ZTE Grand X Review

August 14, 2012 John Reyvaldi Review

ZTE Grand X is a mid-range Android smartphone that was announced few months ago at MWC 2012. It carry on dual-core Tegra chip and running on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Sounds like a good alternative for those of you who doesn’t have enough budget to join the quad-core frenzy. If you go to Virgin Media stores, you should be able to grab ZTE Grand X for £190 only.

Just like any other good smartphone, ZTE Grand X come from far East. The company is based on China and this is not their first experience Android phone. Previously, they have release some unpopular mid-range Android and Windows Phone device. But don’t take me wrong guys, their products have a good product quality that able to make it compete against other big names like Samsung, HTC, or Huawei.

So, does ZTE Grand X worth enoguh to buy? Well, it depends. If you love to work with vanilla version of Android and not too interested to play 3D-graphics demanding game on your handset, ZTE Grand X should be a good friend to your wallet. It is quite affordable guys. With £190, you can experience Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. I don’t have any idea if it is upgradable to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but ICS is still considered as solid OS until today.

Like i said earlier, ZTE Grand X running on stock version of Android. This is mean that you will get the exact same UI with Google’s nexus devices that run on such OS. That should be a good news for those of you who claim yourself as an Android purist. But for some unknown reason, ZTE decide not to include face unlock feature on Grand X. Kinda sad, but i can live with that. Running on vanilla version of Android give you few advantages. First, it will run as fast as bolt. Second, you don’t have to spend lot of times to discover menus and buttons since it is quite similar to previous version of Android OS. Some of you might prefer to use better UI like ToucWiz or HTC Sense, but again, it’s all about the money right?

Since ZTE Grand X is powered by Tegra based processors, you will be able to take advantage from Tegra zone game. I have test this handset for a while and Grand X able to run pre-loaded games like Dead Trigger, Fruit Ninja THD, and Big Top THD.

ZTE Grand X is currently packed with 4:3 inches screen. It has qHD resolution. That is 540 x 960 pixels if you want to count. In terms of ppi, this handset is measured at 256 piexels per inch. It has TFT screen technology, which is a year away from AMOLED or even OLED display. Off course there will be some downgrade in this section, but i can say that all those words, letters, and graphics are look fine with me. Off course since it is an affordable handset, you can’t expect fluid touch screen response from ZTE Grand X. I have spend couple hours with this handset and i can’t tell you how frustrated it is to open an app when the hardware demand you to hard press the icon. So, the conclusion is, unless you have a heavy fingers, there’s no way you can work fast and quick with ZTE Grand X.

Like i said earlier, ZTE Grand X is currently powered by Tegra 2 dual-core processors that clocked at 1.0GHz. It is also packed with Nvidia Icera modem that able to support for 450 HSPA+ connection. In terms of batter life, Grand X only manage to last for couple hour after streaming Nyan Cat Video with WiFi internet connection turned on. Not too long after the two hour past, i check the batter life and the indicator says that i only got 38% power left. Don’t even think to use this handset to play some HD game. When i play Heroes Call THD for 15 minutes, my battery life drained dramatically to 73%.

ZTE Grand X is currently packed with dual-camera unit. 5.0 megapixels on back and 0.3 megapixels on front. The primary camera unit should be more than enough to provide mid-range picture quality. However, you shouldn’t rely on the webcam since the quality is extremely poor. But the good thing is, the rear shutter is support for HD video recording and photo shoot. But you might find it difficult to take a picture of yourself since ZTE Grand X doesn’t have any physical camera button. Uh, and one more thing, you need to tell your subject, or object?, to not move a lot when you try to take a picture. ZTE Grand X shutter take few seconds before the shutter is actually work. Unless you want to create blurred image, you better took some picture from static object.

So, with all these specs does ZTE Grand X worth all your money? Again, the answer depends on your need. If you’re looking for a casual and stylish Android phone, ZTE Grand X might be made for someone like you. But if you’re looking for better value for your money, you better spend it on a device like Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 or Orange San Diego.

Android 4.0, date, Grand X, Ice Cream sandwich, Impression. Full,