ZTE Grand X goes on sale early

UK RETAILER Phones 4U has beaten Virgin Media to the punch, having already started selling the ZTE Grand X.

Unveiled earlier this month at an event in London, the Grand X is ZTE's first "gaming smartphone", boasting an Nvidia dual-core Tegra 2 processor and access to the Tegra Gaming Zone where users can download game titles optimised for the handset's chip.

It might be billed as a cheap and cheerful smartphone, but it also has a 4.3in qHD touchscreen, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with no custom interface, a 5MP rear camera with HD video, up to 32GB of storage and built-in DLNA, plus HSDPA and WiFi connectivity.

Although Virgin Media, the handset's launch partner, told us the phone will be hitting shelves in early-August, Phones 4U has already started selling the ZTE handset.

Over on the retailer's website the Grand X is available for free on a 24 month £20.50 Vodafone contact, complete with 300 minutes, 3,000 texts and 250MB of monthly data. It can also be bought on T-Mobile and Orange, where prices start at £21 and £20.50 per month, although you'll have to make do with just 100MB of data.

It's not yet available on pay as you go, but Virgin Media has told us it will cost £189.99. µ