Chinese phone maker ZTE had a rough year in 2018 after getting hit by US trade restrictions that limited the company’s supply to components (like Qualcomm processors). But the ban was lifted in June and the company quickly got back to producing new smartphones.
Now ZTE is unveiling three new phones at MWC: the ZTE Blade V10 and V10 Vita, and a new flagship, the ZTE Axon 10 Pro 5G.
The company’s first 5G smartphone will be available in China and Europe this spring. It’s unclear if ZTE has any plans to bring any of its new smartphones to the United States.
The ZTE Axon 10 Pro 5G is a decent-looking phone with a decent amount of horsepower: it features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor and Snpadragon X50 5G modem. But there aren’t really a lot of surprises.
It picks up on most of the trends we’ve seen in recent years: there’s a nearly all-screen design with a small waterdrop-style notch in the top of the display for a selfie camera. There’s no visible fingerprint sensor, because it’s built into the display. And there are dual rear cameras.
But for the right price, those features could be attractive. ZTE made its name in the smartphone space with the original Axon which launched for $450 in 2015 at a time when other phones with the same specs were selling for at up to $200 more.
ZTE says the Axon 10 Pro 5G should be available in the first half of 2019.
The new Blade V10 series smartphones are coming in April and they’re expected to have mid-range prices tags and specs.
/meh