2018 has turned out to be one of the most challenging years for ZTE. But the company seems to be working hard to get back on track and the first step is to get the ZTE Blade V9 phone, initially announced at MWC 2018, on sale in China. The phone is finally listed in its home country, months after its announcement.

The phone is listed in two variants: 4GB + 32GB and 4GB+64GB and are priced at 999 Yuan (~$146) and 1199 Yuan (~$175) respectively. Currently, sites like JD.com are accepting reservations for the device and the phone is set to go on sale on August 15.

ZTE didn’t reveal any availability details for the Blade V9 back when it announced the phone at MWC 2018. However, it popped up on China’s TENAA certification website back in April, thereby confirming its launch in its home country. But it took nearly four months more for the phone to hit the markets.

The ZTE Blade V9 features a modest Snapdragon 450 chipset inside with a 5.7-inch 2160 x 1080p 18:9 display on board. The phone comes with a 16MP+5MP dual camera setup at the back and an 8MP selfie shooter up front. There’s a decent 3100mAh battery on board as well. Unlike other phones of 2018, the Blade V9 doesn’t have a notch and comes with an Honor like design.

Overall, the Blade V9 is a pretty good smartphone at its $146 price tag.

(Source1, Source2)

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CES 2018 may not have been as great as we expected, but MWC 2018 definitely didn’t disappoint. Despite the fact that majority of the manufacturers (Huawei, LG, HTC, Xiaomi) decided to skip this event to unveil their big guns, the event currently going on in Barcelona still managed to keep us all interested with launches like the Vivo Apex and the Matebook X Pro.

So, let’s take a look at the top launches from MWC 2018.

DAY ZERO:

Sunday was an exceptionally busy day for tech enthusiasts given that three major manufacturers had lined up announcements one after the other. And yes, there was the LG announcement too, launching the LG V30S ThinQ model, but to be honest, that wasn’t the highlight of the day.

The following were the top products announced on Sunday.

HUAWEI MATEBOOK X PRO

Huawei kicked off MWC 2018 with its amazing Matebook X Pro. There’s no doubt that the new laptop is inspired by the bezel-less design of the Dell XPS 13 but the company has taken things to another level. The company has integrated the web camera as a pop up component on the keyboard, ensuring you are away from prying eyes when the camera is not in use. Not only that, the Matebook X Pro features a 3:2 aspect ratio that enables more pixels on the screen with a resolution of 3000 x 2000. Coming from a company that entered the laptop market just a couple of years ago, the Matebook X Pro is definitely a product worthy of your attention.

Read more about the Matebook X Pro and its features from here.

NOKIA 8 Sirocco, Nokia 7 PLUS, & NOKIA 8110

Nokia managed to impress us with its strategy last year, slowing gaining ground in the ever competitive smartphone market. The company used the event on Sunday to unveil a number of new smartphones for the global market. First of all, the Nokia 6 2018 model is finally coming to markets outside of China. It’s a great phone (our hands on here!) in the budget segment.

New announcements of the day included the Nokia 8 Sirocco edition with upgraded features and specs. Basically, the Sirocco is what the Nokia 8 should have been and with Snapdragon 835 inside, the phone could have been a great option back in 2017. But it might be a little too late to the party in 2018, especially with its costly price tag.

The Nokia 7 Plus is actually the most interesting smartphone of the lot. The phone features the powerful Snapdragon 660 chipset with dual cameras and 2X optical zoom. It’s being marketed as a premium mid-ranger and also adopts the current trend of 18:9 aspect ratio for its display, which is something that the Nokia 6 2018 model skipped. For less than $400, the phone offers pretty amazing value. Read more about the model here! Note that there’s a Nokia 7 Plus China edition too, which is cheaper by the way.

The new Nokia 8110 Slider refreshes the iconic banana phone. With a banana yellow shade, the company is definitely trying to bring back the trend to current market. However, apart from the looks, the phone has nothing extraordinary. So, we wonder who will end up buying this one, despite its iconic design. More about the phone here.

Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9+

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ unveil were the two most powerful launches on Sunday. The South Korean giant has retained what was good about the S8 and made some minor yet necessary upgrades in the new S9 & S9+ models. Powered by SD845 (in US and China) and Exynos 9810 in other markets, the phone is the most powerful flagship from Samsung till date. The camera gets a super slo-mo bump at 960 fps at 720p among other upgrades. The S9 keeps a single camera module, while the S9+ gets the expected dual camera upgrade.

Read all about the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus from here.

DAY ONE:

The first official day of the MWC 2018 saw Sony & Vivo grab all the attention.

