ZHIYUN’s WEEBILL S gimbal handles heavy payloads with a compact size for RM1599

863

ZHIYUN has been well known for reasonably priced camera gimbals, and it has launched the WEEBILL S in Bangkok, it is the successor to the WEEBILL LAB and has several impressive upgrades that will make a solo videographer’s life simpler.

For starters, the WEEBILL S weighs a mere 1.1kg and measures approximately a foot in height, its gimbal motor has a 300% improvement in torque and 50% in response speed all thanks to the upgraded 8th Instune algorithm, ZHIYUN says that the motor is less robotic as compared to its predecessor and can handle heavy payloads, quoting a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV + 24-70mm f/2.8 lens combo as an example.

The WEEBILL S has a built in OLED display that gives videographers instant access to the gimbal’s features and modes without using the app, one feature that really impressed me is the auto tune feature, which helps adjust the gimbal motor strength and tells you if you have properly balanced the camera’s weight on the gimbal.

I had a brief moment with the WEEBILL S with a Canon 5D Mark IV at the experiential area and was very satisfied that the weight distribution of the gimbal is so good that it doesn’t strain when holding single handedly, the controls are also surprisingly easy to use and I absolutely love the fact that it uses a wheel to navigate around the gimbal’s settings.

The WEEBILL S has six operating modes that allows videographers to perform cinematic angles, the interesting one being the Vortex mode, which lets you do 360 degree barrel shots, battery life has significantly improved from 7.5 hours to 14 hours compared to the WEEBILL LAB.

With the optional TransMount Image Transmission Image Module, videographers can now conveniently monitor their footage, remotely control the gimbal and do live streams on up to 3 devices over an ultra low latency 1080p30 signal.

Also, the WEEBILL S is the only gimbal that lets you control its movements with a smartphone’s gyroscope while being able to see the transmitted footage from the module, this allows film directors to be able to administer the footage angle they want as the videographer handles the gimbal.

The ZY Play app has also been updated to work with the module, bringing a SmartFollow 2.0 object tracking feature and ViaTouch 2.0 that allows you to control your camera’s settings including ISO, aperture, shutter speed and more.

The ZHIYUN WEEBILL S is now available in Malaysia at a very reasonable price of RM1599 and is officially distributed by Pixels Distribution with a 12+3 Months warranty. In order to ensure that it is an official unit, do watch out for the Pixels Distribution sticker (as pictured below) on the box.

pixels distribution
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weebill s malaysia
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Zoom accounts for sale on the dark web for less than RM0.01

354

Video conferencing software Zoom’s leaky security standards are well-known at this point as have been reported multiple times during the past weeks.

The worldwide move to work from home has garnered more users for the company, more than they ever expected – hundreds of thousands in fact, and those very users’ data can now be bought on the dark web according to a report by The Star.

A cyber-security called Cyble bought 530,000 Zoom accounts from hackers peddling on the dark web and have notified both Zoom as well as users worldwide of the issue. They say that they bought each account for only 0.20 cents (0.80 sen) cents each.

Cyble has discovered that these accounts were used for ‘Zoombombing’ where by hackers can jump into a stranger’s conversation to broadcast unsolicited content.

They also gained details such as e-mail addresses, passwords, meeting web addresses, and host keys which is ‘key’ for Zoombombing.

If you use Zoom, visit Cyble’s
AmIBreached
 to check if your data has been compromized; plus, remember to change your password immediately.

covid 19
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Zoom isn’t as safe as you think it is

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Zoom has become a popular app for recently as many have been asked to work from home, but it might not be such a good idea due to security concerns.

As reported by The Intercept, the video calls on the app are not end-to-end encrypted and that the company has been leaking email addresses of its users. Plus, this isn’t the first time Zoom has screwed up; previously, the app installs a secret web server on users’ Mac which stays on even when the client was uninstalled. With the client installed, the Mac webcam can be activated without users’ permission.

That’s not all; Zoom was also under scrutiny for something called Zoombombing, where some users hijack unprotected video calls and use screen-sharing to broadcast explicit materials. Imagine being in a work conference calls and suddenly nude videos started popping up; no one would want that.

There are also many other issues, including the lack of transparency, the app secretly sharing data with Facebook and the shady installation method. If you’re a Zoom user, you might want to consider switching to other apps like Skype or WhatsApp.

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Thousands of Zoom videos can be found online exposing users’ private conversations

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Popular video conferencing software Zoom has come under fire for lapse security measures which caused data leaks and other problems like ‘
Zoombombing
’ where third-party users can hijack a video call to broadcast
unsavoury
 content.

Almost a week on, it seems like people are continuing to find more flaws with the software – the latest coming from The Washington Post claims that personal Zoom videos can be accessed by strangers from the company’s cloud servers without any real preventive measures set in palce.

According to the report, the videos appear to have been recorded using the Zoom software itself and saved onto a separate online storage source. The videos that could we accessed online include private conversations between people as well as online kindergarten classes where the faces, voices and names of the students were easily
accessible
.

It is important to note that Zoom does not automatically record these video chats – but rather the hosts can choose to record and save them onto the servers without the other participant’s consent. However, they do receive a notification when a recording is started.

But the feature is utilized by users as a way of saving important conversations like meeting discussions, workshop instructions, and more – apparently, one of the videos include a one-to-one lesson on Brazilian
waxing
; yikes!

Zoom chief executive Eric Yuan has acknowledged the issue and has apologized for failing to meet “privacy and security” expectations. The company will be freezing new features for 90 days and have directed engineers to work on existing issues.

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Zoom counters Zoombombers with new feature that allows host to report participants

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Zoom was previously under a lot of heat for the lack of security, causing user data to be leaked and trolls to

“Zoombomb” others. To rectify the situation, the company has released a few updates including enhanced encryption and setting to report participants.

There will be a Zoom client version released on April 26 and once that’s downloaded, the Zoom host can choose to hide all participants’ profile pictures. They can also report participants if they’re being inappropriate. “This feature will generate a report which will be sent to the Zoom Trust and Safety team to evaluate any misuse of the platform and block a user if necessary.” This will prove useful to counter the “Zoombombers” who have been invading meeting calls and displaying explicit behavior.

The pandemic has led to many to start working from home, which resulted in an overwhelming increase in Zoom users. The company had 200 million daily meeting participants in March and that 20x the amount of participants they had in December 2019. Zoom CEO also acknowledged the “Zoombombing” issue, which is why feature updates for Zoom are temporarily paused while the company focuses on privacy and security.

Even so, will you take the leap of faith and use Zoom? For the full list of updates, click
here
.

Video conferencing
zoom
Zoombomb


Zoom to roll out stronger encryption for paying customers only

474

While much of the world is still under lockdown, video conferencing software like Zoom remain vital for remote working, and long-distance communication. As you may know by now, many security flaws were discovered in the software; because of that, the company is looking to beef up the back-end portion of the app with stronger
encryption
 for video calls. The catch is: the update is only for paying customers.

Cost of popularity

In light of the pandemic, Zoom has risen to become a popular option because it’s mostly free and easy to use – that came at a cost when several of the
software’s
 security flaws were exposed leading to accounts being stolen and sold online, hackers ‘
Zoom-bombing
’ innocent users, and private video call sessions being stored on the web and easily found.

There are a lot of non-paying
users
that rely on the software which
obviously
 have
accounts
 and personal details logged into the app – Reuters reports that meetings happen 300 million times a day; and therein lies the problem – there are simply too many video meetings happening at once to keep track of.

To weed out shady users

Why would Zoom want to keep track of video calls? According to Reuters, Zoom’s safety team is in charge of filtering out user with malicious intent. They can’t do that when every video call is fully end-to-end encrypted.

Image credit: Rafael Henrique via Getty Images

So, Zoom is only offering the feature to paying users and institutions such as schools – users they know and can trust. The report also says that it’s expensive to offer a costly, sophisticated technology such as this for free – therefore making it a smarter business choice to only offer it to users who pay.

An alternative

Zoom’s justification does make sense, and if you’re a paying user, rest easy knowing your video calls are now safer than before; but if you’re not paying for the service, you could still explore other options. You can check out Mozilla’s guide
here
 to the best video conferencing apps in terms of safety; and read up about how it works in our article
here
.

covid 19
encryption
end to end encryption
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Video conferencing
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ZOTAC begins selling the GTX 1080 Ti AMP and AMP Extreme edition in Malaysia

446

NVIDIA may have made the best GPU with the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, ZOTAC has taken performance of the original GTX 1080 Ti to the next level with its AMP and AMP Extreme edition graphics card, which ZOTAC has officially launched in Malaysia today, these graphics cards are factory overclocked and have significant performance improvements over the Founders Edition while having improved cooling efficiency with ZOTAC’s IceStorm cooling system and wide blade fans.

In terms of specifications, the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 Ti AMP Edition features a base and boost clock of 1569 MHz and 1683 MHz respectively, while the AMP Extreme Edition gets a base and boost clock of 1645 MHz and 1759 MHz, which technically give the user around 5-10% of clock speed improvements over the Founders Edition card, the AMP Extreme Edition will also feature a slight boost in memory clock at 11.2 Gbps. Last but not the least, ZOTAC’s AMP and AMP Extreme GTX 1080 Ti uses a 16 + 2 power phase for better power delivery and ensures stability in performance.

ZOTAC will start selling the GTX 1080 Ti AMP and AMP Extreme Edition at various IT retail stores and custom PC shop in Malaysia today, the GTX 1080 Ti AMP Edition retails at RM3,769 and the AMP Extreme Edition retails at RM3,999. Meanwhile, ZOTAC has also announced the GTX 1080 AMP+ and AMP Extreme+ editions of the GTX 1080 with increased memory speed of 9 Gbps and 11 Gbps respectively, these cards will also be available soon as well.

ampextreme
gtx1080ti
zotac


ZOTAC Releases NEN Steam Machine

352

ZOTAC, one of the world’s global innovator and manufacturer of graphics card and ZBOX Mini-PCs, introduces the case for small form factor gaming with NEN, the most powerful small form Steam Machine with minimalism, portability, and an all new design for a new way to game. It’s equipped with a MAGNUS, the most powerful small form barebones Gaming Mini PC, as ZOTAC pushes their momentum forward to unleash an even more potent machine.

The device lays down the groundwork for the NEN Steam Machine. Gaming with a 6th Gen Intel Quad-core Skylake processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics hardware, you can play with the precision of a console with the all new bundled Steam Controller. Size, sound, acoustics, and lighting are all very important for a system that will anchor as the home entertainment center.

