ZTE is one of those companies that can surprise us in a good way with products that are well-defined and more than attractive for their price range.
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The ZTE ZMax costs $10.50 a month for 24 months, or $252 in total in T-Mobile, and for that money you'd expect something very rudimentary but ZMax is far from ordinary. The device has a 5.7-inch display, it is 6.4 inches tall, 3.3 inches wide and 0.35 inches thick. As any other phones of those dimensions, it is not for one hand use but you can't have it all: a huge display and easy use with just one hand. The design is not spectacular but it is just fine with nothing that stands out in a negative way.
On the left edge of the ZTE ZMax there are a volume rocker and a microSD card slot for up to 32GB of memory. on the top there is a 3.5mm headphone jack and on the right side there are the SIM card and sleep/power button. Now, to open both the SIM and microSD card, you will need a small included pin key to pop out the tray but those two things you don't change every day so that's an OK solution. At the of the device there is a Micro-USB port for charging.
On the back there is an 8-megapixel camera with flash and a slit for the audio speaker. We would like to see more megapixels here but then again we should be satisfied with it because of its price range and we all know that the big number of megapixels doesn't guarantee good picture. The overall feel in the hand could be a bit better because thanks to its flat design and plastic it could slip out of hands. Maybe a bit of a curved back would be better for both usability and design.
Above the ZMax's display there is a 1.3-megapixel camera, again something we would liks to see in a bit bigger resolution for all selife lover, while below are three softkeys for back, home, and settings. To display has a 1,280x720-pixel resolution and it is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. So, the resolution is good for that screen size. The ZMax runs a version of Android 4.4.2, and there is 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal memory for all your applications. So, we are talking about standards here.
The ZTE ZMax is a well-rounded device, maybe you won't find the best specs in the universe in it but it will serve you well for a small price and that's the best compliment a smartphone can get. ■
