This $270 smartphone looks awesome, but the company is playing hard to get

By Andy Boxall Published July 29, 2016

If you’re not familiar with smartphone brand Zuk, here’s a quick overview: It’s a Lenovo spin-off that sells its hardware online, much like Xiaomi and Huawei’s Honor, and it released the interesting Zuk Z1 internationally last year. Recently, it returned with the monster Zuk Z2 Pro, and now it has announced the Zuk Z2.

There’s no Pro name attached this time, but the phone is hardly substandard and shares many of the same specs as the Z2 Pro. However, there’s a problem: Unlike the Z1, Zuk’s being coy about international release plans for the Z2.

Recommended Videos

Why should you care? The price in China for the Z2 is close to $270, and for this you get a Snapdragon 820 processor — that’s the same one found inside phones like the LG G5 and the Samsung Galaxy S7 — a massive 64GB of internal storage space, and a quick-charging 3,500mAh battery. That’s a strong spec for such a low price, hence our frustration.

While we love those specs, there are some concessions made to reach the low cost. The biggest is with the screen, which measures 5-inches and has a 1,920 × 1,080 pixel resolution. It’s obviously not a disaster, but it doesn’t match the large, higher resolution screens found on more expensive phones. The camera on the rear has 13-megapixels, but is one of Samsung’s ISOCELL sensors, while the front selfie cam has 8 megapixels.

The Zuk Z1 was one of the first low-cost phones to come with a fast fingerprint sensor, and the Z2 repeats the feature, which is hidden inside the home button on the front of the phone. The Z1 also embraced USB Type C charging earlier than the competition, and the Z2 also has the new connection onboard. Android 6.0 Marshmallow is the phone’s operating system, but is covered with Zuk’s own ZUI user interface.

Previously, Zuk sold the Z1 internationally with Cyanogen’s version of Android installed, and it worked particularly well. There hasn’t been any announcements regarding a version of the Z2 or the Z2 Pro with Cyanogen. Does this mean one won’t come in the future? It’s not clear, but the Z2’s spec, price, and our good experience with the Z1 makes us keen to try out the sequel. We’ll keep you updated with any news from Zuk.

Topics

Senior Mobile Writer

Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…

Mobile

How to tell if your smartphone battery needs to be replaced

iPhone battery settings

Nothing lasts forever -- especially not smartphone batteries. Those tiny lithium-ion powerhouses that run your iPhone or Android phone are all consumables, which means they have a limited life span. The longer you hang on to your device, the more your battery will degrade, and eventually, it will have to be replaced.

Mobile

How to turn on Now Playing and see music history on your Google Pixel

google-pixel-3a-xl-now-playing

If you own a Pixel phone, discovering what music is playing near you is now easier than ever. Google includes an exclusive feature called Now Playing in its Pixel 2 and newer phones, so you're not scouring the internet trying to figure out what that song was you just heard playing.

In short, the Now Playing feature automatically recognizes and shows you the title and artist of that mystery song on the lock screen. It also keeps track of those songs so you can access them later. However, you must manually enable this feature first. In this guide, we show you how to enable Now Playing, how to access the history, and tweak the notifications you get.
How to turn on Now Playing
Now Playing shows songs that are playing in your vicinity right on your lock screen. Again, this feature is only supported on the Google Pixel 2 or later -- you won't be able to follow these instructions on other phones or the original Pixel. Here's how to turn it on:

Mobile

Huawei Mate X2 foldable mimics the Galaxy Z Fold 2’s look … and sky-high price

huawei mate x2 news white

Huawei has launched a new folding smartphone, the Huawei Mate X2. It’s a sequel to the Huawei Mate Xs (itself a refreshed version of the original Mate X), but this time goes in the opposite design direction. Instead of an outwardly folding design, where the screen folds on itself to create a smaller device, it takes on a dual-screen book-style fold, like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 2.

Unfolded the 8:7.1 aspect ratio OLED screen measures 8-inches and has a 2480 x 2200 pixel resolution, while folded, the slim outer, 21:9 aspect ratio OLED screen measures 6.45-inches with a 2700 x 1160-pixel resolution. The Mate X2 screens both have a 90Hz refresh rate, while the outer has a 240Hz touch sampling rate, and 180Hz on the inside. It’s covered in a special layer for low reflection and less glare.