The company successfully managed to shrink all the functionalities and power to a mere height of two inches to ensure it fits neatly into the entertainment center while maintaining quiet levels at maximum cooling performance utilizing dual radial coolers. Upon boot, you are required to log into your existing Steam account or create one to access thousands of games and connect with millions of gamers. However, SteamOS will only display compatible games to ensure an optimal Steam experience with a 1TB hard drive pre-installed, however, you can be sure you’ll be able to load all your favorite games with room to expand with an available M.2 SATA SSD slot.

Conquer the Archilles heel of action games on PC with the bundled revolutionary Steam Controller and experience a heightened level of precision control with Dual Trackpads, HD haptic feedback, dual-stage triggers, back grip buttons, and full control scheme customization. You can also control mappings or find the favorite game online in the Steam Community.

SOURCE:
Zotac

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ZOTAC showcases powerful Mini PCs over at COMPUTEX and accepts customization

284

ZOTAC’s local presence may be all about its powerful NVIDIA graphics card however in COMPUTEX this year, the company has showcased its new Mini PC offerings that comes packed with performance internals, and little do we know that the company in fact offers embedded solutions for businesses, such low profile attitude I would say.

The ZBOX Mini PC series from ZOTAC are the spotlight of its booth, we were being shown its usage in gaming, office and embedded solutions, these systems are totally customizable according to the company should the users require it for specific purposes. These new machines are also made with power efficiency in mind, for instance, the CI512 Nano features a fanless design thanks to Intel’s 5th generation Broadwell C processors and users are able to expand its storage capabilities with M.2 SATA slots and 2.5-inch HDD/SSD slots. Otherwise, some other ZBOX Mini PCs shown comes with either AMD or NVIDIA graphics, and some of them are meant to be used as digital signage machines.

ZOTAC’s experience in making great graphics card has enabled the company to make powerful mini machines like this, we have even found the company making a Steam gaming machine that is already made for Intel’s 6th generation Skylake platform, compact PCs are starting to revolutionize the way people use computers and we definitely want to see more from the company on making more powerful compact machines like this.

computex
mini
pc
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zotac


ZTE accidentally unveils its first full screen smartphone

329

And we thought ZTE will be going against the tide. The company previously launched the Axon M, a dual screen smartphone which is unlike any other. But it looks like the full screen smartphone trend is inevitable, and ZTE has hopped onto the bandwagon, by prematurely unveiling the ZTE Blade V9 smartphone with an 18:9 display.

Spotted on ZTE’s Spanish website which has since been taken down, we can safely assume that ZTE intended for the Blade V9 to launch at CES 2018, since the Blade V8 series was unveiled at the 2017 tech convention. Regardless, we already have the specs of the Blade V9. First of all, it will feature a glass build which looks sleep and glossy, but easily smudged by fingerprints as well. The phone sports a 5.7-inch Full HD+ display at 18:9 aspect ratio. ZTE has trimmed the bezels surrounding the displays, which means moving the fingerprint sensor to the back.

The Blade V9 is powered by a Snapdragon 450 processor with 2, 3 or 4GB of RAM. The memory is coupled with 16GB, 32GB and 64GB of storage spaces respectively, meaning that there are 3 variants in total. It has a dual rear camera setup of 16MP + 5MP and a 13MP selfie camera. The handset packs a battery of 3,200mAh, but unfortunately comes with a micro USB port. It will however run Android Oreo out of the box.

The ZTE Blade V9 will likely make an appearance at CES 2018 with its pricing and availability to be revealed some time later.

ces 2018
full screen display
ZTE Blade v9


ZTE admits mistake of making Hawkeye phone mid range

366

At the begiinning of this year, ZTE has launched a Kickstarter campaign for is Project CSX. Just to recap, Project CSX is a smartphone by the Chinese manufacturer which is dubbed as the Hawkeye, due to its cutting edge eye tracking technology which allows for users to scroll with their eyes, hands free. The ZTE Hawkeye will also come with an optional self adhesive case, enabling users to mount the phone on vertical surfaces.

One would expect such a phone to feature overally high end specs, but that isn’t case with the ZTE Hawkeye, and ZTE has acknowledged their mistake on that part. According to a post by a company representative on ZTE’s Z-Community forum, ZTE has admitted that it was wrong in turning the Hawkeye handset into a mid ranger instead of a high end flagship device. The Hawkeye sports a Snapdragon 625 processor. The company has claimed that in doing so, the phone might not have met the expectations of its backers on Kickstarter.

ZTE went with mid range internals for the Hawkeye so that the handset will be affordable to its backers and future consumers at a modest introductory price of $199 (RM883.16). That is no doubt an attractive price for a phone with cool eye tracking tech, but backers might throw in more money if the Hawkeye happens to have flagship specs at a more premium price point. The forum post has also highlighted the company’s dilemma now due to the fact that the price has already been set for the ZTE Hawkeye, and 184 people have backed the project at the time of writing. ZTE is calling for help for its dilemma:

“If you had to choose one or two things to improve the specs of the Hawkeye phone to make it more attractive, what would it be?  Before you answer that question, remember that asking for every potential flagship feature is cost prohibitive now that price is set, so let’s try to focus truly on the things that all of you care the most about.  Thank you once again for your time and energy to help this project succeed.”

It certainly looks like ZTE is in a pretty difficult situation right now. Perhaps, it is still not too late to call off Project CSX? What do you think can be improved in the ZTE Hawkeye while maintaining its affordable price tag?

Source:
ZTE

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ZTE announces 'Project CSX', the company's first crowdsourced smartphone

355

Back in CES, ZTE mentioned that they would be crowdsourcing suggestions in order to build a new mobile device. Today, the creation of this crowdsourced device has begun with ZTE launching Project CSX.

Starting from today, ZTE USA will be opening up its Z-Community forum where a
Project CSX thread
 will be maintained over the course of the next few weeks. Those who have an idea or suggestion can post it in the thread. After the idea submissions period ends, ZTE will put all viable ideas into a voting round, allowing the users to vote for whichever feature they want most.

Development of Project CSX will take place in two stages, with each stage having their own submission and voting periods. Currently, Project CSX is in its idea suggestion stagees, which will run until the end of the month. These ideas would then progress to the voting stages at the beginning of September. The second stage will be concepts, and it will begin in mid-September.

There are a few guidelines when it comes to suggesting ideas for Project CSX of course, with the main one being that the technology that will be implemented in the device must be “realistically possible by 2017” and must be “affordable for the general population.” Apart from that tough, you’re free to come out with any ideas you think would fit into a smartphone. Those who have their ideas accepted by ZTE will stand a chance to win prizes, and may even be invite to CES next year. Project CSX is expected to be announced in CES 2017, and the device is expected to be available sometime in 2017.

Source:
Z-Community
,
The Verge

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projectcsx
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ZTE Axon 2 spotting passing through TENAA

316

Chinese regulatory site TENAA has always been the spot for smartphone leaks, and they appear to be inevitable. Yesterday we’ve witnessed the upcoming Huawei Honor V8, or the Honor V8 series of three variants passing through the site. Today we’re looking at another ZTE device, which is likely the Axon 2, the successor to the company’s previous flagship, the Axon.

The device carries the model number ZTE A2017, had its specs revealed by the site. The Axon 2 will be sporting a 5.5-inch QHD OLED display, a Snapdragon 820 processor alongside 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable memory underneath the hood. The handset will also reportedly feature a 20MP primary camera with an 8MP selfie camera on the front. We’ll also be looking at more 2016-standard features like a USB Type-C port and a rear fingerprint sensor. The device is powered by a 3,140mAh battery.

Based on the image, it seems like the ZTE Axon 2 will be sporting front facing stereo speakers. Looks-wise, it seems like an attractive device, along with slim bezels surrounding the display. According to TENAA, the ZTE Axon 2 will be shipped with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. Till then, stay tuned!

Source:
TENAA

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ZTE Axon 2 teased alongside iPhone 6s and Huawei P9

310

Recently leaks of the ZTE Axon 2, especially with the handset
passing through TENAA certification
, tell us that the Axon 2 is one smartphone we should look out for when it launches in the future. Zeng Xuezhong, the Chinese OEM’s CEO has uploaded a teaser of the Axon 2 online, and it isn’t any ordinary teaser.

The ZTE CEO posted an image, teasing a Axon 2’s bottom, but had it sandwiched between the iPhone 6s and the Huawei P9, comparing all three handsets side by side. First of all, the bottom design of the Huawei P9 was clearly borrowed, if not copied on purpose, from the iPhone 6s. Both devices sport a speaker grille, a charging port flanged by two screw and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the other end. In fact, the both handsets feature the same star-shaped screws.

Meanwhile, the bottom of the ZTE Axon 2 looks way cleaner than the iPhone and the P9, without any need of screws. The speaker grilles of the device is placed above and below the QHD display on the front instead. As leaked recently, the Axon 2 is said to sport a Snapdragon 820 SoC alongside 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The device will be switching to a single 20MP primary camera, replacing the dual-camera setup of 13MP+2MP on its predecessor. Coupled with the 20MP rear camera is an 8MP selfie shooter. What do you think?

Source:
GizmoChina

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6s
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ZTE Axon 20 5G: First sale exclusive to invited users only

471

The ZTE Axon 5G was first launched in China back in September, but the company finally made it available globally yesterday.

ZTE Axon 20 5G has four under-display components

It houses a 32MP under-display camera and uses a 6.92-inch OLED panel with FHD+ resolution. ZTE says that it uses highly transparent materials, anti0reflection treatment and a special OLED panel to make sure optimise the front camera’s performance. The phone is also packed with a triple selfie algorithm that supposedly improves glare interference and enhances dynamic range adjustment. Apart from the under-display camera, the Axon 20 5G also come with an under-display ambient light sensor, under-display sound and under-display fingerprint.

Under the hood

The Axon 20 5G also has an impressive screen — the OLED panel supports 10-bit color depth and has 100% coverage of DCI-P3 color gamut. With a 20:5:9 screen and DTS:X Ultra 3D sound, the company promises a cinematic experience with this device. Under the hood, it is powered by a Snapdragon 765G and has a 4,220mAh battery with 30W Quick Charging. On the rear, it has a 64MP camera paired with an 8MP ultra wide lens, a 2MP depth sensor and another 2MP macro lens.

Only invited users can purchase the phone

To get the ZTE Axon 20 5G, you need to join the “
New Vision Club
” and get a limited invitation code. Those who are invited will get a free pair of ZTE TWS LiveBuds TWS and get $20 cash back when they review the phone. To get the invitation code, you’ll have to join the campaign quiz and complete it. And email will be sent to you if you’re invited. The ZTE Axon 20 5G is priced at $449, which is around RM1,820.

