ZTE Engage hands-on: Reaches for the 'high end'

SAN DIEGO--Though it was announced weeks before the trade show kicked off, the ZTE Engage made an appearance at MobileCon, thanks to its carrier, Cricket Wireless.

The 3G prepaid device is currently being offered at $250. And while I?d be hesitant to spend that amount of money on any ZTE device, the Engage breaks the usual midrange trend by packing a few higher-end specs than what we usually find from the OEM.

Design
The ZTE Engage is 4.9 inches tall, 2.5 inches wide, and 0.4 inch thick. Considering past ZTE devices, the Engage has a more premium feel to it that is refreshing. Yes, the back plate is still made out of ho-hum plastic, but the handset feels dense in the hand (it weighs 5.4 ounces) and its tapered hard edges are unique and industrial-looking.

The 4.3-inch WVGA screen has a 800x480-pixel resolution. While text and icon apps rendered crisply, the display itself wasn?t particularly bright or impressive. And during my time with the phone, there were a few times that the touch screen didn?t register my touches immediately. I had to swipe my fingers several times to unlock the device and browse through the app drawer.

Features
One of the biggest selling points for the Engage is that it comes with Cricket?s music subscription service, Muve Music, which comes bundled with talk, text, and data plans. It offers users unlimited access to millions of artists, songs, and albums.

Music lovers who are excited about Muve will also be glad to hear that the device also comes equipped with SRS Sound Enhancer technology. Though I won?t know its effect on music and sound until I get my hands on a review unit, it is promised to enhance audio quality and general listening experience.

The phone runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and is powered by a 1.4GHz processor and 1,900mAh battery, which roughly translates to 8 hours of reported talk time. It also has Bluetooth capabilities, 1GB of RAM, and up to 32GB of storage. During my time informally fussing with it, it executed simple tasks like opening up the camera, transitioning home, and quitting apps smoothly, and with little lag time.

In addition to a front-facing VGA camera, it houses an 8-megapixel camera on the rear.

Outlook
Given the past string of devices that have been less than impressive, it?s refreshing to see ZTE step up its game with the Engage. Within the context of the market, it?s definitely not a game changer. However, during my brief time with the device, its internal speed was decent and its design had a premium feel. I just hope that with both ZTE and Cricket?s aim for higher-spec handsets, it means better performances as well.