ZTE launches its first Windows phone

Chinese handset maker ZTE has launched its first Windows Phone, the Tania. Running Windows Phone 7.5 ('Mango'), the ZTE Tania is available to preorder from Clove Technology for £249.99 (inc. VAT; £208.33 ex. VAT), with stock expected to be available from 13 February.

ZTE is noted for the affordability of its smartphones, but the Tania may not offer quite enough for the price. It has a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. The latter looks a little sparse given that Microsoft does not allow external storage expansion via the usual microSD card route on Windows Phones.

For connectivity, there's HSPA with up to 14.4Mbps download speed, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and A-GPS. The screen measures 4.3in. across the diagonal and has the standard Windows Phone resolution of 480 by 800 pixels (which is looking increasingly low these days).

Another standard Windows Phone feature is a hardware button to fire up the rear-mounted 5-megapixel camera, which includes a flash.

The ZTE Tania is powered by a 1,400mAh battery that's rated for four hours of GSM talk time and 200 hours on standby. It measures 67.8 wide by 128.6mm deep by 10.7mm thick and weighs 152.8g.