ZTE Axon 20 5G


ZTE Axon 20 5G: First phone with under-display camera will launch in Malaysia

766

The
ZTE Axon 20 5G
 is the first phone to feature an
under-display camera
 and it’s finally available out of China.

Under-display technology not limited to its selfie lens

This unique phone has a huge 6.92-inch OLED panel that pushes FHD+ resolution. Its 32MP selfie camera is hidden under the display, so you won’t be seeing a punch hole cutout or a conventional notch on it. You’re also getting a fingerprint scanner underneath this 90Hz screen, and ZTE says that it also offers under-display sound.

This is a midranger with several flagship specs

Despite the one-of-a-kind technology, the Axon 20 5G is not a flagship device. It uses a midrange chipset, the Snapdragon 765G chip, and comes with 8GB of RAM and runs on the latest Android 10. Its 4,220mAh battery supports 30W Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ and it is packed with a 64MP quad-camera setup that includes an 8MP ultra wide lens, a 2MP depth sensor and another 2MP macro camera.

Markets that will get the ZTE Axon 20 5G

Even though the price hasn’t been revealed, it has been confirmed that Malaysia will be one of the first few countries to get the Axon 20 5G. It will also be available in the U.K., European Union, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more.

Axon 20 5G
zte


ZTE Axon 30 launched in Malaysia: Priced at RM2,599

602

The ZTE Axon 30 has just launched in Malaysia; and with more of their products coming into the Malaysian markets like the
Blade A71
, and
Axon 30 Ultra
, it’s no wonder why they would be introducing their newest phones here. The latest Axon 30 has a 120Hz display, 4,200mAh battery, and more, so let’s what else this device has in store.

As for the design of the ZTE Axon 30, it comes with a polymer material on the back panel that gives a glowing matte texture, and comes in a thin and light form factor that measures 8mm thin and weighs 182g. It is also available in two colors – Black and Aqua.

This phone also has a 6.92-inch FHD+ AMOLED display that pushes a 120Hz refresh rate and has a 360Hz Touch Sampling Rate. While in terms of the camera, the phone uses a quad-camera system, that features a 64MP main shooter, 8MP wide-angle lens, 5MP Macro lens, and 2MP depth of field shooter, with the front having a 16MP selfie camera that is hidden under the display.

As for the internal specifications of the ZTE Axon 30, it comes with a Snapdragon 870 SoC, along with up to 12GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. In terms of the battery, the phone has a 4,200mAh battery that supports 65W charging via a USB-C. Additionally, this device includes a fingerprint scanner, 5G, WiFi 6, NFC, and Bluetooth 5.1 support, but does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack or stereo speakers.

Currently, the ZTE Axon 30 with 12GB of RAM and 258GB of internal storage is priced at RM2,599 and can be purchased via ZTE’s official
Shopee
 and
Lazada
 stores.

Source –
ZTE
, Via –
SoyaCincau

zte
ZTE Axon 30
ZTE Axon 30 Price
zte malaysia


ZTE Axon 30 Pro 5G features second-generation under-display camera

470

Ahead of MWC Shanghai, ZTE’s President of Mobile Devices Ni Fei revealed an alleged Axon 30 Pro 5G that fixes the under-display camera problems faced by its predecessor.

ZTE’s under-display camera technology is improving

Image: ZTE Axon 20 5G

In the
Weibo post
, Ni Fei said the second-generation screen is improved by a lot and asked readers to zoom in to check the clarity of the photo on the phone. While the image quality does look better, we’re still skeptical since the Axon 20 5G was a
disappointment
 when it comes to its under-display camera.

Axon 30 Pro 5G expected to sport latest Snapdragon chipset

Leaker
Digital Chat Station
 also confirmed that the device that is being used by Ni Fei is the ZTE Axon 30 Pro 5G and said that it will come with an optical fingerprint sensor. Unlike the
Axon 20 5G
, the Axon 30 Pro 5G may also be a flagship phone as rumours suggest a Snapdragon 888 chip in this phone.

Despite the lack of information regarding the new phone, we can expect it to have a huge battery with fast charging support, a large OLED screen with at least a 90Hz refresh rate and a quad-camera setup like its predecessor.

Axon 30 Pro 5G
zte


ZTE Axon 30 Ultra launched in Malaysia at RM3,599

622

The ZTE Axon 30 Ultra is now available in Malaysia; unlike the
ZTE Axon 30
 or the
Axon 20
, this device doesn’t have an under-display camera.

Despite that, the ZTE Axon 30 Ultra is still an interesting flagship. It comes with three 64MP cameras paired with an 8MP periscope telephoto lens. The triple 64MP camera setup consists of a wide lens, an ultra-wide lens and a portrait lens. Instead of an under-display camera, the Axon 30 Ultra has a punch-hole cutout in the centre that houses a 16MP lens.

It’s packed with huge RAM, powerful chip and rapid charging

Like most flagships this year, the Axon 30 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 888 chip. It comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, in addition to housing a 4,600mAh battery that supports 65W fast charging.

On the front, the Axon 30 Ultra has a 6.67-inch AMOLED screen with a 144Hz refresh rate and 300Hz touch sampling. It features a double curve design in which both the front and back of the phone are curved for ergonomics and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

Where to get the ZTE Axon 30 Ultra

The ZTE Axon 30 Ultra is priced at RM3,599 and can be purchased at
Shopee
, but you can get it at RM3,299 from 12am to 2am on August 25.

ZTE Axon 30 Ultra


ZTE Axon 7 finally gets Android Nougat and is now Daydream ready

280

After some minor issues which led to a delay, Android Nougat software is finally heading to ZTE’s Axon 7 devices. On top of that, the ZTE flagship will be Daydream ready with the software update. ZTE made the announcement on its Z-Community forums earlier today.

The Axon 7 was promised Android Nougat software and the company has finally started rolling out its OTA software update to Axon 7 handsets. With Android Nougat, the phone will now have multi-window support, enabling it to run two apps side by side. Nougat also brings more emojis into the social game. With the new software, ZTE’s flagship has been given a new breath of life, making it a device to buy with its attractive price point. The details of the software update can be found below:

Android OS Upgraded from 6.0.1 to 7.0

Axon 7 2017U is Now Daydream Ready! Get a Daydream View to experience VR today.

Camera RAW Implemented in Manual Mode and Enhanced Auto-Focus for Camera.

Google Security Patch Updated to December 2016

Various Device Stability and Security Improvements.

Hiya Caller ID/Blocking added to default dialer.

Miscellaneous Performance Improvements and other Enhancements.

NOTE: Manual Restart Required After Upgrading.

The ZTE Axon 7 is the first known device with Daydream compatibility. The software update makes the phone Daydream ready, which means Axon 7 users can pair their phone with Google’s affordable Daydream VR headset for a virtual reality experience, taking advantage of the handset’s 5.5-inch QHD display.

The software update should be heading to you if you happen to be using the ZTE Axon 7. Just check and refresh for software updates if you haven’t. What do you think?

Source:
Z-Community

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ZTE Axon 7 Max to launch on October 27

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Earlier this week, ZTE launched the Nubia Z11 Mini S, a refreshed Nubia Z11 Mini. The handset featured fairly impressive specs, along with an attractive camera package of 21MP and 13MP front and rear cameras respectively. Now that ZTE has taken care of its sub brand Nubia, the Axon 7 Max is said to be unveiled next week on the 27th of October.

The Chinese manufacturer has begun sending out invites for an October 27 event in China. ZTE is looking forward yet again, barely a week after the launch of the Nubia Z11 Mini S. Recently, rumors tell us that the ZTE Axon 7 Max is larger than the company’s current flagship handset the Axon 7. Furthermore, the Axon 7 Max is said to be the successor of last year’s Axon Max.

So far, the Axon 7 Max has been rumored to sport a 6-inch Full HD display to live up to its “Max” title. The internals of the phablet include a mid range Snapdragon 625 chipset, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The phone is said to be featuring a dual camera setup as opposed to the Axon 7’s single 20MP camera, though that part of the story is still pretty vague. The Axon 7 Max should be featuring a similar rear fingerprint sensor as seen on the Axon 7, plus it should be packing a larger battery as well.

We have less than a week left till the said launch of the ZTE Axon 7 Max. What are your thoughts on the ZTE phablet’s specs so far? Let us know in the comments section below!

Source:
GizmoChina

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ZTE Axon 7 receives software update, Nougat coming soon

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The ZTE Axon 7 stormed the smartphone market with its flagship specs for a very affordable price tag. The Axon 7 has since joined the ranks of the Xiaomi Mi 5 and the OnePlus 3, to some extent even edging out the handsets with its 2K resolution 5.5-inch display and front facing stereo speakers. All of this comes with what some may call a compromise, and that’s in its heavily skinned software – the Mifavor UI. Though the Axon 7 may fall short in this department, it seems like the budget flagship may be getting Android Nougat sooner than most of the OEM’s out there.

ZTE has started rolling out an OTA update for the Axon 7, packing a whole bunch of fixes and improvements. One of the notable ones is the RF (radio frequency) performance, in which the Axon 7 seems to fare slightly under par when compared to the competition. On top of further battery optimization with the update, there is a newly added feature known as “Fast battery drain apps” which will help identify apps that are battery draining culprits. ZTE has also improved its camera software, with general focus enhancements. The whole changelog with full details of the update can be found
here
.

Along with the announcement of the update, ZTE has also hinted at an Android Nougat update coming soon – “let’s just say I’ve seen some Nougat crumbles around the office lately.” It looks like Axon 7 users won’t have to wait too long to get their hands on the latest version of Android. Do you happen to be a ZTE Axon 7 user? Let us know what you think at the comments section below!

Source:
ZTE

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ZTE Axon 7 teaser appears in the papers

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ZTE is gearing up for the launch of its upcoming flagship less than a week for now. The flagship device is tipped to be known as the Axon 7. The CEO of ZTE has teased the Axon 7 on the web not too long ago, comparing it with the iPhone 6s and Huawei P9, boasting a screw-less bottom design. It seems like the ZTE Axon 7 is being teased in the papers as well, in a full page ZTE ad.

The ZTE ad which teases the Axon 7 was spotted on the back page of US newspaper The Wall Street Journal a couple of days ago. The ad reveals the front panel of the phone, or half of it, enough to give us some expectations of the upcoming flagship phone. Front facing speakers are almost a sure thing now on the ZTE Axon 7, as the image reveals a speaker grille right above the display, but that isn’t the only attractive element of the device. Also seen are ultra-thin bezels surrounding the display, along with subtly curved edges.

