After becoming the first Firefox OS smartphone to hit the market with a launch on Spain's Telefónica, the ZTE Open will soon be available to a much wider base of consumers. ZTE announced today that it plans to use eBay to sell the Open to customers in the U.S. and U.K. for $79.99 (£59.99) without a contract. The phone will be offered in orange and will be sold unlocked. ZTE says that the Open will be available for purchase starting this Friday, Aug. 16.
The ZTE Open features a 3.5-inch 480x320 display, single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM7225A processor, 3.2-megapixel camera and a 1,200mAh battery. Obviously the Open is a fairly entry-level device, but the phone's $80 no contract price tag means that almost anyone can pick a unit up and give Firefox OS a spin.
Mozilla previously said that Firefox OS wasn't expected to launch in the U.S. until sometime in 2014, so it's good to see that ZTE is taking things into its own hands and offering Firefox OS-powered hardware direct to consumers. Will you consider buying a ZTE Open for $80?
