CES 2017: ZTE Blade V8 Pro hands-on

Introduction

ZTE continues its march forward to establishing itself on the US smartphone market. That’s why the Chinese company is taking CES 2017 very seriously, and it's right here in Las Vegas where the company is proudly showcasing their latest device the Blade V8 Pro.

The Blade V8 Pro will be a major weapon in the company’s arsenal in the first half of the year. Why? Because it costs $230 and packs a lot more than you might initially think.

ZTE chose the V8 part in the phone’s name carefully, as it’ll undoubtedly cater to muscle car lovers in the US. With that bad joke out of the way, the Blade V8 Pro is more akin to an electric drive car than to a V8 muscle car.

The reason lies in the Snapdragon 625 chipset, which is built for range rather than speed. Performance-wise, it's far ahead from an entry level chipset but power efficiency is its forte.

Here's what else you should expect from the Blade V8 Pro regarding features.

ZTE Blade V8 Pro at a glance

• Metal frame, plastic back
• 5.5" FullHD IPS display, 401ppi
• Snapdragon 625 chipset: 2.0GHz octa-core CPU, Adreno 506 GPU
• 3GB RAM
• 32GB of built-in storage, expandable via the microSD card slot by up to 128GB
• 13MP + 13 MP dual camera setup; dual LED flash, 2160p video capture, 8MP selfie camera
• 3,140mAh removable battery, QuickCharge 2.0
• Front-mounted fingerprint sensor in the home button
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS

We've prepared a video version of this hands-on, but for those of you who prefer good old reading, you'd better check the next page.

Our ZTE Blade V8 Pro hands-on photos are on the next page.