[General Topics] DarksonDAP:
Greetings fellow xda members and modders!

Having received my ZTE Blade V one week ago, I felt like posting a small review about the phone, its capabilities and my experiences from it, as i have noticed that this phone neither exists in XDA database nor has any relevant topics for it as well.

Before starting the review I would like to state that i live in Greece, where the phone is priced at 159€. For a quad-core phone with no sim-locking that is considered a real bargain. With that covered, we are ready to begin our review

Design

Design-wise, the Blade V is far from perfect, but fairly decent considering its price. Its corners are rounded off and the exterior of the device is clean and simple. It could be even better if the micro-USB port was placed to the bottom of the phone though, beacuse on the left side of the phone you can easily feel a small bump. A camera button would be a nice addtion as well. With dimensions of 126 x 64 x 10.9 mm and a weight of 130g, you might expect a somewhat big and heavy device, but it still manages to fit comfortably in your hand, whether you are left or right-handed, providing easy access to all of its controls.

When you see the back of the Blade V, you momentarily forget that you are holding a device in that price range. The back cover design is very similar to that of the Galaxy S3 (should you choose the black version) and there are no flaws to be found. The back camera could be a little more protected though. The overall quality of plastic seems to be pretty good, and even after removing the back cover many times, there was no squeaking to be heard. Last but not least, the battery is removable which is a big plus for many users.

Display

Many android users (including me) have a lot of requirements when it comes to the display, beacause it can either ruin or boost your experience. Fear not, because Blade V will not dissapoint you. It features a 4-inch IPS LCD multi-touch screen operating at 800x480 pixels which outputs 16 million colours. Sure it is not as sharp and vivid as displays featured at more expensive phones, but it provides a rewarding experience whether it comes to multimedia or daily use. It can be very bright if required and at maximum brightness the screen can be seen even under direct sunlight.

Camera

The device features 2 cameras, but the lack of video calling limits the use of the front VGA camera to taking selfies and using it for skype calls ONLY. The back camera is rated at 5 MP and the lens seems to be of decent quality. Pictures are shot at 2592х1944 pixels, with the user having the conveniences of auto-focus, panoramic shot,picture timer,photo filters (sepia,b/w,negative) and a LED flash which can be set to on,off or auto.

When it comes to video though, many will be dissapointed. While the quality remains decent and the movement fluid, the phone is unable to shoot in HD, with the user being limited to 480p, qvga or qcif quality. Additional choices for video capturing are light on/off (the LED one), the adjustment of white-balance, geo tagging and two codecs: AMRNB and AAC.

Internal Hardware

The main selling point of this phone is its hardware. For 159€, you get a phone with a quad-core CPU, 1 GB of ram, and 4GB internal storage (up to 32 GB with micro sd), with only 2.5 GB of internal memory accesible to the user though. Now let's dive into some technical details: The CPU is a Qualcomm MSM8225Q Snapdragon clocked at 1.2 Ghz. While not top of the line, in combination with the Ardeno 203 GPU and 1 GB of ram, it can promise a responsive,lag-free and fluid experience, from daily use to gaming. I have to mention that I installed A LOT of apps (aproximately 800MB) of varying requirements and still not managed to bring it to its knees. The internal storage is more than enough and gives you room for plenty of applications, but don't expect to be able to install large applications such as NFS Most Wanted, because you might run out of memory.

As for connectivity, the device lacks 4G features but in turn provides full 3G, wifi and bluetooth.

Software

There is not much to say here, as ZTE have done little to customize Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. What must been mentioned though, is a convenient application called Mi-EasyAcces, providing easy acces for up-to 6 user-set applications without having to unlock the phone. Last but not least is the really nice Mi-POP application which enables you to have a back button available anywhere on the screen in order not to have to move your finger down all the time. Otherwise the UI is the same like factory 4.1 Jelly Bean with a launcher

Battery

For the last part of my review, i feel like covering a very important issue of today's smartphones- battery life. The battery is rated at 1800 mAh and provides very good battery life, to the point that a full charge is able to last you two days with medium brightness, moderate use and good coverage.

Conclusion

Before i bought the phone, i believed that this level of experience could not be provided under the 200 euro price tag. Well, this phone proved me wrong. The device sure is not high end but it provides a really impressive and smooth performance. Rooting it was a piece of cake and many people here expect it to become a great modding platform, given its Qualcomm CPU and the spec/price ratio. Even for the basic user, who has no modding knowledge or experience, it is a great entry-level phone for a great android experience

I would like to thank everyone for your time, patience and support you have shown me since i registered at XDA, no matter what problem i have faced. I would be very delighted to see your comments, opinions and experiences with the device, as well as constructive critisism for future posts.

PS: Mods and staff, please feel free to edit/do as desired with the following article