ZTE Zmax

Large screen, reliable performance, low price: Not too long ago, finding all three of these features in a phone are particularly rare. As part of a determined effort to establish a brand identity in the United States, ZTE nagagampanan all three requirements and then some with zmax phablet T-Mobile. No, it's not the prettiest or most advanced devices, but for $ 252 (or 24 monthly payments of $ 10.50), these shortcomings are easily forgiven. Non-spec-obsessed will find the 5.7-inch handset perfect fit for their big-screen cravings, while stellar battery life Keeps the increased demands to use go hand in hand with larger devices. It is no match for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, but worth the phone more than double what you're ZTE. For the go-big-or-go-home set, the zmax is a great value-driven phablet T-Mobile, especially if you prefer the stock-Android look.

Design, Features, and Call Quality
The zmax is a hulking device at 6.4 by 3.3 by 0.35 inches (HWD) and 5.5 ounces, considerably taller and wider than the Galaxy Note 3 (5.95 by 3.12 by 0.33 inches). They stretch the boundaries of the average hand, but it is not a comfortable nightmare-I'm inclined to think absolute thinness is not a good feature for the device size, and the relative girth combined with the tapered side assist device sit more naturally in my hand. Volume and Button were placed along the sloped edge, though, which made it pretty hard to hit. The plastic unibody construction feels solid and well built, but the overall design is rather generic.

I can live without a 1080p display at this price point, the 5.7-inch, 720p LCD zmax's looks good, if not better. Maximum brightness is not particularly amazing and things can get washed out under bright sunlight. Expect natural color, though, and contrast are respectable here. This is right in line with 720p display HUAWEI Mate2 climb, but looks slightly tighter by virtue of its smaller size and equal resolution. Video looks great on the large display, and the back-ported speaker gets loud enough for occasional sharing of videos on YouTube.

The zmax supports GSM (850/900/1800 / 1900MHz), UMTS (850/1700/1900 / 2100MHz), and LTE (bands 2, 4, 7, and 12) network, which covers the fast HSPA T-Mobile + 42 and LTE band. In my tests, call quality is surprisingly good. Shipping via mic sound natural with a nice richness to the voice. Earpiece becomes strong enough for external calls, but began to creep distortion in the maximum amount. Noise cancellation is effective against mild and uniform noises in my testing, but struggled with different sounds and predict a typical street of New York City.

Wi-Fi calling worked well in my tests, and zmax is no issues connecting to 802.11b / g / n networks on both 2.4 and 5GHz bands. Rounding out the connectivity options are GPS and Bluetooth 4.0.