ZTE is known for its ultra-low-cost offerings and last year, the ZMax Pro was launched, a $99 power-house that crammed as much specifications into a budget offering. This year, the company is continuing the legacy of ZMax Pro with the launch of its new Blade Z Max that will retail for $130.
The phone comes with impressive internals and power, for an offering that is below the $150 mark. Phone boasts a big display, great optics and even bigger battery life. On the front is a 6-inch 1080p display that is protected by 2.5D Dragontail Glass. Accompanying it is an 8MP camera and capacitive keys. The display is a big improvement over last year’s offering, where it was just a TFT panel. This time around, the panel will be an IPS-based one, that should offer better viewing.
As for operating system, the phone will come with Android Nougat 7.1.1 out of the box. Powering the phone will be the Snapdragon 1.4GHz processor, coupled with 2GB of RAM and internal storage of 32GB. It will also come with external microSD card storage up to 128GB. At the back is located the camera and the fingerprint scanner. The optics consist of a primary 16MP sensor and a secondary 2MP sensor. The camera will enable users to take bokeh shots that will accentuate their portrait shots. This kind of configuration is mostly found on today’s flagships smartphones and is a welcome addition to the budget-line of the Z Max.
One of the stand-out features of the phone, apart from the big screen and optics, is the massive battery pack, which is a 4,080mAh unit. The company is promising 31 hours of usage in one charge. The phone will also feature a USB Type-C port and also a headphone jack. The Blade also supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 for faster charging. Despite the already cheap offering, the company is also issuing a free $25 gift card from Google Play if pre-registered for before August 27 and then bought between the dates, August 28 and September 26.
For a phone that offers over 31 hours of talk time and can function for over a day’s worth of use, this could be the one of the best entry-level devices of the year. The phone will officially go on sale on MetroPCS from August 28 onwards for no contract
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