The Blade Max View has a dual-camera setup and a rear fingerprint sensor.
César Salza / CNET
It’s a busy time for ZTE.
The Chinese phone maker announced two phones today, the ZTE Blade Max View and the Blade Max 2S. Unlike its Axon 9 Pro flagship phone, which it unveiled in August during IFA 2018, these phones will be available for US customers. You can purchase them starting today, unlocked.
The future of ZTE, at least in the US, has been unclear since it struck a billion-dollar deal with the US government earlier this summer that would end ZTE’s import ban over violating trade sanctions. But these two midrange affordable phones could help ease ZTE back into the hands of US customers.
The ZTE Blade Max 2S.
César Salza / CNET
The Blade Max View features a 6-inch, 1080p display and has two rear cameras that include a 16- and 2-megapixel camera. On the front is an 8-megapixel shooter.to snap selfies. It’s powered by a hefty 4,000mAh battery, which promises up to 20 hours talk time.
The Blade Max View also runs the rather old Android 7.1.1 Nougat mobile OS. (Android Nougat launched in 2016 and the newest update, which is already available in some phones out of the box, is Android 9 Pie.) You can buy the phone for $200 and it works on T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon’s networks.
The second phone is the Blade Max 2S and serves as the sequel to last year’s Max XL. It too has a 6-inch display and a 4,000mAh battery. However, it runs the more recent Android 8.0 Oreo software, it has only a single 13-megapixel rear camera (and a 5-megapixel camera on the front), and it’s powered by a 1.4GHz octa-core processor. It works on GSM networks like AT&T and T-Mobile, as well as Sprint, which uses CDMA technology. It costs slightly cheaper than the Blade Max View at $180.
Though the end of the year marks a flurry of phone announcements from top companies like the Google Pixel 3 and the OnePlus 6T, not many cost $200 or lower. If you’re looking for a super bargain phone, these ZTE phones may be a decent option.