were grade-A morons and hadn't replaced the cover properly after installing the battery, which will make for a flimsy fit and creaking.)

Would love to think ZTE/Orange have a follow-up in mind (Tegra 2 at £99, please ;), although hopefully next time resisting the temptation to 'improve' stock Android.

My slight fear is that the customizations were key to making the low price-point viable for Orange (£5/month for push e-mail, expensive app store, paid maps), but I find it hard to believe a worthwhile percentage of users were taken in by these.

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darkspark88

10:39 AM on 26 January, 2011

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I notice that the focus always seems to be on features. This may be more feature rich than the Wildfire, but for build quality, just pick both up and there is no comparison.

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Ed

10:44 AM on 26 January, 2011

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@darkspark88: A fair point but you have to remember that this phone is also less than half the price.

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cs97mmr2

10:45 AM on 26 January, 2011

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I'm currently looking for a budget smart phone. This may be a really stupid question but why would I buy something like this and not a Blackberry Curve 8520 which is in the same price bracket? Forget the fact that one has 3G and the other doesn't (I'm not that interested in surfing but more interested in messaging) and that you have to pay for Blackberry Internet Services. In terms of a straight comparison of phones why this one?

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manoz

11:03 AM on 26 January, 2011

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Yes, I have this phone and Im well chuffed with it. Managed to convinve 3 other people to buy this phone. Ive not put a 2.2 ROM on this but Im really tempted cos Im out of space!! Got launcherpro on this and it works an absolute treat. I do wonder though at all the other phones which are over half the price for providing such low res screens!! Would of happily paid 50 quid extra for a slightly better camera and flash. Heres hoping ZTE have more miracles round the corner.

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manoz

11:10 AM on 26 January, 2011

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One thing I do find disappointing however is the sound level when listening to MP3s. Doesnt make me want to use it as my primary MP3 player.

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Bill

11:57 AM on 26 January, 2011

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I have this phone and I totally agree with this review; its a great phone for the price. I just got to get the nerve up to root it and flash Froyo or maybe Gingerbread in the near future. BTW: if anyone's interested, I think rooting voids the warranty, but I believe there are ways to re-install the orange rubbish if needed, before sending it back.

Just one more niggle: I think the 32GB memory card spec is a bit optimistic, if you check the Modaco site linked above, I think you'll find that no one has been able to make a 32GB card work. I have a 16GB that's working a treat though, but some people have struggled with those too. My card is a "mymemory" brand and I haven't had any problems with it.

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Chris

12:02 PM on 26 January, 2011

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Just to point out, the Wildfire has a budget-oriented 240 × 320 resolution, rather than the more reasonable 320 x 420 stated in the review. That's the main reason why I'd never buy a Wildfire right there.

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Bill

12:04 PM on 26 January, 2011

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manoz: search that Modaco site, I think those guys have found a fix (or a better app)for the sound issue. And, ditto on the launcherpro

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Ed

12:13 PM on 26 January, 2011

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@Chris: Thanks, good spot. Fixed.

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cjb110

12:57 PM on 26 January, 2011

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Excellent phone! Had it since Paul's review on Modaco, and running his excellent 2.2 rom. The build quality is the weakest part and could be better, but not for £100 unlocked!

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JDunn

1:08 PM on 26 January, 2011

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Forgot to mention the annoying wifi bug, which causes a failure to automatically reconnect when coming back from standby. There is a free third-party fix for this available in the appstore.

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Malderon

1:24 PM on 26 January, 2011

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The San Francisco (or blade) causes me such a problem. One the one hand its not enough phone for me personally to get. I want slightly different features etc. However the problem is that those extra features / specs are not worth £300 or 3x the price.

If ZTE can churn these out for £100 price point then its not suprising that HTCs smartphone profits have increased - there must be quite a markup. Here's hoping (not that im expecting) that value phones such as these force high end phones to come down in price a touch!

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Chris

1:42 PM on 26 January, 2011

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@Malderon: Here, here! Most smartphones currently command a ridiculous markup. It's great to see ZTE bucking the trend.

