Sprint Could Be Getting A Budget-Friendly 7-Inch Tablet

by Jennifer Johnson — Friday, January 27, 2012, 12:43 PM EDT

According to leaked reports on the web, a new tablet could be coming to Sprint early next month that features a $100 price tag. The information suggests the ZTE Optik tablet, which is powered by Android, will be available for this budget-friendly price provided you're willing to sign a two-year agreement and purchase a compatible rate plan.

The ZTE Optik tablet is expected to feature a 7-inch display and a dual-core 1.2GHz processor. Other key hardware specs include 16GB of onboard storage as well as a microSD card slot, 1GB of RAM, a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The Optik will run Android 3.2, aka Honeycomb.

Rumor suggests Sprint's Optik will support 3G connectivity only. In other words, you won't be able to connect this tablet to either Sprint's WiMAX or LTE networks. For users who frequently connect their tablets to Wi-Fi, the lack of 4G connectivity may be a non-issue.

Assuming the rumors are true, look for the ZTE Optik tablet to be available online starting February 5. If you want to pick up the tablet at a Sprint retail store, you'll have to wait until March 11. If you're unwilling to buy the tablet with a contract, the contract-free price is said to be about $250.

Tags: Android, Sprint, tablet, zte, Honeycomb, Optik

Jennifer Johnson

Jennifer grew up around technology. From an early age, she was curious about all things related to computers. As a child, Jennifer remembers spending nights with her dad programming in BASIC and taking apart hard drives to see what was inside. In high school, she wrote her senior term paper on her experiences with building custom computers.

Jennifer graduated from the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. After college, she began writing full-time for various PC and technology magazines. Later, she transitioned to the Web. In these roles, Jennifer has covered a variety of topics including laptops, desktops, smartphones, cameras, tablets, and various consumer electronics devices. When she's not playing with or writing about the latest gadget, Jennifer loves to spend time with her family, capture memories with her camera, and scrapbook.

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