Android Go released in USA today on an $80 phone

By Chris Burns/March 30, 2018 10:16 am EST

ZTE just became the first smartphone brand to release an Android Go phone in the United States. Android Go is a version of Android that makes "entry-level" smartphones perform their best, making their value propositions far more exciting than in phones of the recent past. ZTE's release is the ZTE Tempo Go, a 5-inch display-toting smartphone with bare essential features on the newest version of Android.QUICK TAKE: ZTE's the first smartphone company to release a new budget-friendly smartphone in the United States with Google's new Android Go software onboard. Android Go is a significant release from Google because it requires a certain set of optimized apps to be onboard each officially licensed phone. These devices are also (hopefully) devoid of unnecessary bloatware present in smartphones of years past.

We've got all the ZTE Tempo Go details you could possibly desire back at the point at which it was first announced. Today we're talking about the software – and the release. The release is taking place immediately, and is taking place at ZTE right this minute. There the phone is out in one color with free shipping for $80 USD.

The ZTE Tempo Go with Android Go has an OS and app sizes that are approximately half the size they'd have been with a non-Go version of Android. Android Go provides a set of "Go" versions of essential Google apps that are far smaller and less data-intensive than their full-fledged standard relatives. The entire suite of Android Go apps can also be used on standard versions of Android, and all can be downloaded from Google Play. The ZTE Tempo Go will be set up with these apps and the optimized version of Android (Android Go) right out the box.

SIDE NOTE: Whoever's in charge of hating on China-based smartphone brands in the US government should tell Google, because it would appear they've missed the memo. ZTE is one of the brands that've been under what may be completely unnecessary scrutiny over the past few years thanks to unfortunate circumstances. Google largely avoided controversy with regard to smartphones' countries of origins as yet.