MWC 2012: Various brands overview

ZTE Era hands-on

We were able to get our hands on the new ZTE Era, and while the device was not turned on at the time, we were able to get a feel for it in-hand.

The ZTE Era hands-on photos

The Era is set to feature a QHD (960 x 540) 4.3 inch screen alongside 8GB of internal memory, all running on a quad-core processor with Tegra 3 chipset. It will also feature HD Voice and Dolby sound.

The feel was highly reminiscent of other 4.3-inch devices we have held, and while the 7.8mm thickness did make it fairly light in-hand, we weren't that impressed by the design. We got the feeling that somebody copied HTC's homework assignment.

ZTE claimed that they did not have a working prototype at the time, but that the ICS build should be ready by product launch.

ZTE PF112 hands-on

Also on hand was an unnamed ZTE device, the PF112, which seems to be an alternative version of the Era flagship.

ZTE PF112 hands-on images

This device features a larger 4.5" display, and apart from having a dual-core processor, the specs are the same as on the above Era.

Unlike the Era, however, this device was powered on, and we saw some prototype Ice Cream Sandwich action. We won't comment on the smoothness of the build, since it's too early to judge at this point, but we were once again underwhelmed by the build quality. It seems like for this model, ZTE stole a page or two from the Samsung Nexus design sheets. The screen was not that impressive either.

ZTE Tania hands-on

The ZTE Tania was announced late last year, and has been available for a short time prior to this event. Nevertheless, here's a hands-on.

The ZTE Tania in hand

The Tania was the first phone in ZTE's lineup to run Windows Phone 7.5, and it might also be the last, as the newly-announced Orbit is set to run the upcoming Tango build of Windows Phone.

ZTE Orbit hands-on

The ZTE Orbit slots in alongside the Tania with a fit and finish not quite up to scratch against its older sibling or similar devices within the same price bracket. That being said, it does its job as a fine example of a Windows Phone Tango II, making most of the lower hardware specs whilst still providing a slick user experience and one that we're more used to seeing on higher-end devices.

ZTE Orbit

ZTE T98 hands-on

The ZTE T98 is the most compact of the bunch of slates announced by the Chinese manufacturer. The device is based on NVIDIA's Tegra 3 chipset and has its four CPU cores clocked at 1.5GHz.

ZTE T98

The T98 utilizes a 7-inch TFT display of 1280x800 pixel resolution. It comes with 1GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. There is a 5 megapixel camera lens at the back and a 2 megapixel front-facing one. There is a SIM slot so it features wireless radio as well.

ZTE T98

The T98 is running on the latest Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich with no customization whatsoever.

ZTE V96 hands-on

The V96 is based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon MSM8960 with a dual-core 1.7GHz processor inside. You get 1GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage with this one, but there's no microSD card slot on board.

ZTE V96

The V96 has a 10.1-inch 1280x800 pixel display, a 5MP main camera and a 2MP front-facing snapper and runs on the Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich.

ZTE V96

ZTE PF100 hands-on

The ZTE PF100 is another 10-inch tablet with a 1280x800 display based on the Tegra 3 platform. It packs a quad-core 1.5GHz processor, 1GB RAM and 16GB internal memory.

The PF100 also sports a SIM slot and modem - so you can connect to GSM and 3G networks.

ZTE PF100

The 5MP/2MP camera combo is available here too, while Android 4.0.3 ICS is the PF100 platform of choice.