Of course, this phone is locked to Orange and comes loaded with Orange's profiteering malware. That Orange intend to generate further income from this phone's sale may partially account for its low initial price.

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cpress

1:52 PM on 26 January, 2011

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I've had one since November and love it. Lots of useful comments here (especially the solution to the wifi problem which is a real pain).

@Bill - I've got a 32GB Sandisk card in mine - works fine, it doesn't work if I start up the phone while it's plugged into a charger but otherwise no problems.

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Stelph

2:15 PM on 26 January, 2011

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I echo the calls for a ZTE Dual core phone at a similar price range (hell, even £149 would be a reasonable price for the dual core version) and possibly even a ZTE tablet? One with a single core at £149 and Dual core ar £199, now that would be a game changer!

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Simon 19

2:54 PM on 26 January, 2011

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I've had mine for a couple of months now and am well pleased. My friends on the £30 a month contract for Android phones, not so much! My own concern is the very creaky back cover. (I'd like to think I'm not a grade-a moron but the cover doesn't seem to fit quite right. I've called Orange and their's a new cover on the way so we'll see if that remedies it!

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Hoggypotter

3:21 PM on 26 January, 2011

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Would you care to enlighten me with the details?

Thanks,

Forgot to mention the annoying wifi bug, which causes a failure to automatically reconnect when coming back from standby. There is a free third-party fix for this available in the appstore.

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Xamph

4:22 PM on 26 January, 2011

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@Hoggypotter,jdunn,cpress: Since upgrading to Paul's modaco Froyo ROM (r11), I've not seen the WiFi problem - the WiFi always reconnects after standby.

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jamie hancox

5:02 PM on 26 January, 2011

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Read the review - popped out and bought one. Unlocked from O2 - now just the froyo thing to tackle. This will be perfect while I wait for the CES models to ship.

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GoldenGuy

5:15 PM on 26 January, 2011

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This is just so tempting and could tide me over for a year, in the event that Apple let me down spec-wise when they announce iPhone 5, forcing me to wait for #6. My reservations about Android's interface tidiness remain but Simon M is right when he says "parallel universe" - that price just makes you cry out loud, 'How on earth do manufacturers summon the gaul to charge between £400-£600 for a phone? Even a good one?!'.

That said, I will still be relying on iPhones long term because to me it's still the case that there's the App Store and then there's everything else. Two years on, I'm still unimpressed by the Android Market, to the extent that I wouldn't wanna stick around the platform for very long.

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lifethroughalens

5:47 PM on 26 January, 2011

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I just bought one of these today as the look like a great value travel phone. Flashed it 10 minutes later to 2.2 and I have to say that i'm shocked - it's a great deal.

I am alwasy banging on about how much of a rip-off top end smart phones are relative to their build costs and component costs, this really highlights that well. Let's see how long it manages to stay in my good books :)

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Odalay

5:56 PM on 26 January, 2011

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I have one of these, agree with everything here, for the price is amazing! Only problem with mine is that the speaker has stopped working altogether, and i have only had it for two months! this basically renders the phone useless. Anyone else had this problem? will send it back to orange, though has been rooted? will this matter?

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PoisonJam

6:03 PM on 26 January, 2011

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I've had this for about 3 months now unlocked and on giffgaff. My experience hasn't been without it's issues.

I have an early example so it's obviously and AMOLED screen and on the right hand side of the screen there's a small dead spot where the touch screen is very unresponsive. It's unnoticeable until you're writing a text and try to move the cursor to edit something in this area.

Texts from others often fail to get through to me. I was as new to giffgaff as I am to the phone so I'm not sure which to blame. It's not easy to test for.

It crashes. Regularly. Most often when I'm writing a text but also when a call comes in or viewing a web page. Most of the time the orange screen comes up and everything just comes back but sometimes it needs a hard reset or the battery removed. I would have rooted it by now but I can't be sure it's not just a software issue and Orange will tell you where to go if it's been rooted. I couldn't seem to remove any of the pre-installed bloat.

