ZTE Skate gets UK price and launch date

Mobile phone and accessory retailer Clove has started pre-orders for ZTE's latest Android smartphone.

It's website states the ZTE Skate launch date will be September 19th and it will cost a very reasonable £249.

We had some hands-on time with the ZTE Skate (or Skate 4.3 as it was called) earlier this year and first impressions were impressive. Running Android 2.3, it's standout feature is the capacitive 4.3-inch screen, other features include a 5-megapixel camera with flash and 800Mhz processor.

The Skate the first handset to appear in the UK under the ZTE banner and is the first foray into the mid-tier phone bracket for the Chinese manufacturer. The Skate is also being released as the Orange Monte Carlo, where there's no news yet on pricing, but it Pay as You Go status confirms it should be affordable.

The ZTE Skate's specifications pitch it against the 800 Mhz HTC Salsa (which has a smaller screen) and in the big-screen stakes it's up against the Samsung Galaxy S2, although it looks to be significantly cheaper than both of them.

It’s been a busy year for ZTE, following the huge success of the Orange San Francisco (which offered remarkable value) the company announced the Blackberry-esque ZTE Tureis and ZTE Libra last week. Check out our hands-on pictures here.