Based on the past couple of rumors and leaks, the ZTE Axon 7 is slated to sport a QHD display at 5.5 inches, a Snapdragon 820 SoC with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. On the camera side, we’ll be expecting a 20MP primary camera coupled with an 8MP selfie shooter. The Axon 7 is also rumored to pack a rear fingerprint scanner, as shown earlier via Chinese certification site TENAA. What do you think?

Source:
TechnoBuffalo

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ZTE Axon 7 users will receive Android Nougat this coming January, or at least in Germany

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Android fragmentation still remains an issue to this date. As much as the operating system has improved and matured over the years, the adoption of the latest Android version on an annual basis still remains very low. Since the launch of Android Nougat, it appears that only 0.3 percent of Android users are on the latest Android OS. Nevertheless, major OEM’s have been working hard behind the scenes to provide their users with the latest Android experience, and it looks like ZTE will be on the early list.

According to a tweet by ZTE Germany (ZTE Mobile DE), Axon 7 users will be getting their cut of Android 7.0 Nougat in January, which happens to be less than two months away. This announcement comes after LG began rolling out Nougat software updates to its South Korean users earlier this week, plus Samsung’s Galaxy Beta Program that was announced for Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge users just several hours earlier today. If ZTE stays true to its claim on a January Nougat rollout, it might possibly beat Samsung to the Nougat chase for its devices.

The tweet by ZTE Mobile DE did not mention whether or not the rollout will be region specific, or a gradual rollout starting from a certain region before spreading worldwide. The Axon 7, one of the underdogs among the big players with high end specs and a low price. Announced earlier this year in May, the Axon 7’s software happens to be less polished when compared to the competition, running on Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 with MiFavor UI skinned on top. Let’s hope that an Android Nougat software update will bring some changes and improvements.

Source:
ZTE Mobile DE (Twitter)

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ZTE Axon M to hit the stores November 1

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ZTE has been laying low in the flagship game for the most part of 2017. Although the company’s latest “flagship” offering isn’t a flagship by technical means, it is a rather unique device. The revolutionary ZTE Axon M has been announced earlier this month, and will finally go on sale tomorrow on November 1.

The ZTE Axon M, which will be available exclusively via US major carrier AT&T,  finally had its release date announced. AT&T will be selling the handset on its online store starting tomorrow, and will be available at physical stores on 17 November.

Just to recap, the ZTE Axon M features two 5.2-inch displays side by side which can be folded into a single 5.2-inch handset. Underneath the hood is last year’s flagship processor – a Snapdragon 821 chipset, assisted by 4GB of RAM.

The screen can be extended to two screens, which will act as a larger expanded display for a more immersive media consumption experience. Speaking of which, there are dual speakers with Dolby audio technology. The rear 20MP camera is no slouch too.

The ZTE Axon M will carry a premium price tag of $725. Would you like to see the arrival of the Axon M to Malaysian shores?

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ZTE Blade A51: Budget smartphone launched and priced below RM500

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The ZTE Blade A51 is the latest offering from the company that caters to the entry-level segment of the Malaysian market. Priced at RM419, the device has a dual-camera setup, an octa-core processor and runs on Android R Go.

The ZTE Blade A51 comes with a 6.52-inch HD+ screen with a water drop notch that houses its 5MP selfie camera. It is available in Steel Blue and Pearl Grey, but sports a rather dull design with a fingerprint sensor on the back. On the front, you have thin side bezels, but a slightly thicker top bezel and a much thicker chin.

It’s neither a MediaTek nor a Qualcomm processor

Under the hood, the ZTE Blade A51 is powered by lesser-known chipset, the UniSOC SC9863A; this chip comes with 8 ARM Cortex-A55 cores. It has a single storage configuration — 2GB of RAM paired with 64GB of storage. While some budget phones sport a 5,000mAh battery, ZTE did not do the same. Instead, you’re getting a 3,200mAh battery with a USB-C port. On its rear, the phone features a 13MP camera and a 2MP bokeh lens.

You can get the ZTE Blade A51 on Shopee now

The ZTE Blade A51 can already be purchased on ZTE’s official store on
Shopee
 at RM419, but there is no option to pick the colour variant.

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ZTE Blade A51


ZTE Blade A71 launched at RM499

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ZTE has launched several devices this year; its newest latest offering is yet another affordable smartphone, the ZTE Blade A71.

ZTE Blade A71 specs

The Blade A71 is an entry-level device priced at only RM499; it comes with a 6.52-inch HD+ screen and a waterdrop notch that houses an 8MP front camera.

Under the hood, this phone is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 800U octa-core processor and comes with 3GB of RAM paired with 64GB of storage.

Despite being a budget phone, the Blade A71 has a triple-rear camera setup featuring a 16MP camera with f/1.8 aperture, an 8MP ultra-wide lens with 120º FOV and a 2MP depth sensor.

Its 4,000mAh battery charges via a USB-C cable, plus it also comes with NFC support.

While the phone has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, users can also use the 8MP front camera for face unlock.

The ZTE Blade A71 is only available in Blue and can be purchased from ZTE’s official store on
Lazada
 and
Shopee
.

If you’re one of the first 100 customers to pre-order this device from October 13 to October 17, you’ll also be entitled to a free Bluetooth speaker.

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ZTE Blade A71


ZTE Blade V7 Lite Review: entry-level smartphones have never looked this good

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If you are watching the tech space closely, ZTE is a common household name that you can find in networking devices and your telco’s cell tower is probably be powered by ZTE’s hardware to deliver LTE services. The company hasn’t been releasing hero devices for a while and their products have recently been overshadowed by many other Chinese smartphones, however things might actually shake up a little with the introduction of the ZTE Blade V7 series smartphone, particularly the Blade V7 Lite, an affordable and handsome looking smartphone that features great aesthetics with entry-level hardware, this may not be the most impressive product on paper, but there are things that will definitely appeal to the entry-level user category.

Design

Design is a thing that many Chinese phone makers have been emphasizing on their products, while an all metal unibody is nothing to shout about, ZTE has specifically highlighted that the phone is designed in Munich, a home to German car makers, and we can see why the company is so proud about it. Aesthetically, the Blade V7 Lite is a very compact and lightweight device despite having an all metal built, measuring a mere 7.9mm thickness, this is the slimmest smartphone you can find in the entry level category.

The Blade V7 Lite is one of the most interesting entry-level smartphones I’ve ever come across, most people I’ve shown the phone couldn’t believe that this is an entry level device, as ZTE has really done a great job on the overall product design, the 5-inch HD display is coated with 2.5D curved glass, the row of capacitive buttons light up nicely in blue when pressed and it even lets you configure the recent app and back keys.

Turn over the device and you will realize that it sports chamfered edges around its frame and has a very nice chrome ring around the camera lens, which are design attributes that you will not usually find in the same category of smartphones. The rear fingerprint scanner is also a very practical design that reminds us dearly of many higher end smartphones, the two loudspeakers on the back will sound loud enough for most people.

Under the hood, the Blade V7 Lite is powered by an old but familiar MediaTek MT6735P 1.0GHz quad-core SoC, while it isn’t the best chip in today’s Android entry-level standards, ZTE has thankfully given 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage, which still isn’t too shabby. The phone supports Dual SIM standby with both slots able to connect to 4G LTE networks, it also has a rather generous 2500mAh battery that I find it to be decent in my usage.

Android 6.0 works great on an entry-level hardware

I have to commend ZTE in the software department, as the Blade V7 Lite is probably one of the only few entry-level devices that comes preloaded with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which is so unlike many other smartphones that still come with an older iteration of Android. Android Marshmallow brings a series of performance improvements to the table, which is why the Blade V7 Lite is such a great smartphone to use despite having entry-level hardware, there’s still noticeable lags from time to time however the experience has been rather reliable in my usage.

ZTE has made effort in making the fingerprint scanner more useful, even though it doesn’t support unlocking without turning on your display, you can assign apps to be launched with different fingers, turn on the flashlight without unlocking the phone, double tap to capture a screenshot, encrypt content in a private space and many more practical features that some users will love.

The phone surprisingly has Arkamys audio equalizer preinstalled that aims to improve the audio listening experience, there’s sadly no equalizer for customizing audio effects however it does tend to offer a good listening experience on headphones, no doubt it is still no match to its competitors like MaxxAudio, Dolby or HTC’s BoomSound, users can be assured of a better audio quality than other entry-level smartphones.

The Blade V7 Lite’s software experience is overall a great one, ZTE has kept it clean and simple with no bloatware hogging down the system resource, the launcher however lacks customizability such as changing themes, fonts and icons, you can easily resolve that by installing a 3rd party launcher, in my case I’ve been using Google Now launcher throughout the review period.

Camera

For the price that you are paying for the phone, you shouldn’t expect the phone’s camera to perform great despite having a fairly high 13-megapixel resolution, photos taken with the phone look rather grainy even in great lighting conditions, the camera software is great though as it offers a certain level of tuning to photos, but sadly you can’t really take a decent photo out of it.

The front camera however is a different story, it captures 8-megapixel photos and has an LED flash to brighten up your face in low lighting conditions, it also has a panorama feature that helps you take wefies if you ever need to.

Benchmark and Battery Life

In real world usage, the phone performs fine as an entry-level device, users shouldn’t expect it to open apps in blazing fast speeds and a great score on performance benchmarks, the phone’s hardware also doesn’t do well in the graphics department, you may experience lags even in casual games like Candy Crush Soda.

The ZTE Blade V7 Lite hasn’t been used very heavily in my one week review period and despite being my daily driver, the phone’s battery life is decent as I’ll have around 35%-40% left at the end of the day, hence I would assume it to last a full working day with a 3-hour on screen time.

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ZTE Blade V7 Max Review: Finally, ZTE made a decent mid-range premium phone

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ZTE may have made a big announcement of the Axon 7 here, but let’s not forget that the company has some other decent smartphones in its portfolio. The Blade V7 series, which was announced a few months back is the company’s first ever attempt to challenge the mid-range smartphone category this year, and our experience with the Blade V7 Lite has been a rather good one. Two weeks back I received the Blade V7 Max  from ZTE and I have to admit I have almost forgotten about its existence due to the hype on the Axon 7, not only the phone feels totally different from the V7 Lite, it still maintains the solid metal build that I have commended on its lower end sibling and it packs a totally different set of hardware – Faster, in this case.