Internet reliability is woeful, even in the centre of Glasgow. I'm not sure whether it's the phone or network but I'm sure iPhone users on O2 don't have such unreliable 3G or even 2G. I also had similar problems on the Orange PAYG sim.

These are just my experiences with my phone on giffgaff and in my city though and doesn't seem to be the norm. I need to take it back to Orange.

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simonm

7:07 PM on 26 January, 2011

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@Chris, @Malderon: Quite. If this can be produced for £100, why do you have to go to £300+ to get the next step up? And by the time you're looking at the £500+ smartphones the markup is clearly insane. What component contributes any serious fraction of that? Amazon can do a Core i3 Acer laptop with 15.6" screen, 3GB RAM, 320GB HD and full Windows 7 for £379 (or it could yesterday... £399 today :).

We are clearly being played for mugs. There is some mental disconnect that makes people happy to pay £550 for a phone which has a much, much lower parts cost than a £379 laptop. Fortunately there is no reason to expect this situation to persist as volume increases and disruptive players like ZTE come in (except maybe at the really premium end, where the buyers are demonstrably price insensitive and so will continue to get gouged -- that's fine by me, and helps to cover the cost of innovation).

@Simon 19: Benefit of the doubt given! So there is some variation in build quality. I've had 2 and both were 100% solid. I've just picked one up now to see if I was being too generous in my assessment, but no: there's no creaking, no flex. This one could have been carved from a solid block of wood. Evidently they don't all meet that standard.

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joshwa

10:41 PM on 26 January, 2011

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On the specs you list the camera as 3.2mp, no autofocus. When it should in fact be 3.2mp Autofocus. Cheers.

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Gordon394

11:26 PM on 26 January, 2011

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@joshwa - cheers. Didn't add the specs page myself, but I'll point it out

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Ed

9:11 AM on 27 January, 2011

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@joshwa: My bad, will fix momentarily.

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Gk.pm

9:55 AM on 27 January, 2011

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Even by the ridiculous low ball prices from iSuppli (whose reported prices are meant to generate interest in their own supply chain) there's no way this phone could be made to be sold at £99, so here's a new word to those who think it can: dumping.

ZTE is a huge, mostly state controlled, Chinese company with interest far beyond budget mobiles.. actually their core market is selling network equipment to the mobile companies, so think a bit about why they would do this.

Just don't think they'll be doing more of these, we're still far away from real £99 phones when the screen alone costs them around £20..

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simonm

10:44 AM on 27 January, 2011

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@Gk.pm

You think? iSuppli's bill of materials for the Nexus One was $174 (£110), and the Blade is no Nexus One (e.g. no $30 Snapdragon, inexpensive camera, smaller display, smaller battery, 2GB not 4GB SD, etc.).

And that was a year ago, which is a long time in component prices particularly as volumes ramp up.

I'm also again drawn to compare the components of £500+ smartphones with £380 laptops. Perhaps you'd argue that the Acer laptops are dumped? Perhaps you'd be right!

I think it's fair, though, to say there is essentially zero profit margin in the Orange pricing, not least since I can see Dell selling the same phone (as the XCD35) SIM-free in India for £200.

But there are SIM-free Android phones from regular retail outlets for < £150 (e.g. Huawei Ideos).

The #1 differentiator versus the Blade is obviously the Blade's 800x480 screen, but it doesn't make £100 prices look out of the ballpark to me if one accepts that Orange has given up the retail margin, hoping to get it back in network charges.

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Chris

11:24 AM on 27 January, 2011

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@Gk.pm: No-one's saying the price isn't artificially cheap. I imagine if the phone wasn't Orange branded it would be a good deal more expensive, like the HTC Wildfire. However, this is precisely what ZTE do. Much like Huawei, Asus, Foxconn and (in times gone by) HTC, ZTE make 'no-brand' electronics that are sold wholesale in bulk to companies like Dell, Apple and, yes, Orange. They leverage China's cheap manufacturing industry while their business model doesn't require them to market or support their products to the end user, thus lowering the unit cost. ZTE will continue to make handsets like this for as long as the model works for them.

