ZTE Tania Hits UK In February: Windows Phone On A Budget

The ZTE Tania, potentially the cheapest Windows Phone to-date, will go on sale this quarter in the UK, the company has confirmed, with carrier Virgin Media expected to offer the 4.3-inch smartphone between £10-20 on-contract. Meanwhile, various retailers are offering the Tania - which we previewed yesterday - for around £250 ($384) SIM-free and unlocked.

Retailer Clove, for instance, has the Tania listed as expected in-stock from the week commencing February 13. ZTE would only tell us that the 1GHz single-core smartphone should arrive with carriers before the end of March, however.

Despite being built to a budget, the Tania's spec sheet holds up well in comparison to its rivals. The handset has 512MB of RAM and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, though no front-facing camera and a mere 4GB of integrated storage. There's 14.4Mbps HSDPA along with WiFi b/g/n and the usual bevy of sensors.

Our biggest complaint is the display, with ZTE's choice of WVGA panel suffering from noticeably poor viewing angles. More details on that in our full preview of the Tania.