Design and Hardware

On first impressions, the V7 Max is a good looking device, it sports premium features like a metal unibody and chamfered edges that you will usually find on flagship devices, in fact it feels a lot better than the V7 Lite, which also has the same build quality. Aesthetically, the phone does weigh a little like many other metal clad smartphones, however with a 7.2mm slim body profile, the V7 Max is a rather slim smartphone, it feels very satisfying holding the device and if you have larger hands, you would find it possible to use the phone single handedly due to its hidden and slim screen bezel.

ZTE has also done something different from other smartphones on the hardware, the fingerprint scanner of the V7 Max is installed below the power button on the right side, which also unlocks as soon as it recognizes the finger, while its not the fastest and precise hardware I have seen, it works fine in most cases. In addition, the notification LED is on the capacitive home button, which pulses when the phone receives notifications or is charging, this is something that I haven’t been seeing a while on smartphones and I like it. On a side note, the V7 Max now charges and syncs via a USB-C port.

The V7 Max has a significantly powerful hardware specs than the V7 Lite, it is powered by a Mediatek Helio P10 CPU, there’s 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal memory that can be expanded with a MicroSD card, a 5.5-inch Full HD display with a 2.5D curved glass, a 3000mAh battery and takes dual SIM cards with 4G LTE support.

Software and User Experience

The Blade V7 Max comes preinstalled with ZTE’s very own MiFavor UI running on top of Android 6.0, there are a number of bloatware which I have removed after setting up the phone for the first time and I highly recommend you to do so, for instance Clean Master and the preinstalled Touchpal Keyboard, they infest the phone’s lock screen with apps when you are charging the device and it can get really annoying. Otherwise, I’m grateful that the custom skin hasn’t slowed down the phone’s performance.

I am not a big fan of ZTE’s software and I was eager to replace it after using it for a few days, the app icons aren’t pretty and you can’t do much things with the launcher, arranging apps can be a pain when you don’t have batch operations, there’s no themes to jazz up the user experience and you are left with a boring set of wallpapers, hence if you are the kind of user who wants to do a lot of customizations on your phone, you might want to install a third party launcher.

Otherwise, there are still good things on the phone’s software, for instance I can configure the capacitive menu buttons to have the back button to be either the right or left button, there’s a private space feature that stores private files, photos and messages, on and off screen motion gestures are also available if you want to perform certain tasks.

One thing that ZTE hasn’t really emphasis on the V7 Max is audio playback, the phone supports DTS audio, which is also an option that you can choose to enable in the phone’s sound settings, it significantly increases lower audio frequencies and makes audio sound more boomy, this is particularly good when it comes to watching movies on the phone, I would high recommend disabling that option if you are listening to music for long durations, as it also sounds extremely decent even without it.

Camera

To be honest, I was underwhelmed by the camera software, firstly it isn’t fun to use with the limited number of camera modes, the interface looks so dated that you won’t really find it friendly as well, ZTE should consider hiring a UX designer for its smartphone software.

I usually do not set high expectations on the camera performance of mid-range smartphones, the V7 Max packs a 16-megapixel main camera, which is the highest resolution I’ve seen in its class and suffice to say, it surprised me with great color saturation and sharp detail in good lighting conditions, which is something I haven’t seen a long time in mid-range smartphones, pictures can still get underexposed at times and the camera doesn’t do too well on low light, which is very typical for smartphone cameras of such range.

The front facing 8-megapixel performs fine, but it isn’t the best selfie shooter, make sure you keep those list of beautify apps handy if you take selfies frequently.

Benchmarks, Battery Life and Network

The Mediatek P10 CPU is no stranger to us and has been used in a number of smartphones, this processor in particular is a rather good overall performer in benchmarks and can easily outperform Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 61x processors, graphics performance was also decent and you should see decent framerates in most of your games, the phone does however get really hot when used for extended durations and that is common thing for metal smartphones.

While I have recorded a rather good battery life on the V7 Lite, the V7 Max isn’t a good performer in standby times, the battery screenshot that you see above is a very lightweight usage scenario, with a mere 35 minutes on screen time and around 15 minutes of watching movies on Viu, the phone will require a charge after a day and a half. Despite of that, the phone will still get you through an 8-hour work day with moderate use.

The V7 Max has no reception issues on U Mobile’s network, I had consistent LTE signals in supported coverage areas and  my callers have reported a clear voice from my end, this is also something that I have to commend ZTE for having its radios work really well within a metal chassis.

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The ZTE Blade Z Max is probably one of the most affordable phablets today

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While ZTE hasn’t been entirely active in Malaysia, the company has been heavily targeting the US market and of course, its home land China where it constantly churns out new devices. This time round, ZTE has launched a new phablet in partnership with US carrier MetroPCS. The ZTE Blade Z Max is another one of the company’s super affordable handsets.

The ZTE Blade’s Z Max’s screen size automatically places it into phablet category. Coming in at 6-inches, ZTE ensures that resolution won’t be compromised at a decent 1080p resolution. Underneath the hood, you’ll find a Snapdragon 425 SoC powering the Blade Z Max, along with 2GB of RAM and a respectable 32GB of storage which can be further expanded by another 128GB via the micro SD slot.

The Blade Z Max’s camera department isn’t of your usual entry level or mid range standard. Instead, the phone sports a dual rear camera setup of 16MP + 2MP sensors. Like most dual camera configurations, the Blade Z Max’s dual rear cameras are capable of producing images with depth of field and bokeh effects. The front facing camera is no slouch either at 8 megapixels.

The ZTE Blade Z Max comes packing a massive 4,080mAh battery, which on paper sounds more than enough for its power consumption, along with Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 support.

The ZTE Blade Z Max will likely remain a US exclusive via MetroPCS. However, it is worth noting that the phone can be obtained off-contract for an attractive price tag of $129 (RM 553.86).

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ZTE cancels crowdfunded Project CSX after 45 days on Kickstarter

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The ZTE Hawkeye certainly sounds like a cool and forward looking phone. ZTE claims “Project CSX”, or the Hawkeye handset to be made out of the opinions of the common man. The Chinese manufacturer however received a lot of flak when it revealed the specs of the Hawkeye. To the disappointment of the campaign backers, the internal specs of the phone were only mediocre at best, though it sported dual cameras, plus eye tracking technology for hands free scrolling.

ZTE has officially cancelled its project on crowd funding site Kickstarter, based on the beating of comments they got after the Hawkeye’s specs were revealed. ZTE initially wanted to save its project by upping the ante on the phone’s specs by a certain degree, but the price of the device could not be changed in any way. In a period of 45 days, Project CSX only managed to $36,245 out of its $500,000 goal.

ZTE has stated that the pledges will be voided and the money will be refunded to backers. The good news is this won’t be the last time we will be hearing from ZTE’s Hawkeye handset, as the company plans to implement the idea of Project CSX onto a higher spec-ed phone. ZTE intends to reevaluate on the current Hawkeye and has encouraged its fans to provide feedback on its Z-Community forum. Hopefully, ZTE will come back stronger with the idea of an eye tracking smartphone. What do you think?

Source:
ZTE (Kickstarter)

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ZTE delays Nougat update for Axon 7

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Just a couple of months back. ZTE Germany has announced that the company’s Axon 7 flagship smartphone will be getting Android Nougat software this month in January. However, ZTE Germany has just stated that the software will be delayed.

According to ZTE Mobile Deutschland’s post on Facebook, the Axon 7’s Nougat software will be pushed back to a later date. ZTE’s upcoming software is currently still in beta testing, as ZTE Mobile Deutschland has stated. It appears that the Android Nougat software does not meet the company’s standards and expectations at its current state. However, the software update will still be rolling out some time in Q1 2017, which means that users can expect the update to arrive as late as in March.

In order to speed up the testing process, ZTE is doubling up on beta testers, and has provided the link, providing details to users who intend to opt in on its beta program. Regardless, ZTE Axon 7 users will still have to remain patient till kingdom come. The 5.5-inch handset was launched in May 2016, sporting a QHD display, impressive flagship specs at nearly half the price of most flagship smartphones in the market, putting it in direct competition with the likes of OnePlus and Xiaomi. Do you happen to use an Axon 7 yourself?

Source:
ZTE

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ZTE has open pre orders for the new ZTE Blade V8

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ZTE has just open up pre orders on the band new ZTE Blade V8. ZTE Blade V8 excels when it comes to taking Bokeh photos and utilizing its 3D shooting abilities. Along side that, the Blade V8 will be able to take photos similar to those taken by SLR cameras in macro mode. The dual camera will allow picture taking in different angles and combine them together to create a high quality 3D image.

The ZTE Blade V8 comes packed with a  Snapdragon 435 Octa-core chipset clocked at 1.4 GHz and Android 7.0 with the new ZTE MiFavour UI 4.2. The two cameras at the back will be in 13MP and 2MP each with a 13MP camera at the front with flash. There is also a front fingerprint scanner, full HD screen and a VR goggles backing box and more. The device comes packed with a 5.2-inch screen and a 2.5D curved-edge glass offering stunning design on the front of the phone.

ZTE has open its pre order on the ZTE Blade V8. From 14th April 2017 to 20th April 2017, the device can be pre ordered from LAZADA to experience ZTE’s pride in their camera feature. For more information on the Blade V8 check out the official page at
http://ztedevices.com.my/index.php/2017/04/12/blade-v8/

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ZTE is banned from buying Qualcomm chips for seven years

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We were grounded by our parents, its usually no internet and games for a week, but when a company get ‘grounded’ it’s far more serious. In the case of ZTE, it’s a seven-year banned from buying any Qualcomm chips.

This issue came about when ZTE pleaded guilty last year to violating US Sanctions by illegally shipping US-made goods and technology to Iran. As part of their settlement, ZTE promised to fire four senior employees and reducing bonuses of 35 other employees. They have fired the four senior employees but did not reduce the bonuses of those 35 employees, which is why this ruling came to be. This is a huge blow to the company as Snapdragon processors are chips that people sought after.

The ZTE Axon 9, which is the company’s upcoming flagship phone that is supposed to come with a Snapdragon 845 might be in trouble. With this ban, it looks like ZTE will most probably delay the release of the phone to search for another chip supplier or figure out a solution to this ban.

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ZTE launches Axon 40 Pro – SD870 and 100MP camera from $499

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ZTE has launched the Axon 40 Pro in global markets, which is a slight step down model of the Axon 40 Ultra that was recently announced, but it is still one really good phone from the company.

