ZTE’s latest smartphone for the US market features a 5.7 inch display, a hefty 3400mAh battery which the company says is good for up to 2 days of run time, and an affordable price tag.
You can buy an unlocked ZTE ZMAX for just $252.
There are a few things to consider before pulling out your wallet though.
First, the ZTE ZMAX will be a T-Mobile exclusive in the United States. So if T-Mobile coverage is spotty in your area, you might want to think about picking up one of those $25 Personal CellSpot routers for WiFi calling that the company is providing these days.
Second, while the ZTE ZMAX has a big screen and a big battery, it’s basically a mid-range phone. It has a 1280 x 720 pixel TFT LCD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 16GB of storage, a microSD card slot, an 8MP rear camera, and a 1.6MP front-facing camera.
The phone runs Android 4.4 KitKat and supports GSM 3G and 4G LTE networks.
In other words, it’s a mid-range phone, but it’s probably more powerful than any high-end smartphone you could have bought a few years ago… not to mention cheaper.
The ZTE ZMAX will be available from T-Mobile starting September 24th.
I have been looking at the Sony Xperia Z Ultra LTE C6806, which 6.4inch with a snapdragon 800 and is waterproof for $330 (google play edition). I recently bought a new nexus 7, but I would rather have gone with the phablet in retrospect. I am seeing the phablet value now.
The ZMAX is $230 on T-mobile. The $252 is if you pay via installments.
BTW, I think it’s great that the bang/buck curve is increasing so quickly for Android handsets. I still would like to see Android One phones coming to the US, to solve the OS update issue.
TFT screen? That has got to be a mistake. lol.