Are ZTE Phones Good? ZTE Ultimate Guide and Review

ZTE is a Chinese phone manufacturer re-emerging into the handset market from its wobbly 2020. Last year, it made the news for all the opposite reasons, but it wasn’t removed from the market in the United States during Trump’s Administration. To discover what ZTE has come up with after its terrible year, check out the finest ZTE phones.

ZTE is currently one of the most outstanding smartphone brands on the market. Their products are well spoken of in the smartphone communities because of the excellent specifications they provide. ZTE smartphones, although, are not as common as other smartphone companies.

Overall, there is so much to appreciate about ZTE’s smartphones. Conventionally, they have fantastic designs and specifications, and they are generally far less expensive than the others. If you have set your mind on buying a new handset, you can’t go wrong with a ZTE phone.

ZTE is a middle ground between the large established Chinese smartphone companies and the popular newcomers; ZTE has been manufacturing smartphones for years but is still pretty much unknown in the Western market.

That’s a pity because ZTE is undoubtedly the firm delivering the most fascinating handsets to market; and by ‘fascinating,’ we do not mean ‘high-spec,’ but rather innovative or eccentric. Many of ZTE’s products have distinctive properties, design oddities, or features that make it a company worth paying attention to.

Let’s find out more about this underrated OEM.

What is ZTE and are Their Phones Android?

ZTE was formed in 1985 and is a Chinese telecom equipment company. It produces, among other things, budget Android phones. According to ZTE, it has partnered with 150 wireless businesses in over 60 countries.

It is the fourth-largest vendor of mobile phones and the 2nd biggest seller of prepaid mobile phones in the United States. Many US businesses supply parts to the corporation, including Qualcomm (QCOM) CPUs and Corning glass (GLW).

ZTE has headquarters in the US, precisely in Richardson, Texas, and it employs around 75,000 people worldwide. Both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen stock markets have listings for the corporation.

To answer your question: Yes, ZTE phones are Android.

Where are ZTE Phones Manufactured?

Primarily, ZTE phones are manufactured in China. Though they have headquarters and offices all around the world, ZTE prefers manufacturing phones in its homeland. The reasons for this are: ZTE is a partially Chinese state-owned company. So automatically, China would want to take an active part in the manufacturing process or at least overlook the manufacturing process.

The second reason is that China is a huge market and since the western market is dominated by giants like Apple and Samsung, settling for the Chinese market is the best possible move. Moreover, manufacturing phones in China costs relatively cheap compared to the western countries.

What Type of Phones does ZTE Make?

ZTE’s product line includes a large number of phones that are roughly structured into series; ‘rough’ being the crucial term here. We will walk you through many of the important phone models ZTE has put out over the years.

Nubia is a huge sub-brand that encompasses a variety of phones. There are smartphones like the Z20 and X 5G that have displays on both the front and back of the smartphone, as well as the Z, X, and V lines. These are best defined as mid-range devices in terms of specifications, but they occasionally have more standard specs.

ZTE’s gaming series is the Nubia Red Magic, and so these devices are frequently among the finest gaming smartphones of every year, with features like built-in coolers and extremely high refresh rates. These phones are available in a designated mainline, with the uncommon Pro or cheap model thrown in for good measure.

The Axon brand from ZTE is mainly composed of more high-quality feeling devices that offer top hardware and capabilities despite their affordable pricing. The Axon series might be regarded as the most premium of ZTE’s product lines.

Then there’s ZTE’s Blade line of inexpensive phones, which typically use mechanical biometric authentication and polycarbonate covers, but there are outliers.

What are the Best ZTE Phones?

Over the years, ZTE has put out a bunch of handsets that are innovative and creative in terms of features. Let’s discuss some of those phones:

ZTE Axon 11

You must choose the Axon 11 if you want to get the most affordable phone that ZTE has to offer. It’s a 5G gadget at a quarter of the cost of a typical 5G phone. Also, there is a unique variant with a corner-mounted punch-hole lens instead of the regular teardrop cut.

