Huawei's Mercury is the best
device offered on Cricket's monthly prepaid smartphone plan. Photo by
Maurizio Pesce/Wired
If you already have an iPhone, a Galaxy Nexus or some other head-of-the-class smartphone in your pocket, the Huawei Mercury isn’t the phone for you. But if you’re upgrading from a feature phone, or if you’re loathe to sign a two-year contract and would prefer a pay-as-you-go plan, it’s likely the perfectphone for you.
Huawei’s handset — available on Cricket’s smartphone plans, which start at $55 per month with no contract — is a mid-level Android device that makes a great first smartphone, and it performs solidly enough even though it lacks the specs and polish of the latest top-tier hardware.
The Mercury (also known as the Huawei Honor and Huawei Glory elsewhere) is a little bit wider and slightly thicker than the average Android. The build is mostly plastic and the quality of the case is kind of cheap-feeling. The touchscreen is nice, though — a 4-inch Gorilla Glass panel that’s durable and scratch-resistant. The display is also bright and relatively clear, with a FWVGA 854×480 pixel resolution screen that can display 16 million colors.
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