ZTE Render, also known as ZTE Orbit, was launched in February this year and is finally making its way to the shelves of U.S. Cellular.

The Chinese smartphone maker ZTE's Render is just the second device after the HTC 7Pro in U.S. Cellular's Windows-powered smartphone portfolio.

The ZTE Render runs on Windows Phone 7.5 (Tango 2) operating system and sports a 4-inch WVGA Capacitive touchscreen with 480 x 800 pixels resolution and 233ppi. A single-core 1 GHz processor powers the device. The smartphone also features a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus and LED flash.

A 1600mAh battery powers the ZTE Render. The battery offers usage time of up to 280 minutes and standby time of up to 220 hours. The device also includes 4GB of on-board storage and has 512MB of RAM.

The smartphone measures 4.7 x 2.5 x 0.4 inch and weighs 4.82 ounces. The CDMA handset is Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled.

The ZTE Renders packs decent features for an entry-level smartphone.  Not all mobile phone consumers use their phone for apps. The ZTE Render may be suitable for mainstream consumers who primarily use the smartphone for making and receiving calls, and usage of the handset for informative and entertainment purpose is secondary.

The smartphone is available on a two-year contract on U.S. cellular for $79 after a mail-in $100 rebate. Currently, U.S. Cellular has around 5.9 million users on the network. The carrier has nationwide coverage but is not available everywhere in the U.S. unlike other bigger network operators like Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T. U.S. Cellular offers both 3G and 4G (in select regions) coverage.

The smartphone market is already swamped with entry-level to high-end handsets. With smartphone giants like Apple, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, et al flooding the smartphone market with an array of Android based and WP8 smartphones, ZTE Render may find it difficult to appeal to the consumers.

Time will tell for how long the ZTE Render can keep itself afloat in the hotly-competitive smartphone world.