The ZTE Fury: A cheap smartphone with a powerful punch

Sprint just launched a new ZTE Android smartphone that offers a lot more power than its mere $ 20 (with contract) price tag would suggest. The ZTE Fury has the same Qualcomm 1 GHz Snapdragon processor embedded in HTC Thunderbolt and other devices that were considered top of the line only a year ago.

The rest of the device specs aren’t shabby either. It’s an Android 2.3 device with a 3.5-inch capacitive-touch display, a 5 megapixel camera, 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB of internal memory and a expandable microSD slot with a 2 GB card included. It only has 3G wide-area connectivity, but it also sports Wi-Fi and can be used as a mobile hotspot.

Those specs may not impress your typical Galaxy Nexus owner, but then again, they’re not intended to. Sprint is targeting the phone at families, and it’s not hard to imagine parents latching onto the low-cost device after months of listening to their children nagging them about a smartphone. To drive the point home, Sprint is shipping the device with its bevy of family services including, giving parents the power to manage their kids’ usage, track them down through GPS and shut off their access while they’re at school or during dinner.

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