Featuring a 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED curved screen that refreshes at 144Hz, the Axon 40 Pro is equipped with a Snapdragon 870 SoC and features up to 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage, it also has a 5000mAh battery that supports 65W fast charging, a quad camera system that comprise of a 100MP primary, 8MP ultra-wide, 4cm macro and depth sensor, not to forget to mention a front facing 16MP camera, which overall makes it one very attractive smartphone to own for under $500.

In other features, the Axon 40 Pro has stereo speakers and X-axis linear vibration motors, it ships with Android 12 with the company’s MyOS 12 skin running on top.

The ZTE Axon 40 Ultra will be available for purchase on ZTE’s official website starting today onwards, the phone will start at $499 for the 8GB+128GB storage variant and $599 for the 12GB+256GB storage variant, it will also be made available in the Malaysian market but there are still no official pricing details at this time of writing.

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ZTE launches Blade A72 5G and A52 Lite smartphones

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ZTE Malaysia is keeping its momentum high with the introduction of two new Blade series smartphones to the Malaysian market, they are the Blade A72 5G and A52 Lite, and here’s what you need to know about them.

ZTE Blade A72 5G

Not to be confused with the Blade A72, the Blade A72 5G is a much improved model with 5G connectivity, it is powered by a Mediatek Dimensity 700 chipset mated to 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage, the former can be expanded with an additional 2GB of virtual RAM to enable better multitasking, ZTE claims that the phone features a ‘5G super antenna’ to deliver ‘unrivalled level of network speed and stability’.

The Blade A72 5G comes with a 6.52-inch HD+ display that refreshes at 90Hz, a triple camera system that comprise of a 13MP primary camera, 4cm macro camera and 2MP depth camera, which is a pretty standard hardware package for a budget 5G smartphone, but its battery capacity of 4000mAh is underwhelming compared to the competition and there is no mention of any fast charging.

The ZTE Blade A72 5G retails at RM849 and can be purchased at ZTE’s official
Lazada
 and
Shopee
 store.

ZTE Blade A52 Lite

For those on a budget, the Blade A52 Lite will do the essentials well with a 6.52-inch HD+ display and is powered by a more modest UNISOC SC9863A processor, it comes with 2GB RAM and up to 64GB of storage, storage can further be expanded by a MicroSD card up to 1TB if you require more.

Camera wise, the Blade A52 Lite features a single 13MP main camera that comes with AI imaging capabilities, while selfies are being serviced by a modest 5MP front facing camera. In terms of power, the Blade A52 Lite has a 4000mAh battery and will support a regular 10W charging speed.

The ZTE Blade A52 Lite is available in 2GB RAM+32GB storage and 2GB RAM+64GB storage variants, it retails for RM389 and RM409 respectively, which you can purchase them at ZTE’s official
Lazada
 and
Shopee
 store.

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ZTE launches Blade V7 series metallic smartphone with great value

401

While gaining momentum in the smartphone market, ZTE has introduced the Blade V7 series metallic smartphone to the Malaysian market, the V7 Lite and V7 Max are two feature packed smartphones that offers consumers a premium built smartphone at an affordable value. In addition, the Blade V7 series smartphone is the only mid-entry level smartphones in the market that comes preloaded with Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Measuring a mere 7.2mm thickness, the Blade V7 Max comes with a speedy 1.8GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor mated to 3GB of RAM, it has a huge 5.5-inch Full HD display with 2.5D curved glass, a 16-megapixel main camera with PDAF and digital image stabilisation, an 8-megapixel front camera with LED flash, and a 3000mAh battery. On an interesting note, the V7 Max is one of the rare smartphones that features a side fingerprint scanner and uses USB Type-C as its data syncing and charging port.

On the other hand, the Blade V7 Lite is powered by a quad-core MediaTek MT6735P processor and comes with a 5-inch HD display, 13-megapixel main and 8-megapixel front cameras with LED flash, a reasonably huge 2500mAh battery, a rear mounted fingerprint scanner that unlocks the phone in 0.3 seconds and supports dual SIM 4G LTE standby, this hardware package sure makes it a really interesting device in its class.

ZTE will begin selling the Blade V7 Lite on 16th May at a promotional price of RM499 for a limited time, the company will also be hosting an end-user event taking place this Sunday at the ZTE Concept Kiosk in Low Yat Plaza where customers can stand a chance to own the Blade V7 Lite at 50% off its RM669 retail price. On the other hand, the higher end Blade V7 Max will be available at early June and retails at RM999.

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ZTE Malaysia introduces Blade V40 Design smartphone

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ZTE Malaysia has introduced the Blade V40 Design mid-range phone.

Slated to be the affordable entry into ZTE’s Blade V40 lineup, the Blade V40 Design sports some spec one would usually expect from an entry-level smartphone, and some that you wouldn’t.

On the surface, you’ll find a 6.6” inch Full HD+ display, with a teardrop front facing camera right at the top. Its thickness of 7.98mm makes it relatively comfortable to hold in the hand, and easy to slip into your pocket. On the back you’ll find the triple camera setup, with a 50MP main camera.

It comes with 128GB base storage, and 6GB of dynamic RAM that allows you to add 5GB more through the phone’s ROM. This makes it a pretty killer multitasking machine for all your productivity needs. The 4500mAh battery is also more than capable of handling a full day’s workload.

The phone will come in 2 colour options, an eye-catching Sky Blue option and a stealthier Starry Black variant. The standout feature of the phone is probably its NFC feature, which allows you to interact with all manners of devices and services, including topping up your Touch ‘N Go NFC card.

The phone will be priced at RM649, and pre-ordering the phone will also score you RM100 worth of goodies, including a ZTE moveable table lamp, ZTE 3 in 1 USB cable, TPU casing, and a tempered glass.

The ZTE Blade V40 Design is available for purchase on ZTE Malaysia’s
Shopee
 and
Lazada
 Official Stores.

blade v40 design
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ZTE Malaysia introduces two new affordable smartphones

2.7K

ZTE seems to be picking up its pace in Malaysia, as it has introduced two new affordable smartphone for the masses, they  the Blade A52 and Blade A72.

The Blade A52 runs Android 11 Go and features a 6.52-inch display that pushes a HD+ resolution, it is powered by a Unisoc octa-core chipset and has a rather interesting storage configuration of 2GB RAM and 64GB storage, it has a triple camera system that comprise of a 13MP + 2MP Macro + 2MP Depth sensors, a 5000mAh battery that should last for days and lastly, it retails at a really affordable price of RM399.

The Blade A72 on the other hand runs the full fledge version of Android 11, it features a large 6.74-inch HD+ display that refreshes at 90Hz and is also powered by a Unisoc Octa core chipset, it has 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, while it features a virtual RAM expansion feature of 2GB if you find that insufficient, it has a whooping 6000mAh battery that supports 22.5W fast charging.

As for pricing, the ZTE Blade A72 will retail at just a shy RM100 extra than the A52 at RM499.

Interesting phones from ZTE right?

blade a52
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ZTE Malaysia launches the Axon 7 smartphone, retails at RM1,999

383

While ZTE has unveiled its powerful
nubia Z11 smartphone
 at IFA Berlin, the long anticipated flagship Axon 7 has made its official debut here today, the Axon 7 is the most premium smartphone ever released and challenges the flagship range with powerful specs sheet. The Axon 7 is powered by a Snapdragon 820 chipset mated to 4GB of RAM, it has 64GB of UFS 2.0 flash memory that can be expanded via a micro SD card up to 128GB. In other hardware aspects, the phone features a 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED display with a 2.5D curved glass protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4, it sports an impressive optical and electronic stabilised 20-megapixel main shooter with a fast f/1.8 aperture that takes 240FPS HD slow motion videos, the selfie shooter takes 8-megapixel stills with a f/2.2 aperture while a 3250mAh battery powers the device with Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 support.

As you would expect from a flagship smartphone today, the ZTE Axon 7 features an all metal unibody design that measures as thin as 7.9mm. The phone’s design, as ZTE claims, is an integrated result of an technical expertise and creative input from both ZTE and BMW’s global design consultancy, Designworks. What’s really badass about the Axon 7 would be its dual front facing speakers, which takes on the design of HTC’s famous BoomSound speakers and features Dolby ATMOS and Dolby Digital Surround sound, there’s also built-in AK4961 and AK4490 audio processors that offers up to 32-bit Hi-Fi playback and recording.

In conjunction with the launch of the Axon 7, ZTE Malaysia will be conducting a roadshow tour of the device called the ZTE Tour, which is a mobile truck that will tour around residential areas, shopping malls, colleges and universities in more than 10 cities to offer customers a chance to get a hands on with the Axon 7, locations of the mobile truck will be updated on ZTE Malaysia’s Facebook page. The ZTE Axon 7 is available for preorders starting today at Lazada and will be sold at RM1,999, the phone is only available in Ion Gold colour at this point of time while the Quartz Grey color will make its way here in October 2016, the first 30 customers to preorder the ZTE Axon 7 will receive a ZTE VR headset worth RM399, you know where to spend your pay check now.

Meanwhile, check out our unboxing video and first look of the ZTE Axon 7.

7
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ZTE Nubia X8 and X8 Max to pack 4GB of RAM each

287

Smartphone manufacturers have maintained the 4GB RAM spec in their flagship handsets, since it’s probably unnecessary to go overkill on the spec sheet. But of course, there are some exceptions, or at least a single one for now – VIVO’s XPlay 5 is packing a whopping 6GB of RAM underneath the hood, which is unnecessary but an eye candy on the spec sheet for spec enthusiasts. Mid range smartphones have also caught up in the RAM game, many of which run off 3GB of RAM, and ZTE is rumored to be powering the Nubia X8 and X8 Max with 4GB of RAM each.

Both handsets are expected to unwrap in ZTE’s rumored April 19th Beijing event, alongside with the alleged launch of the ZTE Z11 lineup of smartphones. First of all, the Nubia X8 sports a 5.5-inch 1080p display and the Nubia X8 Max has a bumped up display size of 6 inches with the same resolution at full HD. Based on the above image, these devices look pretty with seemingly ultra-slim bezels surrounding the display. Underneath the hood, the X8 is rumored to be powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 617 processor while the X8 Max is said to feature a Snapdragon 652 SoC. Both handsets will be running a massive horsepower of 4GB of RAM. For storage, the X8 has 32GB and X8 Max carries double of that at 64GB.

On the battery side of things is where the X8 loses out a little, or maybe it doesn’t require that much power since it’s packing a 2,900mAh battery compared to the supersized 4,000mAh battery in the X8 Max. Both devices are level again in the camera department, sporting 16MP and 8MP pairs of rear and front facing shooters. They are rumored to run Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box which may seem possible, given the crawling pace of Android Marshmallow adoption by OEM’s. Closing in on flagship devices, the ZTE Nubia X8 and X8 Max both house metal builds and feature fingerprint scanners on them.

