The ZTE Blade S6 is equipped with a 5-inch LCD IPS display with 720 x 1280px resolution. Not impressively sharp but perfectly alright at 294ppi. Colors are a little washed out and could definitely be more vivid, but the display is still pretty nice although a little bit too reflective.
Display looks sharp, but is only HD resolution
The screen itself is slightly curved towards the edges, like the one on the Moto X (2014), which you can actually feel in end-to-end horizontal swipes.
The ZTE Blade S6 uses a standard RGB matrix in its LCD panel. With a pixel density of 294 there is nothing really too impressive with the panel.
As far as contrast goes numbers are adequate, but equally unimpressive. It is not particularly bright and seeing how it is a simple LCD, blacks are not very deep either.
Display test
50% brightness
100% brightness
Black, cd/m2
White, cd/m2
Contrast ratio
Black, cd/m2
White, cd/m2
Contrast ratio
ZTE Blade S6
0.26
248
986
0.46
457
946
HTC Desire 616 dual sim
0.35
306
880
0.5
487
976
HTC Desire 820
0.18
235
1299
0.45
598
1327
Oppo R5
0
238
∞
0
417
∞
Motorola Moto G (2014)
0.24
253
1039
0.43
413
968
Sony Xperia C3 Dual
0.13
152
1207
0.56
642
1153
Lenovo S90 Sisley
0
119
∞
0
344
∞
Samsung Galaxy A5
0
191
∞
0
398
∞
Xiaomi Mi 4
0.17
164
940
0.73
679
929
Samsung Galaxy S5
0
274
∞
0
529
∞
Sunlight legibility is rather disappointing and not on par with current devices, mainly due to the low maximum brightness.
Sunlight contrast ratio
Nokia 808 PureView 4.698
Samsung Galaxy A3 4.241
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 4.033
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 3.997
Apple iPhone 5 3.997
Samsung Galaxy A5 3.895
Apple iPhone 6 3.838
Motorola Moto X (2014) 3.816
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge 3.799
Oppo R5 3.678
Samsung Galaxy K zoom 3.675
Nokia Lumia 930 3.567
Apple iPhone 5s 3.565
Samsung Galaxy S5 3.549
Nokia Lumia 735 3.547
Motorola Nexus 6 3.543
Alcatel Idol X+ 3.527
Apple iPhone 5c 3.512
Samsung Galaxy Alpha 3.509
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo 3.487
LG G Flex2 3.465
YotaPhone 2 3.453
Motorola RAZR MAXX 3.42
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 3.419
Samsung Galaxy S5 Active 3.406
Nokia Lumia 925 3.402
Gionee Elife S5.5 3.386
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4 3.352
Samsung Omnia W 3.301
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini 3.174
Samsung I9000 Galaxy S 3.155
Samsung Ativ S 3.129
Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini 3.127
Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom 3.118
Nokia N9 3.069
Apple iPhone 6 Plus 3.023
Samsung Galaxy Note 2.97
Samsung Galaxy Premier 2.958
Sony Xperia Z1 2.95
HTC One S 2.901
Lenovo S90 Sisley 2.892
Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express 2.861
BlackBerry Q10 2.856
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II 2.832
HTC Desire Eye 2.815
Gionee Elife S5.1 2.812
Samsung Galaxy S II Plus 2.801
BlackBerry Z30 2.79
Meizu MX4 Pro 2.765
Sony Xperia ZR 2.672
Huawei Ascend P1 2.655
Sony Xperia Z3 2.618
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 2.616
Sony Xperia T3 2.609
BlackBerry Passport 2.595
Nokia Lumia 900 2.562
Motorola Moto G 4G 2.546
HTC One Max 2.537
Nokia Lumia 720 2.512
HTC One 2.504
Motorola Moto G 2.477
Sony Xperia Z 2.462
Xiaomi Mi 4 2.424
Samsung Galaxy S III mini 2.422
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro 2.416
LG G Flex 2.407
HTC Desire 820 2.372
HTC One (M8) 2.371
Motorola RAZR i 2.366
Meizu MX4 2.366
Sony Xperia ZL 2.352
Samsung Galaxy Note II 2.307
HTC One (M8) for Windows 2.291
Oppo Find 7a 2.279
Alcatel One Touch Hero 2.272
Apple iPhone 4S 2.269
HTC Desire 600 dual sim 2.262
Nokia Asha 311 2.25
Motorola Moto G (2014) 2.233
LG Nexus 5 2.228
Nokia Lumia 820 2.193
HTC One (E8) 2.185
Oppo N3 2.181
Nokia Lumia 920 2.17
HTC One X 2.158
Nokia N8 2.144
Nokia Lumia 620 2.142
Nokia 515 2.134
HTC Desire 500 2.129
Sony Xperia C3 Dual 2.12
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2.119
Sony Xperia acro S 2.119
Nokia Lumia 1020 2.103
Oppo Find 5 2.088
Sony Xperia SL 2.078
Nokia Lumia 630 2.056
BlackBerry Z10 2.051
Huawei Ascend Mate7 2.024
Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active 2.022
Apple iPhone 4 2.016
HTC One mini 2.003
Xiaomi Mi 3 2.001
Huawei Ascend P7 1.992
LG G2 1.976
OnePlus One 1.961
Oppo R819 1.957
Sony Ericsson Xperia ray 1.955
Lenovo Vibe X2 1.952
Sony Xperia Z2 1.944
Sony Xperia E3 1.943
Nokia Lumia 1320 1.941
HTC One mini 2 1.94
Samsung Galaxy Camera 1.938
Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime 1.935
