Over the past few years, the mobile device market has exploded in terms of both success and popularity. Most of this has been down to likes of computing giants such as Apple and Google getting in early and creating systems that have hit home with the general public.
Can Firefox make a successful mobile debut?
After seeing this success, Mozilla are now looking to make the jump to the mobile market with the launch of their Firefox OS. The first phone to carry this will be the ZTE Open and the Chinese smartphone manufacturer will be looking to use their success in the budget phone industry to help give Mozilla a strong platform to build on in the coming months. But with the Open finally ready for launch, is it actually any good?
Appearance and Display
If anyone was expecting something that looks futuristic and exciting, then they will be disappointed as ZTE have gone for their classic “cheap and cheerful” approach. The Open’s shell is made completely from plastic which keeps it light and easy to hold even if it does feel a little flimsy. However, it is almost impossible to miss the phone from a distance or close up with its bright blue or orange casing giving the iPhone 5C a close fight for the most striking of looks.
In terms of the screen, it certainly doesn’t look to follow the trends of many of its bigger and well-established rivals. So much so, that the display is only 3.5 inches which limits it to a resolution of 320×480 and an image quality of 165ppi.
Hardware
Knowing that ZTE are primarily a budget phone maker, it’s safe to say that the phone was never going to rival leading Android or iOS devices in power but the end result is still fairly disappointing. At the heart of the system is a 1GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor which has just 256MB of RAM and only 512MB of internal storage. The mind boggling fact is these specs are that low-end that is below the recommendations needed to run the Firefox browser on most top-end smartphones.
Moving away from the base components, it doesn’t seem that much more groundbreaking. The Open has a 3.15MP rear camera which is still below the 5MP or 7MP found on many other budget smartphones in the market.
Software
This is the only real reason that people are attracted to the ZTE Open as everyone waits for the verdict on the Firefox operating system. Well, the end result is a mixed bag which isn’t entirely groundbreaking but isn’t a complete mess either. For starters, the system looks the part and anyone familiar to Android or iOS will certainly get a feel for how to navigate through the app menus in a few minutes as they flick between the apps downloaded on the phone.
But there are some drawbacks to the system that will grate on the nerves of users. For starters, there is a huge emphasis on the internet, HTML5 and web apps which aren’t all that necessary.
Hands-On with the ZTE Open and Firefox OS
There aren’t a huge number of apps on the smartphone either although with Firefox still in its infancy, which was to be expected. However, there are many big name apps missing on the platform Mozilla has looked to fill the void with their own versions which is a little bizarre at times. After all, what makes them think that people are going to use Check-In Fox instead of Foursquare?
Verdict
At the end of the day, the ZTE Open is quite a disappointment and will certainly fail to persuade users to switch away from the more established operating systems. On the plus side, the first Firefox phone is something that can’t be missed on the shelf and its web based approach is useful at times.
However, ZTE have produced a phone that is significantly underpowered even for the budget market and this makes the phone not only difficult to use but something that misses the mark entirely. If Firefox are to become a credible part of the mobile world, they may need to re-evaluate some of their partnerships in order to even have a chance of breaking through into an-already saturated market space.
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Written By Andrew Roach – After spending years playing with as many gadgets as he can get his hands on, Andrew has spent the past 5 years writing about all the latest technological innovations from across the world.
Images Courtesy of ZTE
So what do you think, will Firefox OS get of to a good start with the ZTE Open? Please comment and share with your friends, family and colleagues too…..
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