ZTE’s Blade S6 Plus is cheap at just $300, but it’s got great mid-range specs and a swanky design

By Malarie Gokey Published April 6, 2015

ZTE continues to march along in its quest to take over the global smartphone market. The company, whose devices are sold primarily in its home country of China, has been moving into Europe and the U.S. one phone at a time. Now it’s put a larger version of its recently released Blade S6 on eBay in various countries around the world.

The ZTE Blade S6 Plus has many of the same specifications as its smaller sibling, the Blade S6, but it’s got a few key differences. The most obvious change is the screen size, which has been jacked up to 5.5 inches, though it’s only got a standard, 720p HD pixel resolution, just like the regular Blade S6. Fortunately, ZTE packed in a 3,000mAh battery to power the bigger screen.

Recommended Videos

The phablet version is powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor, and the same 2GB of RAM, as the smaller version. The 16GB of built-in storage is expandable via a MicroSD card slot on the device. ZTE’s Blade S6 Plus runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop with ZTE’s MiFavor 3.0 user interface built on top of it.

In our review of the original Blade S6, we noted that the latest version of Android runs incredibly smoothly on the device, and we loved the overall look and feel of the phone. Seeing as the phablet-sized model has the same design, and many of the same specs, it’s likely to be just as nice as the 5-inch Blade S6.

ZTE’s Blade S6 Plus can even function as an infra-red remote control for many appliances and devices in your home. The remote feature works with select TVs, set-top boxes, air conditioners, DSLR cameras, and more. It’s also got two fairly high-resolution cameras, including a 5-megapixel selfie cam and a 13-megapixel shooter on the back.

The Blade S6 Plus supports dual SIM cards as well, and works on multiple bands, including the following:

2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 900/2100MHz
4G: LTE: B3/B7/B8/B20(1800/2600/900/800MHz)

Perhaps the best thing about the Blade S6 Plus, though, is its bargain price point of $300 unlocked. To make the offer even sweeter, ZTE will offer a limited-time price of $270, though it’s unclear when that promotion ends. If you’re interested, you can find the ZTE Blade S6 Plus on eBay in the U.K., France, Spain, Italy, and a number of other countries.

Former Mobile Editor

As DT's Mobile Editor, Malarie runs the Mobile and Wearables sections, which cover smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and…

Topics

Mobile

I tested a smart ring with a display. I liked it more than I wanted to

Person wearing Pebble Halo smart ring.

I don’t need yet another screen in my life. Or at least that’s what I have been telling myself for years. I used to believe it was a pet peeve. But a quick look at Reddit and X shows a whole bunch of people who are experimenting with the “dumb phone” trend, or flaunting their “minimalist tech” stack.

My attempts at less screen exposure have been somewhat of a mixed bag. There’s now a screen in my hand or pocket at all times. For work, there’s a 24-inch or bigger screen that I stare at, for roughly eight hours each day. On my wrist, a smartwatch screen keeps lighting up every now and then, vying for my attention to an important notification.

Mobile

Watch this durability test on an ‘iPhone Ultra Mini’

A mock-up of a tiny iPhone.

Tech YouTuber Zack Nelson -- he of the popular JerryRigEverything channel -- recently mused about whether folks would spend less time on their smartphones if the display were much smaller. He revealed how he once tried to reduce his own smartphone use with Samsung’s Z Flip 5, but soon realized that because he did so much of his work on a smartphone, trying to use a smaller screen the whole time just turned out to be a hassle.

In his latest video, Nelson pondered whether a tiny iPhone would be popular with people wanting to cut down on screen time. He then produces a 3.8-inch “iPhone Ultra Mini,” which is in fact a $59 Android phone made to look like the latest iPhone -- only it’s much, much smaller.

Mobile

OnePlus says small watch ‘sweet spot’ is 43mm, but it’s bigger than Apple, Samsung and Google

We find out why this smartwatch is on the larger side of small

OnePlus Watch 3 43mm worn on a wrist

We loved the OnePlus Watch 3, it's our best Android smartwatch, but for all its excellent attributes there was one disappointment. The size.

More specifically, the lack of size options. The Watch 3 arrived in a single, 47mm body size. Great for those with large wrists looking for a sizable timepiece, but it alienated buyers looking for a compact offering.