Hi I am wanting to get a cheap 4g phone, to use for data only and to store work manuals and reference guides (optus shared data sim). I was going to get the Huawei Y550 ($89 + $4 unlocking fee) but noticed a new phone that Optus is selling, the ZTE FIT 4G Smart for $99. http://www.optus.com.au/shop/prepaidmobile/zte/fit-4G-Smart The specs for the two phones are really similar, the ZTE does have 8gb internal memory vs 4gb for the Huawei. Main problem is I can't find any reviews or much information for the ZTE phone, it isn't even on gsmarena. Does anyone have any experience with this phone or advice as to which would be the better buy? Thanks.
Huawei Y550 vs ZTE FIT 4G Smart
17833 on 11/03/2015 - 21:58
Comments
Have played around with a few Y550s, not a bad phone. Mainly didn't like the launcher and general UI style elsewhere. Battery life seemed great on it with light usage. Its definitely the cheaper option if it goes on sale again (bought them at $69 and $79) with the $50 Vodafone starter sim.
Hadn't heard of the ZTE Fit 4G Smart until looking at this post. Main benefits here are the internal storage amount (much better for apps) and the extra 4G band 28 700mhz which the Y550 doesn't have. -Important for Optus 4G coverage in regional areas.
The ZTE has a MTK Processor (not sure which) and the Y550 has the more popular Snapdragon 410 if that makes a difference.I would need a hands on with the ZTE Fit 4G Smart but if the benchmarks and UI seem fine then that looks tempting especially as I want that Band 28 4G.
Probably no root for the ZTE, but should be unlockable for $11, ask Bagman.
As you're with Optus, it seems to trump the Y550 on specs alone, but you would probably want to go instore and have a play to see how snappy it is. Put a decent launcher on it and you're golden.
I've got a ZTE T815 and I can't fault it as a cheap phone. ZTE phones are fine IMHO, beats paying >$1k for an iPhone.
While I know not much of the newer entrant. I generally hold Snapdragon in higher regard over budget processors.
When road- tested professionally, Vodafone proved to be-on par- in smaller cities towns and surprisingly ahead of Optust on hwy perf. I was also not sold on the benefit of 700mhz v 850 boxing day when Fit had not arrived /$110.00v73.00/ which today performs fluidly as expected, on voda.
It is a complement to a greater OnePlus One, but seamless fallback to yes G 900 should happen anyway as you find with Huawei people's choice 2015 just add 16gb.The Mediatek MT6582 processor in the ZTE should be fine for most uses, especially with its stock KitKat - it's benchmarks are comparable to the Tegra 3 or the Cortex A7. As it only needs to support a low-res screen, I actually expect it to be very fast.
I agree the ZTE kills the Huawei on all counts. Nobody's even mentioned that the ZTE has 10% more battery. If you're on the Optus Network, the Fit 4g Smart is the best value phone on the market.
To get a decent enough step up you would need to step up to something like the new Moto G for around $270 (the old model is becoming scarce). Another alternative is the Moto E offers a better screen for $159 for not much else.
3 years ago a phone with worse specs (except for the screen, which is, admittedly, a big deal for a smartphone) would cost $800+. Today, you can buy it for $99.
Picked up the fit today. As mentioned can't compare it to the y550 but compared to my 510G it is far snappier and call quality seems better more reliable. from the little use I have had with it. Seems great value so far.
Hi brissmith. Just wondering in what ways it can't compare to the Y550. Is it the CPU? 8gb storage vs the Y550 seems like a big plus.
I think what he meant is that he has not had a chance to check out the Y550, therefore, was not in a position to compare.
doh! should of worked that out myself. thanks for the heads up :)
They're very decent for the price.
My 2 major issues with the Fit:
1) The space reserved for apps is shockingly small. Forget installing your own apps, there's barely enough space to keep Google's own apps updated.
2) The bluetooth chip is very low-grade. Music playback constantly skips and misses beats and the car bluetooth call quality and reliability is absolutely horrible.
I didn't have either of these issues with either a 3-year old HTC or a rooted 5-year old Samsung. Admittedly, these were both flagship phones when I bought them, but 3-5 years is a long time in smartphones.
If it wasn't for these 2 issues, this would have been an absolutely awesome phone for the price. So if you only use a small handful of apps and bluetooth is not important to you, I can definitely recommend it as a great choice.
There is a method available to free up much more of the internal storage
Yes, I'm aware of that - this method became available a month or so ago, whereas my post above is from April. At the time I found the phone practically useless given that I couldn't install even my essential apps so had to get another phone months ago. I still have the ZTE laying around as a backup.
These days, with the partition issue resolved and at $50 brand new, it's a heck of a deal. Shame I wasted $99 on it through.
Looking at the same thing myself. Can only comment on Huawei from owning a 510g. First 4gb internal memory good luck with getting access to more than 2gb of that. Secondly the phone had poor reception and locked up often. Had two. The 2nd was worse than the first. Wanted to like the Huawei it but have to say it was disappointing compared to even less spec phones.