Source:
Tenaa

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ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini announced with mandatory fingerprint sensor and USB Type-C

313

Nubia, a subsidiary by ZTE has announced the Nubia Z11 Mini, the successor to the Z9 Mini from last year. Oddly, Nubia hasn’t released the “normal-sized” model of the Z11, which will obviously be named without the Mini title. On top of that, the Nubia Z11 Mini isn’t as mini-sized as expected.

For starters, the Nubia Z11 Mini sports a 5.0-inch full HD display covered by 2.5D glass. The handset comes packed with a decently impressive octa-core Snapdragon 617 SoC, 3GB of RAM and a sufficient 64GB of expandable storage. Powering the Z11 Mini is a 2,800mAh battery, which is an acceptable capacity for a device of that form factor. On the camera side of things is where the Z11 Mini starts to impress. It features a 16MP camera, carrying a Sony IMX298 image sensor, the same sensor found on flagships by other Chinese OEM’s – the Huawei Mate 8, the OPPO R9 Plus and Xiaomi’s Mi 5. The rear camera comes with a f/2.0 aperture and supports RAW images. The attractive package goes on further with an 8MP selfie shooter, which has 1.4um pixels which absorbs more light.

The Z11 Mini comes with a rear fingerprint sensor, a dual SIM card slot, VoLTE support, DTS sound and a USB Type-C port as an added bonus. However, the handset is still running Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box, with Nubia’s own UI on top. The device is available in Gold, Black and White models and is already up for pre-orders in China. We will most likely be seeing the Z11 Mini arrive to Malaysian shores alongside other Asian countries. The Nubia Z11 Mini comes at an attractive price point of 1,499 CNY (RM891.24). Meanwhile, stay tuned as we wait for the bigger Nubia Z11 to be announced.

Source:
Nubia

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ZTE officially unveils Axon 7 with up to 6GB RAM

314

ZTE finally announces the successor to the Axon Pro, the Axon 7. The handset retains many design elements from the Axon Pro, and features high end flagship specs, screaming premium from the inside out.

For starters, the ZTE Axon 7 is housed by an aluminium unibody, typical of any flagship smartphone out in the market right now. ZTE has also spiced up the names of the color options available – Ion Gold and Quartz Grey. On the front is a QHD 5.5-inch AMOLED display panel, sandwiched between the top and bottom front facing speaker grills. Protecting the high-res display is Corning’s Gorilla Glass 4.

Underneath the hood, we’re looking at the flagship standard Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor clocked at 2.2GHz, coupled with an Adreno 530 GPU. Memory wise, there are two options – 4GB RAM with 64GB of internal storage or 6GB with 128GB of internal storage. Not only that, storage is also expandable via micro SD, giving you a maximum extra of 128GB. The camera department is far from being a slouch either. A 20MP PDAF primary camera with OIS and an aperture of f/1.8, coupled with an 8MP front facing shooter. Below the camera sits something which is new to the Axon lineup – a fingerprint sensor. ZTE has also opted for a USB Type-C port for future proofing. The Axon 7 comes packed with a non-removable 3,140mAh battery and supports Quick Charge 3.0. The handset runs Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 out of the box, with ZTE’s MiFavor UI 4.0 on top.

Will the ZTE Axon 7 make an appearance in Malaysia? The company has just unveiled the entry level
 ZTE Blade V7 Lite
 locally. Catch our take on the Blade V7 Lite
here
. What do you think of the ZTE Axon 7?

Source:
Android Authority

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ZTE reportedly stops production of Axon 7

433

ZTE triumphed in the smartphone market last year, with the likes of the Axon 7 making headlines all over, even trumping the OnePlus 3 with a higher resolution display at a similar price point. The ZTE Axon 7 turned out to be one of the most bang for your buck flagship smartphones in 2016, with top specs, a QHD display and front firing speakers. While an Axon 8 is still being anticipated, ZTE has reportedly ceased production for the Axon 7.

Although the ZTE Axon 7 is already around 18 months old, the Snapdragon 820 processor should still pack a punch for another year or two. According to a thread on Reddit, an individual was told that the Axon 7 won’t be available for sale moving forward. The phone is also listed as out of stock on ZTE’s official US store. This not only hints at the ceased production of the handset, but also the impending arrival of a successor.

There have been rumors of a ZTE Axon 8 making an appearance, but they still seem wishy washy to date, which brings us to conclude that there won’t be an Axon 7 successor this year. Just recently, the Chinese manufacturer unveiled the Axon M, which features a foldable screen, but not of 2017 flagship territory as it features last year’s Snapdragon 821 chipset. Do you think there will be an Axon 8?

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ZTE reveals specs of its Hawkeye phone

405

Chinese manufacturer ZTE has launched a Kickstarter campaign for Project CSX, which stands for Project Crowd Source X. The company went through voting round which involves consumers from across the globe in deciding what the phone will be. The phone carries the “Hawkeye” name, and had its Kickstarter campaign up and running two weeks ago, but little about its specs have been revealed, till today.

The ZTE Hawkeye sports a 5.5-inch Full HD display on the front, along with its eye tracking technology, enabling users to scroll through the phone with their eyes, hence a hands free experience. Underneath the hood is where we discover that the Hawkeye isn’t a high end flagship smartphone, packing a Snapdragon 625 processor clocked at 2.0 GHz, alongside 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage.

The Hawkeye features a dual rear camera configuration of 13MP and 12MP with optical zoom, making it yet another ZTE handset with dual shooters on the back. The front facing camera on the other hand, is of 8 megapixels. Below the rear camera setup sits a circular fingerprint sensor. The ZTE Hawkeye packs a 3,000mAh battery, but only supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0. It will run Android Nougat software out of the box.

The ZTE Hawkeye can be backed on Kickstarter for an affordable $199 (RM888.04), which sounds like a bang for your buck device considering the eye tracking tech and dual camera setup. The phone also comes with an optional self adhesive case which allows the phone to be mounted on vertical surfaces, further enhancing the hands free experience. The Hawkeye is slated to be shipped to backers in September this year.

Source:
Kickstarter

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The ZTE Small Fresh 5 is the latest addition to its dual cam handsets

304

ZTE has been increasing its inventory of dual camera smartphones. The most notable dual camera smartphone lineup was the Blade V8, ranging from entry level to mid range. The Chinese smartphone maker is at it again, with a uniquely named ZTE Small Fresh 5 smartphone.

The ZTE Small Fresh 5 is now one of the bunch of dual camera devices by ZTE. The phone sports a 5-inch display in 720p HD resolution. Underneath the hood is an entry level Snapdragon 425 processor along with either 3GB or 4GB of RAM. The 3GB RAM model will come with 16GB of storage and the 4GB RAM model with 32GB. Storage is expandable to an extra 128GB.

The dual camera configuration features a 13MP and a 2MP sensor. This dual cam setup is capable of producing images with bokeh effects, plus 3D images just like ZTE’s other current dual cam smartphones. The front facing camera is a standard affair at 5 megapixels. ZTE claims the Small Fresh 5 to have two additional physical buttons, though the function of those weren’t disclosed. The phone packs a 2,500mAh battery.

The ZTE Small Fresh 5 will most likely be exclusive to the Chinese market for the time being. The 3GB RAM model costs CNY 999 (RM627.50) while the 4GB RAM model will go for CNY 1,399 (RM878.74)

3d images
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ZTE Star 1 enters the Malaysian market like a star

270

ZTE is the name behind most of our local network operator’s infrastructure and you might even find that on your stock broadband router. While the company has been big in MWC, its presence on mobile phones isn’t that great here. However this time, ZTE has decided to make a come back to the Malaysian smartphone market by launching the ZTE Star 1 smartphone.

ZTE Mobile has made Malaysia the first Asia-Pacific country to launch its latest smartphone as they’ve identified great potential here and believe in giving consumers more choices in buying smartphones. The ZTE Star 1 isn’t exactly the company’s flagship offering but its hardware specifications isn’t too shabby, the phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 1.6GHz Quad-Core processor mated with 2GB of RAM, it has an 8 Megapixel main camera capable of taking 4cm macro shots and a 5 Megapixel front facing camera, 5-inch Full HD IPS display, 16GB of internal memory and a 2,300mAh battery.

The thing that makes the ZTE Star 1 really interesting is the number of network bands it is able to support, ZTE calls it a real world phone by making it support FDD, TDD, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA and GSM networks while being able to ride on 14 network bands, which makes it really impressive and will suit those who travels around the world.

The ZTE Star 1 retails at RM1,088, which isn’t too bad considering for its premium hardware built and features you are getting out of the box.

ZTE Mobile also took the opportunity to introduce a couple of entry-mid level Blade series line up – The Blade VEC Pro, Blade V5, Blade L2, and Blade G LUX. These devices will be priced from RM388 to RM788 while most of them having impressive displays and have a mixture of Qualcomm and Mediatek processors.

The ZTE Star 1 and Blade series are available at resellers nationwide and there are a number of distributors carrying their devices so you’ll be assured of sufficient stock supply.


ZTE unveils Blade A910 and Blade V7 Max

305

Following the announcement of the ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini less than a week ago, the Chinese OEM has unveiled two more devices that come in pretty impressive packages as well. In the Beijing event, ZTE unveiled the ZTE Blade A910 and the ZTA Blade V7 Max, carrying on its successful run so far.

Let’s start off with the ZTE Blade A910. The handset sports a vibrant AMOLED live color display at 5.5 inches, but at a sub-par 720p resolution. It is housed in a all-metal body and a slim form factor of only 6.9mm in thickness. Underneath the hood is a quad-core MediaTek MT6735 SoC clocked at 1.3GHz and a Mali-T720 GPU alongside an option of 2 or 3GB of RAM and 16GB or 32GB of expandable storage respectively. The Blade A910 features a 13MP rear camera with PDAF and a 8MP selfie shooter. It packs a 2,540mAh battery and a rear fingerprint sensor. Taking yet another disappointing turn is the handset operates Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box.

The ZTE Blade V7 Max carries a much cooler name than the A910, hence it comes with a more impressive spec sheet as well. A 5.5-inch 1080p display with 2.5D curved glass and a non-specified 1.8GHz octa-core processor powering the device. It is available in 3GB or 4GB of RAM witha 32GB of expandable storage via micro SD. In the camera department, the Blade V7 Max has a 16MP PDAF rear camera and a 8MP selfie camera. Compared to the A910, this handset packs more battery capacity at 3,000mAh, not to mention the mandatory fingerprint sensor as well. The DTS audio comes as an added bonus to this device, and thankfully, it runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, with ZTE;s MiFavor UI skinned on top.

