ZTE Vital Pro Reviews

The Sprint Vital fits comfortably in with other mid-range Android phones in the $50 – $100 price range. It combines some elements and features found on flagship phones with internal hardware that was high end last year and is now affordable. Call quality and battery life aren’t great, especially compared to competing phones like the Galaxy S3. However, stock Android is a big draw for many customers. Bottom line: the Vital is worth checking out if your budget is tight.

ZTE continues to make solid handsets for the budget minded, but their problem is that they just can’t stack up with the big boys. The display, system performance and build quality are all good, but not great, and the Vital takes a serious hit in the phone performance categories. Despite being aging, previous flagships like the HTC EVO 4G LTE and LG Optimus G remain more compelling offerings at the same price point.

The ZTE Vital is a bit of a puzzler for me. Though ZTE did a good job with the hardware and design, there are some fundamental functionality issues that concern me. For one, the poor behavior on Sprint's network, the crummy call quality, and the slow data performance. These are all things that modern cell phones should excel at. Instead, the Vital falls below average. Beyond that, the slow performance and random reboots are very troublesome. I saw as many as a dozen in a single day, despite the fact that the Vital was running the latest OS build from Sprint. Beyond these concerns, most other facets of the Vital do well. The battery is fine, the user interface is clean, the messaging and media options are robust, and the camera isn't too terrible. Here's the real problem. Sprint is selling the Samsung Galaxy S III (true, last year's phone) for the same price as the Vital at $99. At the end of the day, you'll be better off with the GSIII than you will the Vital.