Liliputing

  • Reviews
  • Deals
  • How To…
  • Mini PCs
  • Shop
  • About
    • About Liliputing
    • Contact us
    • Advertise on Liliputing
    • Support Liliputing
    • Privacy Policy

ZTE Open Firefox OS phone is available again for $80 (unlocked)

09/24/2013 at 1:13 PM by Brad Linder 8 Comments

Firefox OS is Mozilla’s operating system which runs apps based on web technologies such as HTML5 and JavaScript. Mozilla hopes to attract device makers and wireless carriers to the platform with the promise of a mobile OS that’s open to customization, while attracting customers with the promise of a powerful OS that runs on low-end and high-end phones alike.

One of the first smartphones to feature Firefox OS is the ZTE Open, and it’s not exactly a superphone. But it is cheap. You can buy one from ZTE’s eBay shop for just $80.

ZTE Open

The ZTE Open went on sale via eBay in August, but only in limited quantities, and the phone sold out quickly.

While it’s nice to see ZTE offering its cheap, unlocked Firefox OS phone to the public again, the primary audience for this type of device are customers in developing nations where high-priced smartphones are out of reach for many people.

The ZTE Open features a 3.5 inch, 320 x 480 pixel TFT capacitive touchscreen display, a 1 GHz Qualcomm ARM Cortex-A5 single-core processor 512MB of storage and 256MB of RAM. It has a 3MP camera on the back, a microSD card slot, and a 1200mAh battery.

The phone has 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and it’s a GSM phone that should work on the AT&T ‘s 3G network in the US. You can also use it with T-Mobile, but you’ll only be able to get 2GB speeds.

If you’re looking for a high-end smartphone, this isn’t it. But if you’re looking for an inexpensive way to play around with Mozilla’s new operating system, a phone to help you develop and test web apps for Firefox OS, or just a spare handset, it’s hard to go wrong with an $80 smartphone.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Email

Daily Deals (2-20-2019)

Amazon is running a 1-day sale on networking and storage gear, which makes today a pretty good day to pick up a microSD card, portable hard drive, … [Read More...]



Support Liliputing

Liliputing’s primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the “Shop” button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we’ll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you’re using an ad blocker and hate online shopping.

Contribute via PayPal

  • donate monthly
  • donate once only
Select a Donation Option (USD)

Enter Donation Amount (USD)

Subscribe via Patreon

Become a Patron!

8
Leave a Reply

Login with
Facebook Google Twitter WordPress Yahoo! Disqus Reddit Stackoverflow GitHub
avatar
This comment form collects your name, email address, and content to allow us to keep track of comments placed on this website. Please read our privacy policy for more details.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser cookies for the next time I comment.
4 Comment threads
4 Thread replies
0 Followers
 
Most reacted comment
Hottest comment thread
6 Comment authors
ddevineCal RankinbrianBigGoofyGuyBrad Linder Recent comment authors
avatar
This comment form collects your name, email address, and content to allow us to keep track of comments placed on this website. Please read our privacy policy for more details.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser cookies for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  Subscribe  
newest oldest most voted
Notify of
jm2c
Guest
jm2c
You can flag a comment by clicking its flag icon. Website admin will know that you reported it. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

I have one of these and it’s a pretty neat little phone. I’d compare it to the first iPhone or early Android 2 phones. It feels cheap, but not bad considering the price. Probably due to the low/cheap hardware it’s not very snappy and the screen isn’t the most sensitive, but it’s usable. The battery lasts a long time (I have mine in airplane mode, wifi on and no sim). At only $80 for an unlocked phone it seems pretty good especially if you want a real device to test Firefox OS apps on or as a back up phone.

On higher spec hardware I wonder how well it runs, but I guess it would not be $80 if they raised the specs.

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
5 years ago
brian
Guest
brian
You can flag a comment by clicking its flag icon. Website admin will know that you reported it. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

what sort of prepay type service would this phone work with? My wife wants a cell phone mostly for emergency use.

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
5 years ago
Brad Linder
Guest
Brad Linder
You can flag a comment by clicking its flag icon. Website admin will know that you reported it. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Should work with any AT&T compatible MVNO such as Straight Talk, Aio, AirVoice, Good2Go, and others… you might be able to find an even cheaper option if you don’t need fast data and want to look for a T-Mobile compatible service.

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
5 years ago
Cal Rankin
Guest
Cal Rankin
You can flag a comment by clicking its flag icon. Website admin will know that you reported it. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

best bet is lycamobile, which offers 250 minutes, unlimited texting, and 50 MB of data for $16/month.

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
5 years ago
brian
Guest
brian
You can flag a comment by clicking its flag icon. Website admin will know that you reported it. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

thanks, will grab one and stick it with this plan.

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
5 years ago
Cal Rankin
Guest
Cal Rankin
You can flag a comment by clicking its flag icon. Website admin will know that you reported it. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

just be forewarned that it uses T-Mobile’s network. They have pretty decent voice service, so you shouldn’t worry, but take a look at coverage maps.

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
5 years ago
BigGoofyGuy
Guest
BigGoofyGuy
You can flag a comment by clicking its flag icon. Website admin will know that you reported it. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

For cell phone with a low price, it does not look cheap. It looks really nice. As a backup phone or a phone for emergencies, it seems like a bargain.

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
5 years ago
ddevine
Guest
ddevine
You can flag a comment by clicking its flag icon. Website admin will know that you reported it. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

If you’re not using one of the select email providers it works with, you’re gonna have a bad time (due to STARTTLS not being available).

However it looks like fixes have been finally made upstream recently…
https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia-email-libs-and-more/pull/251

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
5 years ago

Follow Liliputing:

Facebook Twitter YouTube tumblr RSS Patreon

Latest News

Samsung Galaxy S10 Bixby button can also launch other apps

Samsung really wants its customers to use its Bixby assistant software, which is … [Read More...]

Chrome OS 74 will enable audio for Linux apps

You can install and run Linux apps on most recent Chromebooks thanks to Google's … [Read More...]

Samsung Galaxy S10 5G has 6 cameras, a big screen, and a big battery

Samsung's Galaxy S10 series smartphones may pack a lot of features... but … [Read More...]

Featured articles

GPD MicroPC handheld computer preview

It's been a good couple of years for handheld computer enthusiasts. Companies … [Read More...]

Taihe Gemini portable 1080p touchscreen monitor preview

The Taihe Gemini portable monitor has made quite a splash since going up for … [Read More...]

Zotac Pico PI470 is a pocket-sized PC with Intel Amber Lake

Zotac's latest pocket-sized computer is the company's most powerful to date. … [Read More...]

Disclosure: Some links on this page are monetized by Skimlinks and Amazon's and eBay's affiliate programs.

Login

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2019 Liliputing · About Liliputing · Contact Us · Privacy Policy · Go to top of page

wpDiscuz
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.