Last night, Cricket quietly added the Engage LT to its website for $179.99. Amusingly, with the current set of sales, it's the same price as its older and better brother, the ZTE Engage (no LT in the name). David posted about the ZTE Engage shortly before it released late last year. Neither phone is particularly interesting and both have lower-end specs with mid-range pricing.

Here are the relevant specs:

  • Android 4.0
  • 4" TFT WVGA (800 x 480) capacitive display (233 PPI)
  • 1 GHz Snapdragon processor (model is currently unknown)
  • 3.2 MP rear camera w/LED flash, VGA front camera
  • 1 GB RAM
  • 1900 mAh Lithium Ion battery

What makes the original Engage better than the Cricket-branded newcomer? The older handset is packing a 1.4 GHz processor and an 8 MP rear camera. Those two differences are pretty staggering, especially when the LT's front camera doesn't even match up to some tablets. Since we don't know exactly which model of processor is in the new handset, the two could be comparable in performance, however unlikely. Otherwise, both devices share very similar specs.

The Engage LT is sitting at a bad price point. It's too expensive to compete with other low-end competitors, and it comes close enough to the mid-range that a bit more can net a much better device. At the very least, there is no reason to consider the LT when the original Engage is available without spending another dollar. ZTE's actions don't always make much sense, but I'm not sure I can wrap my head around releasing an inferior phone 5 months after the original and pricing them the same, even if it is only temporary.

[Source: Cricket]