ZTE Blade T2 Lite Overview
- Victor Le
- Apr 8, 2020
- 3 min read
Over the past few weeks, I used the cheapest smartphone I found at Amazon for $20 on sale and $30 retail. Here are my thoughts about it and it's experience.
For starters, I want to keep expectations reasonable by listing out the specs of this device. Here they are:
Specs:
SoC: Snapdragon 210 Processor (a 28 nm chip from 2014)
CPU: 4x 1.10 GHz cores on the Cortex-A7 32-bit architecture
GPU: Adreno 304
RAM: 2 GB (1.91 GB available to the user)
ROM: 16 GB (2.5 GB used by Android System)
Does have an SD Card Slot (Support uo to 256 GB cards)
Battery: 2200 mAh
Connectivity: 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.1, and 2.4 GHz WiFi (a/b/g/n)
OS: Android 8.1 (Oreo)
Cameras: 5 MP Rear with flash and 2 MP Front
Display: 5.0 Inches 480x864 (480p)
Speaker and Mic: Mono speaker and dual microphones
I/O: Micro USB (2.0), 3.5 mm headphone Jack
General Overview:
Design and Build Quality: Everything is plastic, which is not a total deal-breaker. The back-plate has a matte and textured finish, resulting in decent grip. The front display assembly is made of clear and glossy plastic, which really likes fingerprints. Nonetheless, the Blade T2 Lite seems pretty durable for it is. Design is ok. It has thick bezels, but also has a good heft, resulting in making this device feel like a solid and durable plastic brick.
Display: It's passable. 480p is good enough, but it could definitely be better. Looking directly straight at the display, the screen seems pretty decent and somewhat readable in certain situations. The main drawback to this display is the viewing angles. They're definitely not great, especially near the top of the display. If I ever tip the top of the phone towards me, some parts of the display turns fades into black. Not that the display physically turns black, but you can't see anything on the display. Literally, every other viewing angle is pretty decent.
Specs and SoC: Snapdragon 210 is nothing to hype about, especially since this phone was released in 2018 and the SD 210 was released in 2014. This is probably the biggest compromise for this phone in terms of performance. With lack of performance, you can't do much other than make phone calls, send text messages, watch the occasional YouTube videos, or take some pictures. Other than that, don't expect to game on this puppy.
Battery: With poor specs comes great battery life. The capacity of this battery may not be the biggest cell out there (2200 mAh), but the SD 210 doesn't consume much power. Under a light load, I can make this thing last for a few days no problem. Under heavy load (GPS ON and WiFi ON), I did drain the battery in 3-4 hours. More on that in a future blog post. Overall, this is one of the biggest advantages of this device.
Camera: If you wanted to spend $20 on this thing to take multiple pictures or videos, this will help you get started with basic video recording and picture taking, and nothing else. Picture and video quality is passable at best. Video recording maxes out at 720p on both lenses and 2592x1944 rear pictures and 1600x1200 front selfie pictures. These specs aren't much especially with 8K video recording and 108 MP cameras becoming more commercially available every year. Also, image processing isn't anything to hype about either. Most of my videos or images feel washed out especially in challenging and bright environments. However, this could also be at the fault of the display. Microphone quality is not bad here. I wouldn't start a podcast on it, but its pretty good. End of the day, don't expect to be a "Social Media Influencer" with this thing. More on this in a future video.
Overall, the Blade T2 Lite is pretty decent, as far as cheap smartphones go. This is not like a scam product on Wish. This is a device that puts out real specs for its price. This will definitely not replace anyone's top tier phone, but as a starter phone, a burner or emergency phone, or as a flat-out second phone, this is a solid option for that guy on a budget.
Summary: Display, camera, and performance are weak-spots, but excels in battery-life and price. Take it or leave it.
Thank you for reading this blog! I'm hoping to make more consistent blog posts!
Victor Le (Sophomore at University | CEO of Le Blogs)
Sources:
Phone Amazon Link (Not an affiliate link)
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