ZTE N295/Orange Sydney - Android or Not Android?

[Guest dave-o99]

Apols that this is in the "blade" forum but there is no N295 forum yet, so please forgive!

I did some research before buying this phone, and every specs site i found stated that its OS is 2.2 upgradable to 2.3.

On receiving the phone, i found that it has practically none of the usual features. "Never mind" i think, it's probably Orange's crappy shut-down version - i'll just install a fresh 2.3 rom or perhaps even cyanogen. However, after copying universal androot, clockwork and a couple of roms onto the SD card, i find i am unable to run any of these from within the default file management program - there are options to copy, rename etc, but no option to run or install.

So, "head over to the market and get a proper file manager" i think. But there is no "market" link on the phone.

Then i phoned Orange tech support and after a frustrating time explaining to him what an .apk was, he evertually stated that "It is not an Android phone". Which would explain a few things - the general crappiness of its OS and inability to run .apks.

So what's going on here - is it Android or not? And if not, why do all the specs sites say that it is?

Thanks

[Guest FlatPackPete]

No, it's not an Android phone, it's ZTE's take on the Samsung Tocco lite (which still sells very well by all accounts).

So no APK's but it does support all the usual java games and apps that are optimized for a touchscreen.

[Guest dave-o99]

Thanks, that explains it.

Damn.

[Guest hugobosslives]

if it says on the site you bought it from that it IS android. then take it back and get a full refund as they cannot advertise a having a different OS to what it has got.