A modern smartphone is a very complex device, which should have “under the hood” all the new products from the world of the mobile industry. However, not all budget devices and devices of the middle price segment can be called universal. However, this statement in no way applies to our hero today. The ZTE Blade V7 Lite mobile phone , the characteristics of which we will analyze a little lower, although it applies to mid-range devices, is truly universal. And you will see this soon. In the meantime, consider the company ZTE. What is she like?
A little bit about the company
The Chinese company ZTE was founded in 1985. At that time, she was engaged in the production of telecommunications equipment. The first smartphone was released in 2010. It was branded and manufactured by order of Russian mobile operators. Then the time came for the first Beeline M2 branded tablet. The company also in full supplied 3G-modems for the needs of Russian mobile operators. The first standalone smartphone under the ZTE brand was released in 2011. Since that time, the history of the mobile gadgets of this manufacturer began. A striking example of high-quality devices manufacturer from the Middle Kingdom is the ZTE Blade v7 Lite. Its characteristics make it possible to call this device one of the most worthy in the ZTE smartphone line.
The most interesting thing is that the controlling stake in the enterprise belongs to the Chinese state. This means that quality control in ZTE is appropriate. However, among the smartphones of this company there are many "gray" products that are imported into Russia and the CIS countries. Therefore, you need to be very careful when buying a smartphone from this company. Original devices do not suffer from a lack of quality, like "gray" models. It is better to purchase these devices at branded points of sale. It is there that there is a guarantee of quality. ZTE, in principle, is well known to domestic lovers of mobile devices. Therefore, she does not need a special introduction. Now let's take a closer look at the specifications of the ZTE Blade v7 Lite. What kind of "beast" is this?
Appearance and design
The appearance of this smartphone is very reminiscent of the appearance of the Meizu M3 S. It seems that they were riveted at the same factory. Only the label image was changed. On the front side there is a five-inch screen, covered with 2.5D tempered glass. This is the fashion now. Each manufacturer supplies its devices with such glass. Below the screen is the Home button. It is sensory and is made in the form of an illuminated circle. In the corporate style of ZTE. On the sides of this circle are still navigation buttons, which are generally not visible without backlighting. A very interesting solution. But with such controls, the device resembles the iPhone. Although without a mechanical button. Above the screen is the speaker grid, front camera and the desired number of sensors. This is the corporate identity of ZTE Blade v7 Lite. Its characteristics will be sorted out a bit later.
Now let's move on to the back of the device. Non-removable cover made of the so-called "aviation" aluminum 7000 series. The lid strength is satisfactory. It is impossible to push it to the battery. The most prominent place is occupied by the camera module. Next to it is a two-color flash of LEDs, and just below it is a fingerprint scanner. In the lower sector of the lid are two speaker grids. But do not flatter yourself. There is only one speaker. The second grid is made for beauty. Control elements of a mechanical type (volume control buttons) are located on the left side of the device. This decision is very doubtful from the point of view of ergonomics. Especially when you consider that the power button is on the opposite end. Now let's take a closer look at ZTE Blade v7 Lite and its specifications. The review of the model continues.
Hardware and Specifications
What is on board the ZTE Blade v7 Lite? Technical specifications from the manufacturer indicate that the device has a 64-bit quad-core processor from MTK with a clock frequency of 1300 megahertz and an MT6735R index. I must say right away that this processor does not shine with performance. There are "stones" much more powerful and cheaper. However, we will not find fault. The developers decided to supply the device with 2 gigabytes of RAM. This is more than enough for all applications and most games. Although in especially resource-demanding toys you will have to twist the graphic effects to a minimum. Even despite the fact that the smartphone has an advanced graphics chip Mali T-720. A weak processor simply does not allow it to fully open.
The rest of the "iron" components include the internal drive capacity of 16 gigabytes. True, only 10 are available to the user. But there is support for Micro SD memory cards up to 32 gigabytes in size. The device supports the sixth generation LTE communication standard, has a high-speed Bluetooth and Wi-Fi transmitter, a lightning fast fingerprint scanner, a relatively loud speaker, light and proximity sensors and a 2500 mAh battery. The latter fact, by the way, is very depressing. With such characteristics, he is supposed to have a battery of at least 3000 mAh. Then the battery life will be much better. However, engineers thought that this would be enough for the ZTE Blade v7 Lite Gray LTE. Characteristics of autonomy a little disappoint. But let's move on to other parameters of the smartphone.
Screen
The smartphone has a display with an IPS matrix. This allows the gadget to correctly convey colors, and the user does not bother with viewing angles. They are pretty impressive here. Screen size is 5 inches. Resolution - 1280 by 720 pixels (HD). The screen is quite good in ZTE Blade v7 Lite. Characteristics and photos prove this convincingly. For example, the contrast of the display is 800 to 1. And this is almost the only case where the parameters declared by the manufacturer do not differ from the real ones. The brightness of the display is enough to ensure that all information is visible in direct sunlight. Also, the screen has an anti-reflective coating, which is very good for using the gadget in the sun. No matter how bright the light, everything will still be visible. And this is another merit of ZTE engineers.
The screen features also include the proprietary Mira Vision option, which allows you to change the display color for the better. At least that's what ZTE engineers thought. But in fact, this option only changes the "warmth" of the image. And the white point does not change at all. In general, it all looks pretty scary. Therefore, it is better not to use such a “chip” at all. Take care of your eyes. These are the main screen parameters of the ZTE Blade v7 Lite smartphone. The characteristics are pretty good, but still far from ideal. Now let's move on to the cameras of the device.