Vivo Apex

Vivo surprised us all by revealing the Vivo Apex Concept smartphone on Monday. It is definitely one of the most interesting smartphone concepts that we have seen lately. The phone features a nearly 98% screen to body ratio, which is insane for a smartphone. The company reportedly made this possible by integrating the microchips directly into the flexible circuit board. Further, the phone features a unique pop up periscope front camera, which enabled the company to limit the front bezel to a bare minimum. Further, there are other high-end tech for its speakers and ear piece.

You can read all about the Vivo Apex Concept from here.

Sony Xperia XZ2 & XZ2 Compact

Sony’s smartphone department wasn’t doing so well in the past few years. Some of its phones have been promising, but as an overall package, the Japanese giant often failed to impress. However, with the XZ2 series, the company is hoping to change some things. First of all, it has ditched the omnibalance design and now, the new models feature an 18:9 aspect ratio display along with a revamped ‘ambient flow’ design. The XZ2 flagship features wireless charging as well.

Overall, if priced correctly the Sony Xperia XZ2 series could be a game changer for the company. You can read all about these two models from here.

Helio P60

Mediatek has given up on its flagship X series chipsets but that doesn’t mean that the company is out of the smartphone market. MTK unveiled the brand new Helio P60 chipset on Monday at MWC 2018, featuring promising specs that can take on the SD660 chip. The company plans to compete in the premium mid-range segment with its new chipset and comes with the new NeuroPilot AI processing tech along with Mali-G73 MP3 GPU to ensure it can handle the premium features of a flagship grade smartphone.

More about the chipset and its specs here.

DAY TWO:

The second day at MWC 2018 saw Nubia and ASUS revealing its top phones for the year.

NUBIA’s First Gaming Phone

Smartphone manufacturers seem to be interested in the concept of gaming phones and Nubia is the first Chinese smartphone company to reveal details about its new Gaming phone. Inspired by a super car design, Nubia’s gaming flagship concept features several cuts and creases at the back with the camera module arranged vertically. The design retains its symmetry and Nubia seems to have done a fine job in making this smartphone design.

The phone is confirmed to launch in China sometime in the coming months, so it’s not just another concept that may never see the light of the day. You can read more about the company’s gaming concept here.

ASUS Zenfone 5Z and Zenfone 5

ASUS unveiled its big guns yesterday, announcing the Zenfone 5 and the Zenfone 5Z models. The Zenfone 5Z is the pick of the lot featuring SD845, 6GB RAM, a 6.2-inch FHD+ display with 90% screen to body ratio — in under $500! But the Zenfone 5 is also a great smartphone, differing from the 5Z model in the processor department (SD636) and memory (4GB RAM).

ASUS isn’t ashamed to accept that the two phones are iPhone X inspired, but it does add that their notch is smaller.

Read all about the two ASUS Zenfone 5 models from here. You can also check out the ASUS Zenfone 5 Lite and the ASUS Zenfone M1 Max models.

This sums up all the major announcements at MWC 2018 so far!

Stay tuned to our MWC 2018 coverage from here.

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ZTE kickstarted its 2018 campaign in Barcelona with the launch of the Blade V9 and Blade V9 Vita. The devices were unveiled in a ceremony held on Sunday, just before MWC 2018. The ZTE Blade V9 and Blade V9 Vita are here presented in these hands-on photos courtesy of GSMArena.

The Blade V9 and V9 Vita once again reiterate the transformation of the mid-range segment to one with a premium built and well-studded models that could pass for flagships. They seem to offer good value for the $300 and $250 price tags they are slammed with, going by the designs and specs.

Design wise, the ZTE Blade V9 is said to be relatively light despite packing a massive 5.7-inch display and a metal frame wrapped with glass on both sides. The ZTE Blade V9 Vita doesn’t have a glass covering and features a plastic body. Both models sport LCD displays but while the Blade V9 has an FHD+ display, the Blade V9 Vita comes with an HD+ display. Both models equally come with a full-screen display with the 18:9 aspect ratio calling the shots.

Read More: ZTE Blade V9 and V9 Vita Debut At MWC 2018 With Honor-Like Design And Mid/Low-End Specs

The devices pack dual camera setups at the rear located in the top left corner in both cases. There is also a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor on both the V9 and V9 Vita located in the middle. The models are also available in a number of colors like Dark Blue, Pink, Black, Gold, and Gray. Find more pictures below.

