Perhaps ZTE is hoping to replicate Apple’s iPhone sales success. Could you blame it when Apple just announced a record quarter with sales of 74.5 million iPhones? Maybe that’s why the ZTE Blade S6 4G LTE looks so much like Apple’s handset without the big price tag: The new Blade phone costs $249.
That’s actually a pretty aggressive price for this Google Android 5.0 handset. It runs on a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, the company’s first octo-core chip, paired with 16GB of internal storage and 2GB of memory. Storage can be expanded through a microSD card slot. The phone’s 5-inch display uses an IPS screen with full HD resolution. ZTE chose a Sony 13-megapixel camera sensor for the rear and a 5-MP sensor on the front of the phone.
The GSM phone supports LTE network on five bands and also has radios for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, FM and GPS. A typical array of smartphone sensors rounds out the handset: accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light and compass. ZTE says the phone supports Hi-Fi audio, which I take to mean support for playing various music file formats above the standard CD quality of 44.1kHz at 16-bit. The phone also has a 2400 mAh battery.
Looks aside, don’t expect the ZTE Blade S6 4G LTE to do battle in Apple’s home country. With support for LTE bands 1, 3, 7, 8, and 20, the phone is meant for Asian markets, which is unsurprising since ZTE is based in China. Even with iPhone looks and a new chip, ZTE is sure to find tough competition against Apple in China, the source of a growing percentage of Cupertino’s revenues.


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