- Analysis by KJ David
Released as part of Cricket's 2019 prepaid Android phone lineup, the Wave packs a bevy of entry-level pros and cons. These are led by a humdrum quad-core 1.1GHz Qualcomm MSM8909 processor 
whose raw clock rate shies of the 1.3GHz top speeds scored by many of its introductory-class 2019 rivals. Its engine is accompanied by no more than 2GB of RAM , which we consider a rather unsurprising setback for a phone within its price group -- it was priced at only $40 
around the time of this technical Phonerated review.
The Cricket Wave will not be making waves within the entry-level market when it comes to photography any time soon, considering that its cons also include a modest pair of an 8-megapixel rear-facing main camera and an underwhelming 5-megapixel-only front-facing camera , the latter being easily overshadowed by those of the best selfie smartphones in town. Note that some tantamount smartphones rock 13-megapixel main cameras and 8-megapixel selfie shooters.
Going back under the hood, the Wave is loaded with 16GB of internal memory that's accompanied by a 128GB maximum external memory allowance , which we consider an appreciable pro, at least compared to the 64GB- or 32GB-only top-up storage ceilings offered by many of its contemporaries.
Joining its low-end specs are a 5-inch IPS display with a run-of-the-mill 1280 x 720 resolution, a 4G-LTE network adapter, and some preloaded Cricket apps, including My Cricket and Cricket Wi-Fi Manager.
The Wave's pros and cons are powered by a 2500mAh battery that befits a low-caliber Android phone (Cricket mentions a 3300mAh cell on another part of its spec sheet). Having said that, its 17-hour maximum talk time was roughly 13 percent higher than the average mark when we were checking it out.
With the Android 7.1 Nougat platform and a Blue finish topping it off, the Cricket Wave winds up as a viable choice for budget-cautious shoppers or those who do not need anything more than a basic smartphone.
On-paper Star rating: 
The Wave can record fancy (1080 x 720 pixels) movies. Great! But we couldn't confirm whether it had an HDMI port or not. HDMI, which lets you connect to an HDTV, is not essential, but would be great on an HD phone.
- Suggested reading: The latest HDMI phone models
It's frustrating that we were not able to find information about its weight.
- Also check out: Photo gallery of the latest slim phones
Not only does it clock at 1.1GHz, it is even quad-core.
- Related link: List of the fastest Android smartphones
We are talking about an above-average screen, making it a phablet: 5 inches and a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels means about 10.68 square inches and an image sharpness of at least 293.58 dots per inch (DPI)!
- More on this: View other large smartphones and phablets
The Cricket Wave doesn't come with an included memory card but it supports up to 128GB of memory expansion, which will be convenient to save videos and pictures shot with the included 8-megapixel camera.
Superior photo resolution - 8-megapixel
The selfie cam resolution seems just about average.
** This phone is also known as: Freetel Wave
*** These pros and cons are generated automatically based on our algorithm and the data we have on file for this cell phone. If you find a mistake, please let us know.
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