ZTE just announced a couple of midrange smartphones
at MWC - the Blade V8 Mini and the Blade V8 Lite. The Blade V8 Mini is hailed
as the 'perfect smartphone for photography lovers', thanks to its dual camera
on the back. The setup consists of a 13MP primary sensor and a 2MP secondary
one for depth sensing. You get bokeh effects with simulated apertures in the
f/1.0-f/8.0 range and post-capture refocusing. The selfie camera is a
no-nonsense 5MP fixed-focus unit.
The phone sports a 5-inch 720p display and is
powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 (28nm, 8x1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, Adreno
505GPU). You get 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage, which you can expand
via microSD.
Battery capacity is listed at 2,800 mAh and it's
fitted in a body that measures 143.5 x 70 x 8.9 mm. There's the all-important
fingerprint sensor on the back too. The phone runs on Android Nougat with a ZTE
custom skin on top.
The Blade V8 Mini will be available in various
markets across Asia Pacific and Europe, though ZTE doesn't specify when and at
what price. The Blade V8 Lite is another 5-incher, 720p too. This one is powered by the MT6750 (one of those non-Helio MediaTeks), coupled again with
2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, with a microSD slot if you want to add more.
No fancy dual-camera setup here, there's
an 8MP shooter on the back (with autofocus, at least), and a 5MP selfie
snapper. The specsheet lists a 2,500 mAh battery capacity, and Android 7.0 as
the OS. The Blade V8 Lite will be available in Italy, Germany and Spain, though
price remains to be detailed.
