Skip to main content

ZTE unveils the Blade Force, an affordable phone for the Boost Mobile network

ZTE has taken the wraps off of its latest Boost Mobile-destined smartphone, the ZTE Blade Force. Like some of ZTE’s other recent launches, the phone is aimed at offering decent specs at a reasonable price, and will cost $130 from Boost Mobile.

So what are those specs? Well, for starters, it’ll offer a 5.5-inch HD display with a 3,000mAh battery — which should be plenty to get most people through the day, even heavy users. It also offers an unspecified Qualcomm Snapdragon chip with 2BG of RAM, and comes preloaded with Android 7.1.1 Nougat. While that’s not the latest version of Android, the phone is still relatively up to date.

Recommended Videos

The camera has become increasingly important in a phone over the past few years, and the camera on this phone doesn’t look to be all that bad. It sits at 8-megapixels, with a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. A good amount of storage is also important, and the ZTE Blade Force comes with 16GB of it — though that can be expanded with the microSD card slot.

Perhaps the most important thing about this phone is that it’s the cheapest to support Sprint’s High Performance User Equipment, or HPUE, which basically allows for LTE connection speeds of up to a massive 1Gbps. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll hit those speeds, but it does mean that if you live in an area where it’s supported, you may be able to get some pretty fast speeds in the right conditions.

Sure, the phone isn’t a flagship, but it seems to offer some pretty great value for money.

“The ZTE Blade Force continues to demonstrate how ZTE seamlessly blends innovation and affordability into our lineup, while remaining true to what consumers want most in their smartphone,” said Lixin Cheng, CEO of ZTE Mobile Devices, in a statement. “The Blade Force packs big features, Sprint’s HPUE technology, and a lot more into an affordable price point.”

To get the phone, you’ll need to be a Boost Mobile customer or willing to switch over to the mobile virtual network operator. As mentioned, it will set you back $130. Check it out for yourself on the Boost Mobile website.

Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
Apple could let users replace Siri as the default virtual assistant 
Invoking Siri on iPhone.

Apple’s struggles with giving Siri a next-gen AI makeover are pretty well-known at this point, while rivals like Google’s Gemini have flourished on the Android ecosystem. The situation with delays got so bad that Apple had to pull the ads showing Siri’s advanced capabilities that are yet to ship nearly a year later. 

As a stop-gap solution, the company integrated ChatGPT within the Apple Intelligence stack on iPhones, letting the OpenAI chatbot handle queries that Siri can’t answer. The company is also said to be in talks to bring more AI chatbots onboard in a similar capacity. 

Read more
Here’s one fella who can’t wait to get his hands on the iPhone Air
Alleged concept render of the iPhone 17 Air in black.

The so-called “iPhone Air” is apparently on the way, despite Apple remaining characteristically tight-lipped about such a device. 

Numerous leaks have suggested that the iPhone Air, which is expected to launch this fall along with the iPhone 17, will be just 5.5mm thick, making it easily Apple’s slimmest handset yet. 

Read more
Best Buy just slashed the price of the Apple iPad Pro M4 by $200
Home Screen of the M4 iPad Pro.

Whenever you see a discount for the latest model of an Apple device, you have to take advantage of the offer right away as it likely won't last long. That's the case with the 13-inch Apple iPad Pro M4, which is on sale from Best Buy. Its 256GB model, usually sold for $1,299, is down to $1,099 for savings of $200, but stocks are probably already flying off the shelves. If you've been looking for tablet deals featuring Apple's premium iPad, you won't want to miss this bargain, so hurry!

Why you should buy the 13-inch Apple iPad Pro M4

Read more