ZTE has big plans for 2017, and the company is kicking the year off with a mid-range Android smartphone — the Blade V8 Pro.
The new device features some very decent specs, especially considering the fact that ZTE phones are generally sold at a reasonably low price with budget-friendly spec sheets. Although we don’t have info on what the Blade V8 Pro’s price will be just yet, we do know all the specs and new features.
The V8 Pro features a “Qualcomm Snapdragon octa-core 2.0GHz chip,” which wasn’t officially named, but given the specs, it’s likely to be the Snapdragon 625. That processor is coupled with a cool 3GB of RAM. The phone runs last year’s Android Marshmallow out of the box, and ZTE has yet to announce when it will get the update to the latest and greatest version of Android Nougat. The phone also comes with 32GB of storage with support for a MicroSD card of up to 128GB.
Other specs include a dual-lens camera module with two 13-megapixel sensors on the back of the phone and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The rear camera offers 4K video capture, too. The phone is powered by a 3,140mAh battery, which supports Quick Charge technology with ZTE’s included USB Type-C charger and cord.
When it comes to design, the phone looks simple and subtle. It looks a bit like the Moto G4 with its lightly textured back and metallic frame. It also has an oval-shaped fingerprint sensor on the front, which should work with mobile payments, thanks to the NFC technology onboard. It’s a little thick, sitting at 9.1mm, which makes it look a bit retro. The 5.5-inch screen boasts a 1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution and it’s covered by a sheet of slightly curved 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3.
The phone is a follow-up to last year’s Blade V7, but it seems like quite a step up. For example, while the V7 had a somewhat lackluster MediaTek 1.3GHx processor, ZTE has instead opted to go for a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip in the new device. With the addition of dual rear cameras, a larger battery, an extra 1GB of RAM, and double the storage, and the V8 Pro is a much stronger phone overall.
Of course, none of this will matter if you can’t actually buy the phone, and if you’re in North America, chances are you won’t be able to. The Blade V7 was only available in Europe and some parts of Asia, and we expect availability for the Blade V8 to be equally limited. We’ll keep you updated on availability and pricing for the Blade V8 Pro here.
