Joshua Goldman/CNET
ZTE's midrange phone line, the Blade series, wasn't that memorable when CNET reviewed the Blade V8 Pro last year. But it did offer a low price and good battery life.
The newest Blade V9 and Blade V9 Vita, announced in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress, may not blow you away either. But the overall feel and specs are better, and the Blade V9 now has a 5.7-inch 18:9 display that comes closer to what premium phones offer in size-to-screen ratio. They'll be released in Europe, Latin America and Asian markets, but not in the US. Instead, expect ZTE to release some sort of carrier-based variants to these phones later in the year.
Watch this:
ZTE's low-priced midrange Blade V9 phone could hint at...
We looked at both the Blade V9 and V9 Vita in a brief hands-on opportunity. They felt reasonably lightweight, and looked sharp, particularly the Blade V9. From a distance, it has the look of a premium phone.
The ZTE Blade V9: the improved screen-to-body ratio feels nice.
Joshua Goldman/CNET
The Blade V9 edges out the V9 Vita in specs. Key stats include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 octa-core 1.8 GHz processor, Android Oreo 8.1, v9bet 32 or 64GB of storage, and a dual rear 16-megapixel camera that's supposed to be better at taking lower-light shots.
Keep in mind that the Blade V9's second rear camera is only 5-megapixels, though: It's used to collect some picture data and also help with AR applications and depth sensing. The Blade V9 starts at €269 (equivalent to £235, $330 US, or AU$420).
The Blade V9 Vita: more compact.
Joshua Goldman/CNET
The smaller Blade V9 Vita has a 5.45-inch 18:9 display, a Snapdragon 435 processor, and a 13-megapixel/2-megapixel dual rear camera and less onboard storage (16 or 32GB), starting at €179 (equivalent to £160, $220 US, or AU$280).
Depending on how affordable these can get, they could end up being good budget phone picks. But the right price might be everything.
AR... meh
Joshua Goldman/CNET
By the way, ZTE promises that these phones will run AR apps, but they are not compatible with Google's ARCore apps. Instead, I tried a few AR tricks on the included camera app, including a pop-up T-Rex which didn't stay put very smoothly on a table. Don't expect much. If you're actually interested in augmented reality, I'd hold out for an ARCore phone instead.