The ZTE Blade A910 comes priced at 1,299 CNY (RM780.87) for the 2GB RAM model and 1,499 CNY (RM901.10) for the 3GB RAM version whereas the more powerful ZTE Blade V7 Max carries a price tag of 1,799 CNY (RM1,081.44) for the 3GB RAM variant and 1,999 CNY (RM1,201.67) for the 4GB RAM variant. Is a 720p resolution display acceptable in 2016?

Source:
GizmoChina

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ZTE unveils entry level Grand X View 2 tablet

294

Nothing much has been going on in the world of tablets, as overall sales continue to plunge this year. We all do know that Apple launched the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and from the Android side, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3. ZTE has made its mark once again with the rare tablet release from the Chinese manufacturer.

The ZTE Grand X View 2 has debuted in Canada once again, like its predecessor the Grand X View nearly two years ago. By the looks of it, the Grand X View 2 is mainly meant for simple and non-demanding tasks, as it is an entry level device.

First off, you’ll find an 8-inch display on the front in 1280 x 800 resolution. Underneath the hood is a measly sounding Snapdragon 210 processor clocked at 1.3 GHz, alongside only 1GB of RAM. 8GB of internal storage seems rather sub par as well, but can fortunately be expanded via the micro SD slot.

Luckily for ZTE, tablets are generally used for media consumption and simple tasks such as web browsing. Given its low end specs, you shouldn’t expect heavy games to run smoothly, or multi tasking. Maybe ZTE should stick to making phones. What do you think?

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ZTE unveils Spro Plus Smart Projector

330

ZTE welcomes a new addition to its Spro lineup of smart projectors at MWC. Introducing, the Spro Plus Smart Projector, which is deemed as the successor for the Spro 2. With the Spro Plus, ZTE is taking the smart projector a step further, aiming at business and entertainment use.

The Spro Plus features a whopping QHD resolution AMOLED touch screen at 8.4 inches, powered by a big 12,100mAh battery, though there were no claims on the smart projector’s battery life. Under the hood lies either a Snapdragon 801 or 625, with an option of 32GB or 128GB of expandable storage. It runs Android Marshmallow and comes in WiFi and LTE variants.

With an improved projection ratio, placing the Spro Plus at a distance of 2.4 metres can project an 80-inch image on the wall. The smart projector also uses laser technology instead of LED, to achieve an ideal luminescence of 500lm under daylight or in a dark room. On the audio side, the Spro Plus has two 4w speakers featuring JBL Audio System, and HARMAN sub-miniature microphones for crystal clear voice pickups, with the ability to detect voices from as far as five metres away, ideal for group meetings.

ZTE is offering an IR Touch Pen, a game controller, a bag and a tripod alongside the Spro Plus. Based on what the smart projector can offer, we’re guessing that it certainly won’t be cheap, let alone affordable for the average consumer. Stay tuned for more MWC coverage!

Source:
ZTE

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ZTE unveils the Axon 7s with a couple of minor upgrades

329

The ZTE Axon 7 was one of the few phones that stood out among the sea of affordable budget flagship smartphones by Chinese manufacturers. Its dual front facing speakers, Google Daydream compatibility and the 2K resolution display made the phone stand out even more. Although it has been nearly a year since it was announced back in May 2016, the ZTE flagship can still put up quite a fight in today’s standards, and it looks like ZTE has given the phone a refresh just enough to be on par with newer flagships.

ZTE has officially unveiled the Axon 7s, a follow up to the Axon 7. Like most other “S” iterations of smartphones, the Axon 7s doesn’t have too much of a difference when compared to its predecessor. The first notable difference is a dual rear camera configuration which has made a come back from the original ZTE Axon. For reference, the ZTE Axon 7 Max we saw at CES 2017 features a dual camera setup of 13MP sensors. ZTE however did not specify on the dual cameras on the Axon 7s.

Other upgrades include a slightly newer Snapdragon 821 processor underneath the hood, plus a larger 4,100mAh battery. The Axon 7 Max also received a refresh, now dubbed the Industry Edition. The phablet too gets a Snapdragon 821 processor and the 4,100mAh battery. Not much has been revealed other than that as the Axon 7s and the Axon 7 Max Industry Edition will only be made available to government officials in China, equipped with extra security measures and better encryption.

We can’t be certain as to whether ZTE will be launching a consumer version of the Axon 7s the new Axon 7 Max in the future. Would you get them if they were made available to the general public?

Source:
ZTE

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ZTE unveils the dual camera Blade V8 before CES 2017, by accident

307

CES 2017 is less than a week away, with no stop to the leaks and rumors that have poured in regarding the products that are slated to launch during one of the world’s biggest tech shows. The ZTE Blade V8 happens to be a victim of that too, but by the manufacturer itself, ZTE. The company has revealed the Blade V8 by accident on its own website, and was eventually taken down. Lucky for us, Russian site Hi-tech Mail has managed to pick up some details including hands on images before ZTE removed its blundering web page.

The ZTE Blade V8 is a mid range device, sporting a display of 5.2-inches at Full HD resolution. Underneath the hood sits a Snapdragon 435 processor, alongside 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. As mentioned earlier, the ZTE Blade V8 is a dual camera handset, therefore the rear camera consists of a 13MP + 2MP configuration. The 2MP sensor is said to gather depth information. The camera also has stereoscopic 3D photo support.

The mid ranger also has a fingerprint sensor equipped on the front, which supports fingerprint gestures for shortcuts. The fingerprint sensor is said to be able to read fingerprints from any angles, which is a smart move by ZTE. The Blade V8 will operate ZTE’s MiFavor UI 4.0 on top of Google’s latest Android Nougat software, which will be a plus as well. All these details, courtesy of a whoopsie by ZTE. The rest of the images can be found at the source link below. What do you think?

Source:
Hi-tech Mail

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ZTE will release a smartwatch called Quartz

314

With ZTE now having a stable presence in the smartphone market, the company now eyeing the smartwatch market as well. To do so, it appears that ZTE will be launching its first Android Wear 2.0-powered smartwatch called Quartz.

The watch itself was spotted when it was in the process of getting its Bluetooth certification under the model number ZW10. While the actual specifications of the Quartz has not been leaked so far, the certification process did reveal that the smartwatch will come with Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity that would allow the watch to connect to the internet even if it is not paired to a smartphone.

As promotional materials for the Quartz is supposedly “still in development”, it appears that the smartwatch itself is still quite a while away from being a fully functional product. Should that be the case, it is unlikely that ZTE will be showing off this watch at the upcoming MWC event at Barcelona.

Source:
VentureBeat

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ZTE Axon S is the first smartphone to come with a side slider

266

The Axon S is the newest device that ZTE is introducing, and this phone is also the first phone with a side slider, giving it a full display like the OPPO Find X and Xiaomi Mi MIX 3.

On its front, the Axon S has an OLED display with almost no bezels. It has 95% screen-to-body ratio, and its back appears in plain back with no fingerprint sensor and rear cameras; instead, it gets an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Image credit: Notebook Italia

One of the reasons why the back of the Axon S is in plain back with no cameras, no writings or fingerprint sensor is because it comes with a side slider that houses both its front and back cameras, and pictures have revealed that the phone will come with dual front cameras and triple rear cameras.

The rear cameras also seem to be revealed that it supports 5x optical zoom in addition to a 48MP main camera and a 19MP secondary camera. Lastly, the ZTE Axon S is said to be a 5G smartphone.

Axon S
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ZTE's Bargain King competition returns on Valentine's Day

279

ZTE’s “Bargain King” competition was a success as over ten thousand people participated in the three week long competition that sees people walking away with ZTE phones at just a fraction of its retail price. Today, ZTE is launching the second season of the Bargain King competition to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Running from the 14th of February until the 5th of March, the competition will require participants to invite their friends and relatives in Facebook to help you “bargain”. Assuming you manage to win the competition, you’ll be able to snag yourself either a Blade V7 Max for RM1 or ZTE’s flagship Axon 7 for RM7. Under normal circumstances, both phones retail for RM999 and RM1,999 respectively.

If you’re in the mood to try your luck with the Bargain King competition, you can do so by signing up
here
. More information about the contest can be found at the
ZTE Malaysia Facebook page
.

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ZTE's export reprieve extended till February 2017

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ZTE has been issued an export restriction by the US government based on investigations dating back to 2012 when the company allegedly shipped out components to Iran’s largest carrier, which is a violation of US sanctions. The restriction was imposed back in March, but ZTE managed to get reprieves since the company has been working with the US government on the said investigation.

According to news outlet Reuters, the export reprieve on ZTE has been further extended till February 2017, the 27th of the month to be exact. This would mean that the Chinese manufacturer will still be able to source from companies such as Qualcomm as it has been doing all this while. There seems to be no sign or hint of the company switching to non-US manufacturers ever since the restriction. This might mean that ZTE has been working hard to work its way around the ban, or to get it lifted.

A financial analyst from Hong Kong, Cindy Lam has speculated that the reprieve might turn out to be permanent, or in other words, the ban itself could very likely be removed, in which ZTE will be paying a penalty. The company has claimed that it will continue cooperating with the US government to come out with a solution, and will comply with the nation’s trade laws. ZTE’s shares haven’t been performing well since the ban was issued, which is down a significant 35 percent for the year. What do you think of ZTE’s trading habits?

Source:
Reuters

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ZTE's Project CSX winner is an eye-tracking, self-adhesive phone

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Remember
Project CSX
? ZTE’s attempt to crowdsource ideas for its next product? Well, ZTE has just recently picked the grand prize winner of Project CSX, and it is an “eye-tracking, self-adhesisve phone”.

For the eye tracking part of the phone, the system will function by utilising a pair of front-facing cameras that are capable of following the user’s eye-movement. This eye-tracking functionality can then be used to accomplish certain tasks, like scrolling through webpages, or even navigating the phone’s home menu. This eye-tracking functionality will require the user to be looking directly at the screen itself, as the phone employs a split screen design. Those who are looking at the phone at an oblique angle will only see a static background image.

Of course, eye-tracking works better if the phone is stable. This is where the self-adhesive properties come in. The back of the phone will incorporate self-adhesive polymers, allowing it to stick against walls, railings or any other stable surface.

With a winner chosen, the phone will now be given a name via crowdsourcing. ZTE aims to bring this phone to the market in 2017.

Source:
Engadget

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