ZTE Mimosa X

ZTE is a telecoms giant on its home turf of China. Over here, the mobile maker plays the role of plucky underdog, trailing other Asian giants such as Samsung, LG and HTC. The Mimosa X is its latest attempt to turn up the heat on its Android-packing rivals by loading the latest Ice Cream Sandwich operating system onto a shiny slab of mobile goodness.

The company has been lining up the launches lately in the hope of carving itself a bigger slice of Blighty's mobile pie, so we're keen to see how this new addition performs. We'll be going hands-on with the Mimosa X in a few days' time at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Expect close-up snaps and video very soon. Until then, here's my take on what to expect from the confirmed specs.

Design

The Mimosa X looks to be a big handset. Screen resolution is 540x960 pixels. While screen size hasn't been officially confirmed yet, it's likely to be 4.3 inches, so this won't be a mobile for people with small hands or tiny pockets.

The handset looks a lot like ZTE's "affordable" Windows Phone smart phone, the Tania. But instead of the trio of Windows Phone keys on its chin, the Mimosa has the traditional Android quartet of buttons seen on countless Gingerbread-based phones -- an oddity, considering Google dropped these physical keys entirely on its flagship ICS handset, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

I'll be keen to see how classy the Mimosa X looks up-close and whether it feels plasticky or sturdy. I'll also be turning it on its side to see how thin it is.

The crispness of the screen is a key consideration -- ZTE has confirmed the Mimosa has a HD capacitive TFT touchscreen, with a 540x960-pixel resolution. This resolution is higher than a budget smart phone display but it doesn't match up to best-in-class smart phone screens like the Sony Xperia S, which has a whopping 720x1,280 pixels on tap.

When I get my hands on it I'll be peering closely to see how bright and colourful its screen is, how crisp content looks and how black (or not) the blacks are.

Android software

The Mimosa X runs the latest version of Google's Android software -- Ice Cream Sandwich. ICS has become something of a holy grail for 'droid fans, with only a fraction of Android devices currently running it.

ZTE gets full marks for diving straight into the Android deep end with this handset. However, the Mimosa X does have a ZTE software skin sitting on top of it, which wasn't the case on its budget Android handset, the Skate.

From the photo, ZTE's skin looks a lot like HTC's Sense user interface, which adds a few handy features to Android. Some skins can slow the operating system down though, or add lots of irritating extras that make the handset annoying to use. When I get hands-on with the Mimosa, I'll be keen to see how slick and fast ZTE's Android skin is, and whether it lets the sugary goodness of Ice Cream Sandwich shine through -- or if it weighs it down like an unwelcome helping of treacle.

Hardware

ZTE is making lots of noise about the chip combo inside the Mimosa -- an NVIDIA Tegra 2 mobile processor and NVIDIA Icera 450 HSPA+ modem. It reckons this all-NVIDIA combo is worth boasting about -- claiming it's a first for smart phones and brings "outstanding performance and long battery life".

I'll be keen to kick the tyres of this performance claim by seeing how responsive the Mimosa's menus are and how quickly apps fire up. When we get the device in for a full review, we'll put the battery through its paces too.

The camera is a 5-megapixel snapper, which sounds pretty average. The handset has a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video-calling, which is a nice addition. The main camera also includes a flash.

For connectivity, on board are GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, an accelerator and a proximity sensor. Firmware over the air (FOTA) updating is supported too.

ZTE has added several features targeting A/V aficionados -- with an advanced audio distribution profile (A2DP), Dolby sound, digital living network alliance (DLNA) compatibility for easy sharing of content, HD video recording and playback, dual microphones, and built-in gyroscope. I'll be looking to see how slick the video and audio experience is, in light of all these additions -- and considering how it measures up to the likes of the HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio.

Outlook

The Mimosa X looks likely to be a low-priced Android handset, despite packing a big screen and the latest version of Google's Android OS.

ZTE talks in terms of the "mainstream smart phone market" when discussing the Mimosa and, frankly, being a smart phone underdog in the UK market, it needs to compete on price. So expect the Mimosa to be relatively light on your wallet.

It's due for release in the second quarter of 2012. With the right price tag, the Mimosa could be a great option for getting ICS, without all that waiting around for an update on phones running older versions of Android. I'm keen to see how ZTE's own software interface performs and whether it detracts from the sugary goodness of ICS.