MetroPCS launches the Huawei Activa 4G, an affordable LTE smartphone

While we all wait (and wait and wait…) for the high-end Ascend D Quad and Ascend P1 to be released by Huawei in the US, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer is still pushing towards the lower end market niche.

The Activa 4G is a MetroPCS exclusive LTE-enabled smartphone manufactured by Huawei and it has two big aces up its sleeve. On one hand, it comes with 4G LTE speeds, while on the other, it is extremely affordable.

I know, you wouldn't think that we would be using the terms “LTE speeds” and “affordable” while talking about the same device, but the Activa 4G manages to pull it off.

As you might suspect, Huawei and MetroPCS’ new phone does make some sacrifices in terms of hardware and performance, being powered by a very modest 800 MHz single-core processor. The rest of the features are also rather disappointing, and include a 3.5-inch HVGA display with 480 x 320 pixels resolution, a 5 MP rear-facing camera with LED flash, a VGA front-facing webcam, a 1,880 mAh battery, as well as WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.

The Activa 4G only comes with 151 MB of internal memory (!), but fortunately Huawei and MetroPCS are throwing in a free 4 GB microSD card for any phone purchased online or offline right now. The card is pre-loaded with the Kung Fu Panda 2 movie, which is a bit of a strange choice, but a pretty nice surprise for anyone who hasn’t yet seen the 2011 animation (hint: you’ll love it!).

There’s no mention on MetroPCS’ official website about the phone’s RAM, which can’t be very good news, but we hope that this little guy is packing 512 MB of memory, and not just 256 MB. As far as design goes, we can’t say the Activa looks very special or slim, but it’s fairly elegant and robust.

As far as software goes, the Activa 4G runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread and, while neither the manufacturer nor the carrier have mentioned anything about a possible Android 4.0 update, we still hope to get a taste of ICS on this LTE-enabled phone.

The Huawei Activa 4G can be purchased online or in MetroPCS retail stores across the US, and the phone’s pricing is $149 plus tax, after mail-in and instant rebate, without contract. However, you should hurry up if you’d like to get the phone for just 150 bucks, because we’re almost certain that this is a special offer only set to run for a limited time.

Are you thinking of getting Huawei’s first ever US LTE-enabled smartphone? Why? Why not?

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Comments

http://twitter.com/irgordon Ian Gordon

The coverage in NYC is generally good but can be spotty in Queens and parts of Brooklyn and Upper Manhattan
Magnetic1

I still don’t know if people in these rural areas can afford the $100 a month data plans. How’s the voice quality on LTE?
- http://www.facebook.com/kszymanski Konrad Szymanski
  
  Voice and data plans for smart phones start as low as $60. with unlimited any mobile and text, picture and video, $80 a month. Unlimited talk, text, and 1 gig of data is $85. Currently voice calls travel over the 3G network. LTE is currently only for data transmission. It will be used down the road for HD Voice.
Magnetic1

Can you technically say you have LTE by transmitting just the pilot signal and not offering any traffic resources? Because if people in these areas don’t have LTE because they cannot afford the $100 a month data plans, then you really can say whatever you what.