The Orange Monte Carlo is a pretty stupid name for an Android smartphone, we think you’ll agree. But don’t knock this phone: it’s the UK version of the ZTE Skate, a handset that promises a huge screen and the latest version of Android 2.3 for a knock down price. Details, this way.
For the uninitiated, Chinese phone peddler ZTE and network Orange made quite a name for themselves last year with the ZTE Blade/Orange San Francisco. Quite frankly, it was the best value smartphone we’ve ever tested, so you can imagine our excitement when we spied a follow up at Mobile World Congress in February, the ZTE Skate, packing a huge 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen, five megapixel screen and Android 2.3 Gingerbread. To all intents and purposes, it’s a HTC Desire HD on a budget.
Though Orange said nothing at the time, we predicted that the Skate might end up as an offering on the network under another moniker, and today, it has, as the Orange Monte Carlo.
It’s listed as Coming Soon on the network’s UK online store, and though price is still TBC, we have confirmed it’ll be sold via Pay As You Go, so you can expect a very low price. Sub-£100, like its predecessor? An Orange spokesperson declined to comment when asked, but we suspect it’ll prove to be a bargain – and the fact that it runs a relatively untampered version of Android 2.3 will have Android geeks in a tizzy too.
Rest assured, we’ll be keeping a close eye on this one for you: this could very well be the phone of the year.
