ZTE Peel, iPod Touch hotspot case, arrives at Sprint for $80!

By Adriana Lee November 15, 2010 8:27 pm EST Comments

Remember that iPod Touch case with built-in mobile hotspot, the one from Sprint that had the blogs buzzing about how it could turn the iOS MP3 player into an iPhone? Well, it’s finally arrived at the carrier and is ready for your always-on data-loving ways.

For $79.99, it presents an interesting option for your Touch. Nothing like having a mobile hotspot piggybacking right on the device. But as attractive as that sounds, this incarnation isn’t perfect. Here are a few things you need to know about this item:

(1) It’s only for the 2- and 3-generation iPod Touch. (Sorry, Touch 4 owners. You can connect to the hotspot, but the casing wasn’t made to fit perfectly with your gadget.)

(2) The hotspot feature can only support simultaneous connections from 2 devices.

(3) The no-contract monthly access plan is $30/month for 1 GB data on Sprint’s 3G network.

(4) The ZTE Peel chunks up that sleek form factor quite a bit.

Compared to, say, Sprint’s other product, the Overdrive, this seems a bit lackluster. OverDrive is a 3G/4G mobile hotspot that supports up to 5 simultaneous devices, and although it costs twice as much at $60/month, it offers more than twice the data bandwidth, at 5GB of data. There is, however, a 2-year contract required, but signing on drops the equipment price of the OverDrive to just $50.

Still can’t decide? Here are a few more details on the Peel:

Dimensions: 4.8â€ x 2.62â€ x .86â€, 3.2 oz.
Standard 900 mAH Li-Ion Battery, up to 3 hours of active use time.
Universal Wi-Fi compatibility with 802.11b and 802.11g.
Compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP and Macintosh OS 10.5 and 10.6.
Advanced security through WEP 64 Bit (Open or shared).
Easy Hands-Free Activation and Admin UI.
No software installation required.
Internal antenna.

What do you think? Is a ZTE Peel + iPod Touch a good iPhone alternative? Or is it kind of weak? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. (And for more info, hit up Sprint online.)

[Oh, and thanks for the clarification, @clonewar2!]

Andarrio

Use These Applications to make Calls or Text using the iTouch' ZTE Peel. iCall - Call Anyone in the United States (This uses the Hotspot's SSID or Network Name as your caller ID and some random Number.) Skype - Unlimited calls to Skype Users, pay for Caller ID and phone number and use SkypeOut Fees to text with a real number of your Area code choice. TextPlus - gives you a random REAL Telephone number for the ability to text others and recieve other messages for FREE. The pay version you can foward your number to the iTouch. Same thing with the other application Text-Free.

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jesica

I LOVE THIS THING. I CAN NEVER FIND WIFI IN MY LOCATION. THANKS SPRINT

Chris

Quite possibly the worst launch of a new product ever. I tried unsuccessfully for 2 days to purchase a ZTE Peel. I drove to 2 different stores and one very helpful person called at least 3 other stores but with no luck. Evidently, the day that the Peel became available every store in the Atlanta area was given 1 demo or 1 demo and 1 unit to sell. So, I tried to purchase the Peel through the online Sprint store. Can't do it if you do not already have a Sprint number. The web site requires you to give a phone number that you are transferring over (which I am not) or to provide a current Sprint number (which I now will never have). So I resorted to try to order through the phone number listed for "sales" on the Sprint web site. Another disaster all around. I explained repeatedly to the person that I was not purchasing a phone but a new Sprint product that was being released today (Sunday). This was very confusing for her and I was repeatedly put on hold, it was then verified that the Peel was in fact released today but no one could figure out how to sell it to me. After 15 minutes I hung up. The Peel seems like a great product that will appeal to many people. I recently moved to the Atlanta area from Boston and AT & T service is non-existent where I live and work so I got rid of my iPhone but I use my iTouch all of the time. The Peel seems like the best solution for me but Sprint some how made purchasing one not only difficult, but actually impossible on the release date. For a product that I was very excited about I am now reluctant to purchase any product from Sprint.

jessica

dear chris, don't give up on this product just because the servives was bad. the zte peel just came out that day so most of the people who work for sprint had no idea what you were talking about.i'm sure if you go out and buy people will know whay your talking about. good luck and don't give up.

KrazyMAE

@ CHRIS: If you are still in the market for the Peel, Virgin Mobile now offers one for the Touch 2nd and 3rd generation. It doesn't fit the 4th gen Touch but I have read that it can still be used with it. It's one of there prepaid Broadband2Go devices. VM also has another device but I can't recall the name which acts as a mobile hotspot device for up to 5 devices. It also runs the prepaid Broadband2GO. Check the VM website or the Walmart one. Just thought I'd share.