Sony Xperia J 1.932
Acer CloudMobile S500 1.931
ZTE Blade S6 1.927
LG Nexus 4 1.926
LG G Pro 2 1.922
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 1.913
Nokia Asha 308 1.911
HTC Butterfly 2 1.905
Sony Xperia T 1.894
Nokia Lumia 830 1.887
HTC Desire X 1.878
HTC Butterfly 1.873
HTC Windows Phone 8X 1.873
HTC Butterfly S 1.867
Huawei Ascend P6 1.865
Huawei Ascend Mate 1.845
LG G2 mini 1.838
LG G3 1.82
Nokia Lumia 1520 1.813
HTC Desire 616 dual sim 1.797
Sony Xperia V 1.792
HTC Desire 816 1.783
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 1.772
HTC Desire 700 dual sim 1.769
Sony Xperia U 1.758
Meizu MX3 1.754
LG Optimus G 1.753
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra 1.74
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact 1.735
Sony Xperia SP 1.733
LG Optimus 4X HD 1.691
Oppo Find 7 1.691
HTC One V 1.685
BlackBerry Q5 1.682
LG Optimus Vu 1.68
Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9 1.672
LG Optimus GJ 1.666
LG Optimus 3D Max 1.658
HTC Desire V 1.646
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 1.632
Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 1.622
Jolla Jolla 1.605
Sony Xperia Z Ultra 1.578
Sony Xperia go 1.577
Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 I8160 1.566
Samsung Galaxy Core 1.563
LG Optimus G Pro 1.552
Motorola Moto E 1.545
LG Optimus 3D 1.542
Nokia Asha 302 1.537
Samsung Galaxy Core Prime 1.507
BlackBerry Curve 9320 1.488
Sony Xperia M 1.473
Oppo N1 1.47
Meizu MX 4-core 1.462
Nokia Lumia 610 1.432
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 1.4
Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo 1.393
Sony Xperia M2 1.393
Microsoft Lumia 535 1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 1.38
Sony Xperia E1 1.372
Nokia Lumia 625 1.371
Gigabyte GSmart G1355 1.361
Sony Xperia L 1.351
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 1.35
Xiaomi Redmi 1S 1.35
HTC Desire 510 1.34
Sony Xperia M2 Aqua 1.331
Sony Xperia miro 1.324
Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand 1.321
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam 1.315
Xiaomi Redmi 2 1.311
HTC Desire C 1.3
Nokia X 1.291
Sony Xperia C 1.283
Nokia Asha 503 1.281
Nokia Asha 501 1.27
LG Optimus L7 1.269
Nokia Lumia 510 1.268
Samsung Galaxy Fame 1.245
LG Optimus L9 1.227
Meizu MX 1.221
Samsung Galaxy Young 1.22
Sony Xperia E 1.215
Nokia XL 1.204
Sony Xperia E dual 1.203
Asus Memo Pad 7 ME176C 1.198
Samsung Galaxy Pocket 1.18
Nokia Asha 305 1.178
Nokia Asha 306 1.175
Sony Xperia neo L 1.169
Sony Xperia tipo 1.166
Nokia Lumia 520 1.161
Samsung S6802 Galaxy Ace Duos 1.148
Samsung Galaxy mini 2 1.114
Battery Life
The ZTE Blade S6 packs a 2,400mAh battery. Due to the unibody design it is non-removable.
The phone did okay in our traditional battery test, scoring an overall endurance rating of 51 hours, which is adequate, though hardly impressive.
A talk time of 15 hours is perfectly ok. The Blade S6 really falls behind in terms of web-browsing endurance and multimedia playback, hence the low overall score. Standby is also rather battery-draining.
Our proprietary score also includes the standby battery draw, but it is not featured in our battery scorecard even though it is calculated in the total endurance rating.
In terms of power management, the Blade S6 can reap the benefits of having the Android 5.0 battery manager. It offers a far better overview on usage and very detailed statistics to pinpoint power-hungry and misbehaving processes. ZTE has opted not to deviate from the stock behavior and has only a basic power-saving mode available.
Standard Power saver mode
It is pretty standard and reduces performance a bit by limiting background data and turning off various features.
Connectivity
The Blade S6 comes equipped with quad-band 2G/GPRS/EDGE and dual-band 3G with HSPA (up to 42Mbps of downlink and 5.7Mbps of uplink). The Cat. 4 LTE band support in the Snapdragon 615 (up to 150Mbps download, and up to 50Mbps uploads) is not the best around, but it was probably the LTE multimode (multi-SIM) that was of utmost importance to ZTE.
The phone offers dual SIM support and has a dedicated SIM manager in the settings menu. It lets you choose which SIM card is active and the default SIM to use for placing voice calls, data traffic or messages.
Local connectivity is covered by a single-stream Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac as well as Bluetooth 4.0. GPS and GLONASS support is enabled. There's an FM radio, but no NFC or Infrared on board.
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