ZTE Unveils an Enormous Smartphone for T-Mobile Bargain Hunters
T-Mobile is trying to establish itself as the American cellphone carrier for shoppers looking for a deal. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer ZTE is trying to establish itself, period, in the United States.
The two came together at an event Tuesday night as ZTE revealed the ZTE ZMax, a very large smartphone with a very low price, exclusively for T-Mobile.
The ZMax features a 5.7-inch screen — which makes it a tad bigger than Apple’s bigger-er iPhone 6 Plus, and the same size as the forthcoming mega-phone champion Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Unlike those two phones, however, the ZTE ZMax is available for about $250 without a two-year contract. Compare that with the Galaxy Note 4 and the iPhone 6 Plus, both of which will cost more than $700 when they are released later this month, and you’ve got a budget option phablet that may entice bargain hunters.
The ZTE ZMax runs a bare-bones version of Google’s Android operating system, eschewing the design-heavy skins that most manufacturers opt for. It comes with a large battery that ZTE representatives say will give it just short of two days of battery life. The screen is big and beautiful. You get a large smartphone with a high-resolution screen and 16 GB of storage, expandable via SD card up to 32 GB.
There are downsides, of course. The rear camera is 8 megapixels, and I found that it took decent enough photos (though nothing that would compare to a high-end iPhone or Nokia phone). Despite winning a surprising market share in the United States — would you have guessed that ZTE was one of the top five phone makers in the U.S.? — the ecosystem surrounding the ZTE ZMax obviously won’t be as strong as it is around phones made by Samsung and Apple. That means fewer options for phone cases and other accessories. The stripped-down version of Android might also strike some as empty compared with the feature-packed phones made by competitors. And the phone is enormous, which will be a turnoff for many.
It is available only on T-Mobile, too, which comes with some good and some bad. T-Mobile has led the charge against annoying fees and charges, and its pricing options can save you a nice chunk of money in the long run. Its coverage, however, lags far behind larger rivals like Verizon and AT&T.
Still, based on my early impressions at a demo in New York City, the ZMax appears to provide good value for a (very low) price. If you’re considering going to an unsubsidized plan on T-Mobile and want to spend as little money as you can on a pocket-filler of a smartphone, the ZMax looks to be a solid, inexpensive option.
The ZTE ZMax will be available in T-Mobile stores and online starting Sept. 24.
