Overland Park, Kansas – Sprint’s prepaid-service brands are refreshing a handful of low- and mid-priced LTE phones, with Sprint Prepaid and Virgin Mobile replacing the LG Tribute and Boost Mobile replacing ZTE’s Boost Max .
The new LG Tribute 2 for Virgin Mobile and LG Tribute Duo for Sprint Prepaid are identical phones that replace the LG Tribute at $99.99. Compared to their predecessor, they step up to Android 5.0 Lollipop from Android 4.4 KitKat, 8GB storage from 4 GB, and IPS FWVGA (Full Wide VGA) display resolution of 854×480, up from 800 x 480. Like before, the phones come with 1GB RAM, 4.5-inch display, HD Voice, Sprint Spark tri-band LTE operation, and 1.2GHz quad-core processor. The battery is 1,900mAH, down from 2,100mAh, but talk time goes to 16 hours from 15 hours.
Also like before, the new models feature back-side on/off and volume buttons, Knock Code to tap the screen with a customized knock to unlock the phone, and QuickMemo+ to write or draw on nearly any screen.
The LG Tribute 2 also became available recently with Sprint’s Boost Mobile prepaid service.
Also for Boost Mobile, ZTE unveiled the $199 Boost Max+. The next-generation of the Boost Max continues to offer a 5.7-inch 1280 x 720 IPS display but steps up to Android 5.1, a 1.2GHz quad-core processor instead of 1.2GHz dual core, 2GB RAM instead of 1GB, and 16GB storage instead of 8GB. Also new is a gold-color casing and a bigger battery at 3,400mAh, up from 3,200mAh. Pricing is unchanged.
Other key features include 64GB microSD Card slot, HD Voice, 8- and 1-megapixel cameras, but no NFC. It also lacks LTE operation in Sprint’s 2.5GHzand 850MHz bands, a ZTE spec sheet shows.
