ZTE Blade Z Max: At First Glance
The Z Max brand has always been of ZTE’s most successful smartphone brands. For instance, the Z Max Pro was many people’s favorite before ZTE stopped releasing it for sale.
Fortunately, the ZTE Blade Z Max that was released to succeed the Z Max Pro seems like a step in the right direction. ZTE has made some improvements like the flagship features it offers for half the price.
Though the smartphone is big, its spec and features are interesting enough to grab your attention. Let’s discover everything the ZTE Blade Z Max has to offer.
ZTE Blade Z Max: Design, Dimension & Weight
There’s no mild way to describe it other than to say the ZTE Blade Z Max is unapologetically large. Its large size is the first thing anyone would notice if they had the smartphone in front of them.
In fact, the ZTE Blade Z Max’s design is like a throwback to the time screen-to-body ratio was the least considered design factor. With the ZTE Blade Z Max, you don’t get the modern styling of squeezing ultra-large displays into compact bodies.
This smartphone looks bigger than most smartphones. Though its size is not a bad quality entirely, it can cause little discomforts during daily usage.
One such discomfort is that you may need to use both of your hands to comfortably navigate around its display. The smartphone may also put some strain on your pocket if you usually wear tight pants.
Fortunately, ZTE had all of these in mind when they made the ZTE Blade Z Max ultra-slim. To give more detail, the smartphone measures 166.1 x 84.5 x 8.3 mm.
Thanks to its slim build, you’ll find the smartphone easier to hold. To also make up for its 174.9 g heavyweight, the smartphone has been fitted with a diamond-textured plastic back.
This texture makes the smartphone feel nicer to hold. It also adds extra grip to the smartphone to keep it from slipping off your hands.
Put the large form factor aside, and you will have an appealing aesthetic. It seems as though ZTE put a lot of attention to details on the design of this phone.
Even though the smartphone isn’t built with premium materials, it doesn’t feel fragile. Its mostly plastic build features an attractive black-colored finish.
Its frame, for instance, has a metallic finish that gives it a premium look. However, I found the top and bottom bezels to be a bit displeasing – probably because I’m accustomed to using nearly bezel-less smartphones.
Regardless, the top and bottom bezels are too chunky whichever way you look at it. The top bezel features a headset and a front-facing camera while the bottom bezel features the capacitive touch buttons.
Taking a closer look around the ZTE Blade Z Max, you will not find any odd placements. The volume rocker and the power button are positioned on the right side.
Meanwhile, the left side houses the SIM card and the microSD card tray.
Move to the bottom of the smartphone and you’ll find the headphone jack, a mic, and the USB-C charging port.
On the back of the ZTE Blade Z Max, you’ll find the rear camera on the top left side. It is far from the fingerprint sensor that is positioned in the center.
Overall, the design of the ZTE Blade Z Max looks premium even though it is a budget smartphone. Therefore, it scores a seven in this review.
ZTE Blade Z Max: Display Features
ZTE equipped the Blade Z Max with a 6.0-inch IPS LCD display. This is one of the highlights of the ZTE Blade Z Max.
like the ZMax Pro, the display of ZTE Blade Z Max offers a Full HD resolution of 1080 x 1920 and a pixel density of 367 PPI. Though the ZTE Blade Z Max’s display is not the sharpest, it is relatively sharp.
For instance, it is much sharper than the Stylo 3 that offers a pixel density of 258 ppi.
On most occasions, you will get clear texts and graphics. However, you might notice some pixels when you take a closer look at the display.
Furthermore, colors on the display appear accurately and distinctively. I was able to confirm this when I streamed the new episode of Power and Eminem’s new music video.
Also, the viewing angles on this smartphone are solid. You won’t have issues with viewing content from different angles.
Moreover, the screen is incredibly bright. The display is bright enough for outdoor viewing.
In my tests, I found out that the ZTE is capable of reaching a maximum brightness of 510 nits. This result surpassed the Blade V8 Pro’s 439 nits and the Huawei Honor 6X’s 444 nits.
However, the ZTE Blade Z Max’s display is not as bright as the Motorola G5 Plus’s display that is capable of reaching 591 nits. Nonetheless, the ZTE Blade Z Max’s display is good enough.
The smartphone’s display is also protected with a 2.5D scratch-resistant glass panel. This glass panel protects the smartphone from minor cracks and scratches.
In conclusion, the ZTE Blade Z Max scores an eight in this review for its beautiful and bright display.
ZTE Blade Z Max: Camera Features
Just like its display, the camera on the ZTE Blade Z Max is one of its great features.
Though dual camera setups have become common in high-end smartphones, it is rare in budget smartphones. The ZTE Blade Z Max is one of the few budget smartphones that comes with a dual-camera setup on its back.
