Orange San Francisco/ZTE Blade £109.98 / €125 [Back Available at PrepayMania]

donkey oatey

The elusive Orange San Francisco isn't in stock but has a predicted delivery of 3 weeks. £10 orange credit and sim card and p&p included.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004R9PQRM/ref=oss_product

Digitalism

Im guessing its locked to orange?? What use is that over here?

manu2009

Digitalism wrote: »

Im guessing its locked to orange?? What use is that over here?

It can be unlocked for free online.

Digitalism

manu2009 wrote: »

It can be unlocked for free online.

Link?

Zonda999

It can definitely be shipped anyway and its coming in at just under 119€ shipped using the free super saver delivery option. Some phone for under 120€ in fairness! If/When my Galaxy S kicks the bucket, i know what i'll be buying..

manu2009

Digitalism wrote: »

Link?

Everything you'd need to no about the phone is here http://blade.modaco.com

Basq

Cracking value for this phone.

Know loads of people who drove up North specifically to get it in Argos, so great to see it available online.

Good in-depth review here: http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/10/28/zte-blade-orange-san-francisco-review-two-thirds-of-a-nexus-one-for-one-third-the-price/

Brian

Basq wrote: »

Good in-depth review here: http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/10/28/zte-blade-orange-san-francisco-review-two-thirds-of-a-nexus-one-for-one-third-the-price/

Thank you for the compliment

It should be noted that more recent versions of the ZTE Blade are equipping LCD screens rather than OLED. This will actually give you a sharper display which is also more legible outdoors, but lacks a bit of the wow factor when it comes to colour contrast.

Mezcita

Without question, the best €119 you will ever spend. Fantastic phone.

ordered one - it's about time that I got with the modern smartphone thing (had some nokia symbian phones before). off on hols for 10 days so maybe it will be there not too long after I get back....

0lddog

What screen protector / case ( from Amazon ? ) would y'all think best for one of these ?

_Whimsical_

Can you tether 3g from this phone?

Zonda999

Whats great about this too is how it'll put the complete profiteers who sell this on ebay(for a nice cut), out of business. Were'nt really too many other options before this without actually going to somewhere in the UK to get it

shadowninty

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

Can you tether 3g from this phone?

yup, wirelessly if you wish




I bought my Blade for €150, no regrets!

Might be worth ordering 2 or 3

Mezcita

0lddog wrote: »

What screen protector / case ( from Amazon ? ) would y'all think best for one of these ?

http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blade-blade-modaco-com/319419/suitable-silicone-case-screen-protector-for-san-francisco-by-orange/

AlmightyCushion

I have one of these phones and it's a bargain. You need to install a custom rom to really make it shine but that's easy and the phone rocks.

tman

Zonda999 wrote: »

It can definitely be shipped anyway and its coming in at just under 119€ shipped using the free super saver delivery option. Some phone for under 120€ in fairness! If/When my Galaxy S kicks the bucket, i know what i'll be buying..

While its a fantastic phone for the price range (nothing else for the same price comes close), I wouldn't view it as a replacement for the Galaxy S... More of a major downgrade/potential spare phone

Zonda999

Well yeah, i mean i didnt pay anywhere near rrp on the galaxy s. I dont think i could ever see myself paying over 200€ for a phone really. Unfortunately, i've gotten used to the big screen luxury of the galaxy s though, so any successor would need at least a 3.5" screen! Not too many of those south of 300€!! Hopefully though, the galaxy s will last another bit, at which point i'll be going for ZTE Blade II

cfeeneyinterior

Ordered, Thanks OP

donkey oatey

glad people got as excited as me when i saw it. been reading the blade thread on the android forum and i don't know how i can wait till beginning of may to try all the roms and flashing.

LowOdour

if i get this phone, is it just a case of upgrading to froyo to get best performance? What phone on the market is it similar to?

biebiebie

Am I right in assuming it won't play Flash? (As its < 1Ghz) ???

ongarite

biebiebie wrote: »

Am I right in assuming it won't play Flash? (As its < 1Ghz) ???

Won't play flash, processor isn't new enough.
ARM6, needs > ARM7 for flash video.

_Whimsical_

ongarite wrote: »

Won't play flash, processor isn't new enough.
ARM6, needs > ARM7 for flash video.

Is there anything comparable price wise that does play flash? Or are you looking at a giant price leap to go there?

ongarite

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

Is there anything comparable price wise that does play flash? Or are you looking at a giant price leap to go there?

Your looking to take the jump to the top end priced phones if you want flash support.
HTC Desire range, Samsung Galaxy S, LG Optimus 2X...

ooter

it's a great phone for that price,i'd recommend it as a basic entry level android phone to anyone.
i own a desire and my son owns a blade and honestly,the only difference is the flash player from what i can see.

Cherry_Cola

Possibly a stupid question, but how would this compare with an Iphone 2G? Worth going for or should I just stick with the Iphone?

