ZTE Merit Android Smart Phone

 

Net10 ZTE Merit Android 

The ZTE Merit Android Smart Phone

Source: Google images

I'll show you the pros and cons regarding Net10's Android smartphone, the ZTE Merit 990G

I've been on prepaid phone plans for about 7 or 8 years now, and I have learned a thing or two about what works and what doesn't. For years, I had a basic phone that could make calls, text, and use the 411 feature. Only recently have I purchased phones with camera, mobile web, and more. And it was just this month that I purchased an Android Smartphone through Net10; their ZTE Merit Android Smart phone.

I bought this phone at Walmart and am using net10's $50 unlimited talk, text, web, and everything plan; it's really nice to finally be unlimited, and no longer worry about my usage of airtime, texts, mobile web, and data usage.

This phone is great if you use Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare; they download fast and they also update no problem. I downloaded these apps through Google Play, and it was quick and painless. These were the first apps I downloaded, and they were easy to find, install, and update.

Also, my camera is great; it is a 5 megapixel camera, which is pretty impressive for a camera phone. I also like that my Smart Phone is 3G, and pictures upload rather quick without much of a delay. I like using Instagram, and this was also a quick download and easy account setup.

Another thing that I like about it is the call quality is very good; my husband says he can hear me really well, even when he is driving down the freeway with all the wind noise. I have not had one dropped call; also, this phone is connected to an AT&T cell tower, which is aptly available in my area. The model number 990G means that it is compatible with AT&T. If it was a different letter like N, then it would be compatible with Verizon.

Texting on this phone is not bad; I haven't had any problems sending SMS text messages, but I have had a few problems sending picture messages, multimedia messages (MMS), and others. I don't send many of these because I have Facebook and usually just send photos to that website, but it is nice to be able to send a pic to my best friend, and having interruptions is frustrating.

I love downloading music onto this phone, and I do it all the time since I am a runner and I like listening to my playlist while I run. I usually keep about 10 songs on my phone, and I don't really have a problem with storage space for these. The sound quality is good too. I have Motorola headphones that were given to me that were compatible with another phone, and they work great with this. It works great with just about any pair of headphones or earbuds.

A few things that are frustrating about this phone are that it has run out of space after only downloading a few apps. I had a friend buy me an 8 GB SD card for it, which was easy to install. This didn't solve the problem, however; one thing you need to know about Android Smartphones is they come equipped with tons of apps related to Google;

• Maps
• Music
• Movies
• Books
• Street View
• Shortcuts and Navigation
• Gmail
• Google+
• Google Messenger
• Google Play

and more! And how in the world, honestly, is this phone going to hold it all? It comes with a 2 GB SD card, and like I said, when I inserted an 8 GB SD card and downloaded another app, the phone notified me that it was getting low on space. It tried downloading updates for the just mentioned Google Apps, and it nearly ran out of room. My pal who bought me the SD card thinks it is a defective phone, but I personally think it just has too much stuff stored on it from the factory.

I do keep in mind, however, that this is not an iPad, and iPhone, or a laptop; it doesn't have ample space to store hundreds of apps. So I only keep apps installed that I actually use, and try to be happy with the factory-installed apps.

Also, before I got the 8 GB card, my phone kept saying it was running out of memory for text messaging, so I had to keep deleting my threads. This is fine, but this notification is extremely irritating, because it keeps going off over and over like an impatient snooze alarm. I delete the threads I no longer need, reboot, and then it goes away, but seriously; it is so annoying!

Another thing that is annoying is you'll be using Gmail, Facebook, or another app and things are going along fine, but then a dark screen comes up saying that this app suddenly stopped working, and is sorry for the inconvenience. It gives you the option to either force close (of the app) or report the problem. It's so irritating; the only thing that works to solve the problem--if it keeps happening over and over again--is to uninstall and then reinstall that app, reboot, or just close it and wait.

I am not sure why it does this; if it is a defective phone, or if it is linked to a problem with the internet connection I'm using. Either way, it happens too often. I've had it happen several times, and it does work again after doing those things I mentioned, but it is really, really frustrating!

So overall, I would have to say it's a good phone for the money, but there are some things that I would definitely change about it; like more storage space, and fewer Google apps. I would also put an 8 GB SD card in the phone right off the bat, instead of make the customer do it themselves later. I think I give this phone 3 stars.

This phone is a tracfone product, and I have had mixed results with them. You can also get this phone on Walmart's Straight Talk unlimited plan, which may work better with a Smart Phone, but that is not in my level of experience. I have not personally used Straight Talk, but it is another option of a prepaid unlimited plan.

Going with an Android is a good way to go, but if you want a phone without the hassles of app failures and limits with storage space, don't buy this phone; go with an iPhone, which is always the best way to go. If I had the funds, I probably would get one myself!