(source)

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ZTE took advantage of MWC 2018 to launch two midrangers focused on the quality-price ratio: ZTE Blade V9 and Blade V9 Vita. Both come with wide 18:9 displays and designs which remind a lot of the most beautiful handsets by Honor. The back cover is made of glass and it also houses a fingerprint reader. The standard version comes with a 5.7-inch display and mid-range specs. It boasts an octa-core Snapdragon 450 SoC by Qualcomm, paired with 3 or 4 GB of RAM depending on the variant that you will choose to buy, and 64 GB of internal storage.

On the rear side of the ZTE Blade V9 there is a dual camera setup placed horizontally, with resolutions of 16 and 5 MP. The secondary sensor is able to capture depth information for better bokeh effect. According to the company, this dual camera is also able to shoot good photos in low-light conditions. On the front panel, there is a single 8 MP snapper. Android 8.0 Oreo is installed out of the box, and the battery has a capacity of 3100 mAh; the handset can be charged through a micro-USB port, so we guess it will not charge so quickly.

ZTE Blade V9 Vita is an even more affordable version with a 5.45-inch HD+ display. Under the hood, it has an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 chipset and it will be available in two configurations: the cheapest one will have 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage, while the costlier one will have 3 GB RAM and 32 GB ROM. There is a dual camera setup on this device as well, but the resolutions are lower: 13 and 2 MP. The front camera has a lower resolution as well: just 5 MP. ZTE Blade V9 and V9 Vita will be launched in selected markets across Europe, Mexico, and China. The price for the standard version starts from €269 ($330), while the V9 Vita will start from €179 ($220).

For More MWC 2018 Coverage Click Here!

(Via)

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ZTE‘s Blade series is the company’s mid-range /budget segment and the Blade V9 is set o be the next model that would be unveiled from that angle. ZTE Blade V9 has been a regular in the rumour mill and in reality, the device was spotted last when it was certified by the US FCC, showing that the device will soon be launched. A new rumour has now surfaced which alleges that the Blade V9 would be announced at MWC 2018.

That means we’ll be seeing the Blade V9 later this month since MWC 2018 holds from February 27 in Barcelona, Spain.The source of this rumour also disclosed that the Blade V9 would come at a very affordable price and is expected to be considered as ZTE’ budget phone. Unfortunately, no exact figure was revealed concerning the price tag it would feature.

Read More: Vivo Xplay 7 Renders & Specs Leaked, Revealing a 4K Display, SD 845 & 10GB RAM!

The Blade V9 is expected to be ZTE’s first smartphone with an 18:9 display aspect ratio. The device is expected to feature an all-glass body both at the front and back, with its display standing at 5.7 inches. The device will feature a Full HD+ resolution with the 18:9 aspect ratio. The device would be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor and there would be three RAM sizes of 2GB, 3GB, and 4GB. The device will also come in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB storage variants. At the rear, the ZTE Blade V9 will pack a dual camera setup consisting of a 16MP primary sensor with autofocus, an LED flash, and a f/1.8 aperture, and a secondary 5MP fixed-focus sensor. Up front, there would be a 13MP camera. Other details include; a 3.5mm headphone jack, a hybrid SIM slot, a rear fingerprint sensor, and a 3,200mAh battery.

(source)

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ZTE basically has two smartphone lineup; the Axon series and Blade series. While the Axon smartphones are mainly devoted to the flagship and sometimes mid-range models, the Blade series are more pocket-friendly. Just as we are expecting the Aon 9 flagship, ZTE is also planning to unveil a Blade V9 smartphone and that model has just got the nod of U.S Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The ZTE Blade V9’s promotional materials were recently leaked on ZTE’s Spanish website, perhaps to generate some publicity for the upcoming smartphone. The model’s present appearance on FCC’s website is an indication that it would be released soon in the U.S where ZTE currently enjoys some appreciable amount of patronage. The leaked materials which appeared on ZTE’s Spanish website had shown that the Blade V9 will sport an all-glass body both at the front and back, with its display standing at 5.7 inches. The device will feature a Full HD+ resolution with the 18:9 aspect ratio which would make it ZTE’s first full-screen mid-range model. The device would be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor and there would be three RAM sizes of 2GB, 3GB, and 4GB. The device will also come in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB storage variants. At the rear, the ZTE Blade V9 will pack a dual camera setup consisting of a 16MP primary sensor with autofocus, an LED flash, and a f/1.8 aperture, and a secondary 5MP fixed-focus sensor. Up front, there would be a 13MP camera. Other details include; a 3.5mm headphone jack, a hybrid SIM slot, a rear fingerprint sensor, and a 3,200mAh battery.

Read More: ZTE Joins The 18:9 Display Train With The Blade V9

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