ZTE announces five new smartphones in Malaysia

ZTE wants to sell you affordable smartphones and in line with that goal, the Chinese manufacturer today announced five new smartphones for the Malaysian market. These Android powered smart phones are affordable priced, ranging between RM388 to RM1,088. At time of launch, all 5 are running on Android 4.4 KitKat.

ZTE Star 1

Leading the pack is the Star 1, a 5-inch device that features a full HD IPS LCD display (1920×1080 pixels, 441 ppi), 4G LTE connectivity, 1.6GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB of on board storage that’s expandable with microSD up 64GB. In terms of cameras, the Star 1 gets an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera. The device runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat and is powered by a 2,300mAh battery.

In its press release, ZTE claims the Star 1 has imaging capabilities “comparable to a DSLR camera”. We’d say that ZTE is way too over optimistic. The camera has some call out features like 4cm macro, Clarity+ image sharpness enhancement and a dual-tone flash but that’s far from a DSLR. Available in either black or white, the 6.9mm thin Star 1 is priced at RM1,088.

ZTE Blade VEC Pro

Next, the ZTE Blade VEC Pro features a 5-inch display 720p display (1280×720 pixels, 293ppi), a 1.4GHz Mediatek (MT6592) octa-core processor with 1GB of RAM and a 2,300mAh battery. You also get 8GB of on board storage, dual-3G SIM slots, a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera. In terms of design. the back comes with a carbon-fibre like pattern underneath a sheet of glass. The Blade VEC Pro is priced at RM788.

ZTE Blade V5

Going down a notch is the ZTE Blade V5. It gets a 5-inch 720p display, 1.3GHz Mediatek (MT6582) quad-core processor with 1GB RAM and 8GB of on board storage. For imaging, it gets a 13MP main camera with a front facing 5MP unit. Powering the device is a slightly larger 2,400mAh capacity battery and it will be going for RM688.

ZTE Blade L2

Entering an even lower price bracket of RM488, the Blade L2 is an entry-level offering with a MediaTek Quad-Core 1.3GHz (MT6582) processor, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of storage. The front retains a 5″ display but pushes a lower FWVGA (854×480) pixels resolution. It gets a 5MP main camera while the front settles for a more basic VGA camera. The Blade L2 is powered by a modest 2,000mAh capacity battery and it has a thickness of 8.95mm.

ZTE Blade G Lux

The Blade G Lux, is their most affordable offering out of the 5 and it is priced at just RM388. It gets a smaller 4.5″ display that also does FWVGA (854×480) resolution and it is powered by an entry level dual-core 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6572 processor that’s mated to 512MB of RAM and has 4GB of storage which is also expandable via microSD. For taking pictures, it is quite a low key affair with a 5MP main camera and a VGA front shooter.