To give more detail, the ZTE Blade Z Max comes with a 16 MP primary camera along with a 2 MP secondary camera. The 2 MP supplementary camera makes the smartphone capable of capturing the artificial depth of field style effects.
Moreover, the combination of these camera sensors allows other cool effects like Bokeh mode. This mode allows you to focus on an object while blurring the background.
Aside from these features, the image quality doesn’t go beyond what you would expect from a budget smartphone’s camera. Nonetheless, it is capable of capturing clear images in well-lit environments.
The ZTE Blade Z Max offers decent shots with a good amount of details. However, the image quality and color reproduction in low light are a bit poor.
To be precise, you’ll get lesser details in the shadowy areas of images. Images also tend to get blurry.
Overall, this smartphone’s camera has what it takes to offer good-looking pictures. However, it is largely dependent on the shooting environment.
You may also have to be patient while taking shots because of its slow shutter speed.
It may not be on the same level with high-end smartphones, but this smartphone’s rear camera is excellent.
The 8 MP front camera is also good. Apart from using the shutter, you can also take pictures by smiling in front of the lens or tapping the fingerprint sensor.
This front camera offers a beauty mode feature that smoothens out the skin tone and cleans up blemishes.
In terms of video recording, both cameras can record standard 1080p videos at 30 FPS. In conclusion, the overall quality of this smartphone’s camera is good.
Hence, it scores an eight in this review.
ZTE Blade Z Max: Battery Life and Talk Time
I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I say the ZTE Blade Z Max comes with beast-like battery power. Its battery is much bigger than the Z Max Pro’s 3,400 mAh.
ZTE promises a talk time of 31 hours on the ZTE Blade Z Max. To ascertain the validity of this claim, I carried out some battery tests.
On a battery test that involved continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi, the ZTE Blade Z Max lasted 11 hours 27 minutes. This runtime makes it rank amongst smartphones with the longest battery lives.
On another test that involved streaming a video over Wi-Fi at maximum brightness, the ZTE lasted 7 hours 10 minutes. It surpassed the Z Max Pro’s 6 hours.
In conclusion, the ZTE Blade Z Max scores an eight in this review for its long battery life.
ZTE Blade Z Max: Storage Options & Performance
ZTE offers 32 GB of internal storage for the ZTE Blade Z Max.
Like almost every aspect of the smartphone, its storage is awesome. Moreover, you will rarely come across budget smartphones with up to 32 GB internal storage capacity.
Even though the smartphone’s operating system makes use of part of the internal storage, you barely have to worry. However, if you are a user who stores a lot of files, you can increase the storage.
ZTE provided an option for you to expand your storage via a microSD card. You can expand your storage with up to 128 GB microSD card.
Therefore, the ZTE Blade Z Max scores an eight in this review for its awesome storage options.
ZTE Blade Z Max: Security Features & Sensors
You might be wondering how it’s possible for your smartphone to carry out some computing activities. Things like how it detects light, how it adjusts the screen’s brightness, or how it counts your steps.
Unlike those days where no one imagined smartphones could become as powerful as computers, modern smartphones have changed the story today. Smartphones can now offer beyond just making and receiving calls.
All of these remarkable feats are possible thanks to little components known as sensors. There are different sensors that perform different tasks.
These sensors help to detect changes in the environment and then convert them into electronic signals that can be processed by the smartphone. Just like every modern smartphone, the ZTE Blade Z Max comes with a collection of sensors.
The ZTE Blade Z Max comes with an accelerometer that informs the smartphone of its orientation. It helps to switch apps from portrait to landscape.
The smartphone also comes with a fingerprint sensor that uses biometric verification to prevent unauthorized access to the phone. This sensor is also useful in apps that require authentication such as mobile payment and banking apps.
Other sensors featured in this smartphone include a gyroscope and magnetometer.
Overall, the ZTE Blade Z Max scores a seven in this review for its fair sensor selection.
Frequently Asked Questions
The ZTE Blade Z Max is a big smartphone with awesome features like its big display, long battery life, dual camera setup. Even though its size might be a cause for concern for some, it is an excellent smartphone for its price.
As of the time of writing this article (16th of May, 2021), you can purchase the ZTE Blade Z Max from one of our affiliate partners for $224.99.
No, it is not. The ZTE Blade Z Max doesn’t have an IP rating. Hence, it is not waterproof.
Overall, there’s a lot to love about ZTE’s smartphones. They have a tendency to offer beautiful designs and good specs. Moreover, they are often far more affordable than their competitors.
ZTE stands for Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment.
Conclusion
The ZTE Blade Z Max is certainly one of the best budget smartphones out there. Although it doesn’t compete with most high-end smartphones, it is a formidable mid-range powerhouse.
It offers a big display, long battery life, dual-camera setup, and some other high-end features. Overall, it is an awesome smartphone for its price and a worthy successor to the Z Max Pro.
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