But frankly, what difference does it make? For a number of reasons, the price the consumer ends up paying is only loosely related to how much the thing cost to produce, and that's the same with just about any gadget you buy off the shelf these days.

Oh, and iSuppli itemise those 'ridiculous low ball prices' by stating the bulk wholesale price of each and every component, which can be confirmed by anyone who has access to these figures. They may be hard to believe, but they're not lying. I'm sure this helps them to sell a few screwdrivers, but that doesn't automatically make them inaccurate.

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Bill

11:26 AM on 27 January, 2011

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@cpress: even as I wrote that, I was thinking this is a sweeping comment. opps :-)I just saw on Modaco yesterday that some people are having success with the Sandisk 32gb card. When I was looking for one about a 6 weeks ago, all the negative posts about 32gb cards, on that site, put me off. Seemed to me that even some of the hardcore were staying with 16gb.

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Gk.pm

11:30 AM on 27 January, 2011

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@simonm as widely known in the industry iSupply prices are always under the real cost and, as you've said, even that is just the bill of materials cost: doesn't include manufacturing, research, testing, patent royalties, shipping etc. not even the paper box or power supply is included.

I'd think even if ZTE was really scrapping the barrel the production cost of this would now be similar to that quoted Nexus One value.

Screens have hardly gone down in price as demand is so high, same goes for the touchscreen components.

Then there's VAT, which sets the real price of phone at £82. So someone is surely losing money on this.

I'm not saying that the £500 phones are not making money. I'm sure most could be sold at £250 and they'd

still make enough to let their employees roam free once in a while, maybe even do a little product development.

But at £99 for this one that is clearly not possible.

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rav

1:12 PM on 27 January, 2011

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I have no idea what this costs to make but as the retail price is set by Orange I'm not sure if it's fair to accuse ZTE of dumping.

To an extent I can understand that crapware helps to subsidise phones (and hardware in general) but in an ideal world the customer should be given a choice of either a lower cost modified handset or a crapware free alternative for a reasonable extra charge.

Android's openess is a blessing and a curse. Apps like Handcent and LauncerPro really do highlight how it can lead to a better user experience for customers but on the other hand Networks have used it to ruin perfectly good handsets.

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simonm

1:15 PM on 27 January, 2011

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@Gk.pm

Not sure there's so much between our positions.

Is ZTE dumping... who knows? We don't know what they are getting paid, which makes it impossible to position them on the fine line between wafer-thin margins (permissible) and selling below cost (naughty, if you feel that way). Dell's SIM-free version of this phone is going for £200-ish, which feels about right when compared against the £140-ish Ideos.

Orange has clearly given up any retail margin, and is presumably subsidizing the price to some extent to arrive at £100. The level of subsidy is slightly interesting, as it isn't normally very generous on PAYG, is it? There's not a lot between the SIM-free and Vodafone PAYG prices for the iPhone 4, which is a phone that you might reasonably hope to generate decent network revenue and justify a subsidy.

Maybe Orange subsidized the price more than usual figuring that the easily-exceeded data allowances and revenue-generating malware would compensate. They may be disappointed, particularly given all the talk of unlocking.

As regards the £500 phones making money and financing product development, that's fine. Very happy about that. But once the early adopters have paid over the odds and ZTE has come to market with derivative products eschewing bleeding-edge components we don't have to talk about financing the innovation any more.

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Skobbolop

3:49 PM on 27 January, 2011

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"If you have been reluctant to spend the money to join the smartphone revolution, you'd be dummer than your dumb phone to miss out on this. "

is that meant to be a joke or some sort of sarcasm? I know this is a tech site but that's just too low. Not all of us believe that you need to follow the newest techtrends. Call me dumb if you like but i'm still reluctant to join the "smartphone revolution". My "dumb phone" still works and i can't see why is should swap it with a new shiny toy as long as it works. But then again, I guess that's why I don't get along with western consumerism. :D

Come to think of it. I'll probably just buy another "dumb phone" next time. Like the internet isn't stealing enough of my time already.. :D

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beggin

7:36 PM on 27 January, 2011

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Very good review, nice to see the Orange San Francisco getting some recognition. This site has some good tutorials to get you started.

