Zopo isn’t, as you may think, the name of a clown. It’s a smartphone manufacturer from China, and like many of its peers is enviously eyeing the international market. To try and get its name known, it has launched the ZP999, an octa-core smartphone that’ll be sold outside China, and it comes with a strong spec list and a typically cheap price.
The Z999 is Zopo’s range-topping device, and Zopo compares it to the better known (although still not exactly popular outside of China) Meizu MX4. It’s MediaTek’s MT6595 processor at the heart of both these phones, which houses a quad-core ARM Cortex A17 and a quad-core ARM Cortex A7, and provides true octa-core performance. Zopo has paired it with an impressive 3G of RAM.
There’s more good news too, as MediaTek’s chip also comes with worldwide, Cat 4 4G LTE support. A big 5.5-inch, 1080p screen is fixed to the front of the ZP999, and there’s an unusual 14-megapixel camera with an F2.0 aperture on the rear. Around the front is a 5-megapixel selfie camera lens. A total of 32GB internal storage space is provided, and there is a MicroSD card slot to double this figure.
Zopo hasn’t provided any other information on the ZP999, such as what operating system it will run (although we assume it’ll be Android), the dimensions, or the materials from which it’s built. From the look of the images, it could have a metal chassis, and an unusual fabric rear cover. However, it has revealed the price. The ZP999 will cost around $320 without a contract, which sounds highly competitive. Of course, Zopo is essentially unknown outside of China, and we’ve no idea about its build quality or how much it messes around with the operating system. But at that price, it could be worth the risk.
The phone is expected to be released in October, and will be sold in 32 countries around the world. America isn’t specifically mentioned yet, but the press release states Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Malaysia, and Vietnam are so far confirmed. We’ll keep you updated.