The base Axon 11 has a Qualcomm 765G CPU, 6/8GB of RAM, and a maximum of 256GB of internal memory. It has a 4,000mAh cell and quadruple back camera, as well as an 18-watt quick charging feature. The main camera is a 64-megapixel beast with an 8-megapixel wide-angle lens, as well as a 2-megapixel closeup and depth-of-field optics.

ZTE Axon 30

The huge 6.92-inch screen on the ZTE Axon 30 overflows your hand. To keep you going, there’s a 4,200mAh cell with 65W cable recharging to fill it up. The Axon 30 comes with a max of 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, in addition to the large screen and cell.

It’s a step down from the Axon 30 Ultra, having a Qualcomm 870 processor rather than the centerpiece SD 888. Nevertheless, you are going to get a crisp 120Hz panel and a powerful quad-camera setup on the back. The real star is ZTE’s 64-megapixel wide lens, which is backed up by an ultrawide, closeup, and depth detector. You also get a 16-megapixel selfie camera over the front.

ZTE Axon 30 Ultra

The Axon 30 Ultra is ZTE’s premium smartphone. It’s ZTE’s comeback to genuine flagship territory, and it has just about anything and everything you could want in a high-end handset. You may choose between 8 or 12 GB of RAM and a max of 256 GB of storage. The strong Snapdragon 888 CPU keeps the whole apparatus afloat, and it’s the greatest you’ll find on any ZTE gadget.

ZTE also did not scrimp on the primary camera, and the back bulge is hard to overlook. A trinity of 64MP lenses is housed under that huge hump, along with an 8-megapixel telephoto lens for added fun.

ZTE Blade A7

The ZTE Blade A7 is among the list’s actual low-tier phones, with a setup that is easier than other of ZTE’s powerful products. With a 6.09-inch screen and a 4,000mAh cell, it’s ideal for carrying in your pocket. To hold your connection, the battery operates a MediaTek Helio P22 CPU and a PowerVR GE8320 GPU.

The Blade A7 is equipped with 2GB or 3GB of RAM with a max of 64GB of onboard storage, completing the specification list. It has a triple camera setup, which is a significant improvement above previously released models with a single lens. A 16-megapixel main camera will be accompanied by 8-megapixel and 2-megapixel optics. The camera on the front has been improved to 8-megapixel by ZTE.

Nubia RedMagic 5S

You’ll adore the Nubia RedMagic 5S if you’re a serious gamer. It has a 6.65-inch 144Hz AMOLED screen, a Snapdragon 865 chipset, which is a flagship tier processor, a max of 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of internal memory.

Furthermore, it has built-in 320Hz shoulder buttons similar to console controllers, an impressive 4,500mAh cell, an advanced Active Liquid Cooling system with a turbofan as exhaust, and a trinity camera setup with a 64mp primary lens, a high standard and metal glass layout, and much more.

Are ZTE Phones Any Good?

ZTE Phones have improved quite a lot over decades of production. Truth be told, in the past, ZTE phones were not recommendable as a daily driver but at present, they have upgraded their software experience by a lot. It’s to the extent that we can recommend the latest ZTE phones over most mid-range and budget smartphones.

As you might have understood by reading the section above, ZTE offers excellent Android phones for a range of consumers and prices. Which model, on the other hand, should you buy? We suggest the ZTE Blade X1 5G to anyone looking for an inexpensive 5G-ready Android phone that comes with a huge screen, a quadruple-camera setup, and a slew of other amazing traits, all just a little over $380.

However, there are more affordable ZTE phones available, such as the ZTE Blade A3 Prime and ZTE Blade A7 Prime. Alternatively, if you’re looking for something a bit unique, the NUBIA Z20 is a great choice, and gaming enthusiasts are sure to enjoy the Nubia RedMagic 5G. With your basic phone needs, you won’t have any issues. Calling and texting are great here, and if you want a few numbers within the same phone, that can work too!

Overall, ZTE has come a long way from being an incompetent smartphone producer. Their current smartphone lineups, especially the Nubia gaming phone are pound-to-pound the best gaming phone money can buy in the present market. Moreover, their mid-tier and budget phones are also equally impressive with a great price-to-performance ratio that blows out the competition.