Install Android 2.2 from scratch: http://orangesanfrancisco.co.uk/android/how-to-install-custom-roms-android-2-2-from-scratch-on-the-orange-san-francisco-zte-blade/

Unlock for free: http://orangesanfrancisco.co.uk/android/how-to-unlock-the-orange-san-francisco-zte-blade-for-free/

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hankb6d

12:48 PM on 30 January, 2011

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Purchased, very impressed, thanks for the links and help here.

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rav

7:17 PM on 31 January, 2011

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Just rooted my mate's SF for him today. Was trivially easy compared to having to make a goldcard and use adb to root my Hero back in the day.

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rtboy

1:40 PM on 2 February, 2011

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Bought one 3 weeks ago, and had it unlocked (free) and upgraded to Japanese Jellyfish Android 2.2 using clockwork recovery (all available at the very helpful Modaco site) within a couple of hours. Apart from the slightly scary wait for the first boot after ROM install, and even as a complete novice, I found it was quite easy as long as you follow carefully the instructions at Modaco. As stated in the review, the original Orange interface is horrible, but I have installed Launcher Pro with 2.2 and the home interface is now quick, responsive and a delight to use. The screen is sharp and clear, even though I have the later TFT version. If you are not too bothered about the poorly spec-ed camera and video side of things, this phone is a real bargain.

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archer

3:32 PM on 4 February, 2011

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I got this phone about 2 months ago.. the best phone under £99 ever!! Makes my so called Nokia "Smart Phone" look like something out of the dark ages. Symbian is a dead OS, Android is the way of the future.

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J4cK1505

6:46 PM on 14 February, 2011

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Just been out to buy this on such a glowing review

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Polyuncoki

3:07 PM on 15 May, 2011

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I was sat at work browsing the web for a decent cheap smartphone and I stumble across this review. After reading the review and how good the specs were for such a small price I decided to purchase the phone. The cheapest I found the phone was £99.97 from Tesco with a £10 top-up included; I can honestly say this phone is amazing for the price. If it wasn't for you guys I wouldn't have known this phone even existed, thanks.

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TR Automation

11:52 AM on 18 October, 2011

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Great value, build quality is as you'd expect - sufficent, not stellar.

Would see it lasting you around a year, unless you're very very careful with your phone.

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Graham Ditte

9:57 PM on 19 November, 2011

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This is really nice after flashing with standard Android software (removing the awful Orange rubbish) but the battery life just really isn't the best. The charge it holds on mine is a day at the absolute maximum, that's with light use.

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The Orange San Francisco is a staggeringly well featured handset which simply has no peer when it comes to value for money. Orange has done its very best to make a mess of the user experience by riddling the phone with bloatware, but it is nothing some enthusiastic uninstalling can't fix. If you have been reluctant to spend the money to join the smartphone revolution, you'd be dummer than your dumb phone to miss out on this. Read full review

Overall

9/10

User Rating

8/10

By Gordon Kelly
Reviewed 26 January 2011
Updated 03 November 2011

Price as reviewed

£99.00

Awards

Orange San Francisco (ZTE Blade) details

Design: 8/10
Features: 10/10
Performance: 8/10
Value: 10/10
Overall: 9/10

Pros & Cons

Pros

Brilliant screen
Feature packed
Incredible price

Cons

Orange Bloatware
Poor Camera

Manufacturer

Orange

Comments on Orange San Francisco (ZTE Blade)

Overall

User Rating

Price as reviewed

Comments

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Awards

Orange San Francisco (ZTE Blade) details

Pros & Cons

Pros

Cons

Price as reviewed

Manufacturer

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