Cameras (front and main)
The main camera is represented by a 13-megapixel aperture module. It does not shine with special advantages, but it allows you to get pretty high-quality images, even with some hint of background blur. However, a closer examination shows that the picture is somewhat blurred at the edges. In modern smartphones (which claim to be "average"), this state of affairs is unacceptable. Nevertheless, for everyday shooting, the camera of this smartphone is quite suitable. In addition to photos, the camera is capable of recording HD video. And this is at a time when the closest competitors can easily cope with Full HD. So, the ZTE Blade v7 Lite main camera has weak characteristics. The review is ongoing. We pass to the front photomodule.
The front camera has at its disposal a wide-angle, fast aperture module with 8 megapixels. Is it a lot or a little? Let's just say, for selfie and communication on Skype this camera is enough with the head. A funny effect is noticeable in the photos taken with the front camera: the face is somewhat blurry, as after using the appropriate filter. Probably, the company's engineers decided that it would be better. But in reality, everything looks very different. The camera also knows how to write HD video. It's not bad too. However, due to the fact that there are not so many megapixels in the arsenal of the photomodule, the video is obtained with artifacts. In principle, this was expected. The ZTE Blade v7 Lite front camera features are also not so hot. But now we will move on to the operating system and software platform.
operating system
On board v7 installed operating system "Android" version 6.0. However, you will not find a standard design here, because the company's engineers decided to dress this OS in the Mifavour proprietary shell. It looks a bit clumsy and from the point of view of the adequacy of the arrangement of elements it looks very doubtful. But some people like it. Despite the third-party shell, the sixth “Android” behaves pretty well on this device. Glitches and freezes are not noticed. Although this, apparently, is the merit of the hardware platform. A distinctive feature of the software platform is that the company continues to update the Android smartphone to the latest version, although usually outdated models are deprived of updates. And here is another advantage of the ZTE Blade v7 Lite Gold. The characteristics of the software platform are completely nothing.
Battery
The device is equipped with a non-removable lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 2500 mAh. Is it a lot or a little? Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not enlighten potential buyers about how much the smartphone is able to work in standby mode and under maximum load. Therefore, you have to rely on the reviews of the owners. According to some users, the device quietly works all day in intensive load mode (constantly on data transfer, full screen brightness and powerful applications in the background). The device is also quite enough for 10 hours of video playback with maximum screen brightness. Listening to music is possible for 48 hours. Although the type of headphones used also plays a role here. But 24 hours is definitely guaranteed. The battery is what ZTE engineers did just the right thing. Even despite its power, the device turned out to be surprisingly “tenacious”. Honor and praise to the engineers of the company for this.
Positive feedback from owners
Now let's move on to the most interesting - reviews about the smartphone. It should be noted that the positive and negative comments about v7 Lite are approximately equal. However, positive reviews praise him to the skies, and negative ones trample him in the mud. How to understand which of the reviews are real? Let's try to figure it out. Let's start with the positive reviews. So, many owners of this miracle of Chinese engineering note the incredible build quality, which is very difficult to find in entry-level Chinese smartphones. And here they are absolutely right. The device is really solidly assembled. There are no gaps in the case, the buttons do not creak and are easily pressed. And high-quality materials only improve the perception of this model as very worthy. Well-wishers of this device note a very high-quality and convenient-sized screen. I must say that most users are terribly annoyed by modern "shovels." Therefore, for them, a five-inch screen is much more convenient. Just like in this ZTE.
Now we turn to reviews about the performance of the device. Here, opinions differ, but everyone recognizes that the power of the gadget is quite sufficient not only for everyday tasks, but also for some games. Nevertheless, the graphics settings will have to be twisted to a minimum. However, those who purchased the device understood very well that it was not intended for heavy games. There are also many positive reviews about the work of a fingerprint sensor. It works with lightning speed and quickly reads information. In addition, with its help you can not only unlock the phone, but also protect some applications. The quality of communication has also been praised. The owners were especially pleased with the availability of support for the LTE communication standard. This, given current trends, is a highly desirable option even in budget phones. So, with the positive reviews, everything is clear. Users are terribly happy with the device they have chosen. Now let's listen to those whom this device did not suit.
Negative owner reviews
Like any other device, ZTE Blade v7 Lite, characteristics and reviews about the model have a certain number of "haters" who scold him in every way. What is such hatred connected with? Most of the negative reviews about this smartphone are not worth a damn, because they are written by those who wanted to get a flagship for a ridiculous amount. Naturally, their hopes did not materialize. Therefore, they pour mud on the device. There is very little constructive criticism among these hated comments. But let's pay attention to those that look the most adequate. So, the weakest point of a smartphone is the camera. This is understandable without feedback. Owners complain that in conditions of insufficient attention eerie noises and artifacts are obscured. This is a known issue. Using this gadget as a fortress is categorically not recommended. The following complaint is blaming users frankly for no sound: what's in the dynamics, what's in the headphones. Of course, v7 Lite does not shine with sound. But with headphones with certain equalizer settings, there’s nothing at all.
Another common complaint is the unusual interface of the ZTE Blade v7 Lite operating system. The characteristics and description of the phone indicate that here the developers gave a blunder. It would be better to leave the standard design of Android. He looks a lot neater. Also, many complain of strong heating of the case when working with demanding applications. Interestingly, not everyone is mentioning this problem. Most likely, people just came across a factory-defective model. If the problem was widespread, then everyone would complain about the strong heating of the case. Nevertheless, the device is an excellent budget solution in a metal case. Even if you take into account all its shortcomings. Low cost covers them all.
Conclusion
So, we reviewed the budget smartphone ZTE Blade v7 Lite. Its technical characteristics allow the gadget to be used both for work and for games. He also easily copes with the playback of multimedia content. And if you look at the price, it turns out that this unit is the best in terms of price-quality ratio. Yes, and in a metal case. The price is quite good for a universal device from the middle segment. An important plus is the timely update of the software.