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Propane Nightmare

Can you upgrade the Android OS version on this?

shadowninty

Cherry_Cola wrote: »

Possibly a stupid question, but how would this compare with an Iphone 2G? Worth going for or should I just stick with the Iphone?

your bog standard Nokia Symbian phone beats a 2G
The Blade would certainly beat a 3G, at a push even the 3GS

shadowninty

Propane Nightmare wrote: »

Can you upgrade the Android OS version on this?

Ya theres a fixed up Swedish Froyo (Swedish Spring), other Froyo ROMs based on older leaks, and CyanogenMod7 (Gingerbread)

patch

shadowninty wrote: »

your bog standard Nokia Symbian phone beats a 2G
The Blade would certainly beat a 3G, at a push even the 3GS

The only factor which might be a genuine consideration would be if the user really likes the app store. It's the one thing I miss with the galaxy s.

cfeeneyinterior

..... Android Market

The Sparrow

cfeeneyinterior wrote: »

..... Android Market

FTW!

I'm a proud Blade owner and I'm delighted with it. Unbeatable for the price and unlike an Iphone or other high priced smartphone, you don't have to be stuck with an epensive and long contract to afford it.

patch

Android store still has a long way to go against the app store.
Especially where gaming is concerned.

tman

Propane Nightmare wrote: »

Can you upgrade the Android OS version on this?

Yep, there's a huge thread about this phone over in the Android forum
I'd recommend Swedish Spring (Froyo), some people seem to like CM7 (Gingerbread), but I found it way too unreliable

orourkk3

I've had my eye on one of these for ages, was under the impression though that amazon wont ship mobile phones to Ireland!? Can anybody confirm that they will?

Zonda999

Well yesterday, it let me go as far as the order page and it had no issue doing so.

It was only last year i think that they started shipping anything electrical, and only a few weeks ago, they started shipping tvs up to 32". Maybe you're thinking of when they never shipped anything electrical, which probably included mobile phones back then

heybaby

Bought a san francisco in the uk last week with orange, available for 95 ponds but you gotta top up with 20 pounds so 115 pounds sterling all in, would have bought it with argos but its completely out of stock till beginning of may apparently. Its a good buy though.

AlmightyCushion

Propane Nightmare wrote: »

Can you upgrade the Android OS version on this?

Yup. I'm running the modaco rom which is 2.2, my friend is running CM7 which is 2.3.

donkey oatey

@orourkk3 I have put an order in for the blade. They're not in stock but got a expected delivery date of 9-14 May. Also ordered class 4 16gb micro sd card from here http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003WIRFD2/ref=oss_product and case with screen protector http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004ETISHA/ref=oss_product. There are a couple of spare batteries available on amazon but there are no reviews. Anyone able to recommend a spare battery?

shadowninty

donkey oatey wrote: »

@orourkk3 I have put an order in for the blade. They're not in stock but got a expected delivery date of 9-14 May. Also ordered class 4 16gb micro sd card from here http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003WIRFD2/ref=oss_product and case with screen protector http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004ETISHA/ref=oss_product. There are a couple of spare batteries available on amazon but there are no reviews. Anyone able to recommend a spare battery?

the Blade doesnt like most Kingdton cards

Cherry_Cola

Really on the fence with this now. My nearest Argos has them for £110, I'm not sure if I should go for it

donkey oatey

@shadowninty Thanks for the info re kingston cards. Can you recommend an alternative or are there any other cards I should avoid?

shadowninty

donkey oatey wrote: »

@shadowninty Thanks for the info re kingston cards. Can you recommend an alternative or are there any other cards I should avoid?

the only cards with 100% success rate are SanDisk
(my experience too)

donkey oatey

Thanks shadowinty. I'll look sandisk up now. Can only find class 2 cards. Does the slower speed bother you? Or are there faster scadisk cards out there?

padyjoe

Class 2 speedy enough as it's not a HD phone. Get it cheap & you'll be happy with it.

LowOdour

Just ordered one of these! aned a HTC desire, but funds aren't there.

Read alot of reviews and while i can see it has its flaws, for the price range it is very good and even if i didn't like it....i could see myself getting the value back again on resale.

Only 3 weeks to wait!

shadowninty

donkey oatey wrote: »

Thanks shadowinty. I'll look sandisk up now. Can only find class 2 cards. Does the slower speed bother you? Or are there faster scadisk cards out there?

Depends what you use it for, as its a SanDisk they give a big speed buffer (so your card will definitely at least as fast as its class)
Ive used Class 4 all my life tho, all my SanDisk Class 4s have been faster than my only non SanDisk (a Class 4 China Brand), which also doesn't work in my Blade

It should be fine, you can hack the phone to make it faster, higher Class has disadvantages too

mufc2010

defo thinking of ordering this can u buy 1 of those sims on ebay to unlock this phone ?

AlmightyCushion

mufc2010 wrote: »

defo thinking of ordering this can u buy 1 of those sims on ebay to unlock this phone ?

You can unlock it for free online, no need for a special sim.