Here we talk about the specifications and price of the ZTE Blade E, one among the array of 6 phones launched by ZTE recently. The ZTE Blade L did manage to disappoint us; while the Grand X Quad Lite was pretty impressive, especially with the wireless charging option. The Blade E somewhat falls in between the two devices with it’s quad core processor, but is cheaper than both, the Blade L and the Grand X Quad Lite, priced at 11,999 INR. This makes it cheaper than the dual core powered Blade L, which is surprising.
The Blade E comes with Android v4.1 unlike the Blade L, which features v4.0 which is quite outdated by today’s standards.
Camera And Internal Storage
Just like the Grand X Quad Lite and the Blade L we quick reviewed earlier, the phone comes with a 5MP front and a 0.3MP rear camera. Given the price tag the phone comes with, it can be said that the camera set is slightly underpowered, since domestic manufacturers have been providing much better imaging hardware at similar/lower prices. We would have liked an 8MP unit more on the rear, and the 0.3MP on the front can be lived with since it is much seldom used as compared to the rear unit.
The phone features nothing new in the storage department, and comes with 512MB of RAM paired with 4GB of internal storage. There’s a microSD card slot like all other budget devices, which can work with cards up to 32GB in size.
Processor And Battery
Like the Grand X Quad Lite, the phone comes with a 1.2 GHz quad core processor of unknown make. The processor, as mentioned earlier, will be paired with 512MB of RAM which means the phone wouldn’t be the best when it comes to multitasking abilities, however it might serve well to those who aren’t very demanding as far as usage goes. But yes, the absence of 1GB RAM would be felt since most manufacturers have moved to 1GB RAM, which would be much better as far as multitasking is concerned.
Battery capacity is rated at 1600 mAh which is not much of an Improvement over ZTE lower end devices and when coupled with a quad core chipset might leave you hungry for more.
Display And Features
The Blade E comes with a slightly smaller screen when compared to the Blade L. The phone sports a 4.5 inch screen, which comes with an FWVGA resolution of 854×480 pixels. The panel type used is IPS, which means the device will have good visibility angles and should provide for an enjoyable experience.
We must add that due to the smaller screen, the pixel density of the device is better than what we saw on the Blade L.
As far as features go, there isn’t much we can speak about when it comes to this device. However, you can expect ZTE to have a better build quality than what you’re used to seeing on domestic manufacturer’s phones. But yes, even domestic manufacturers have striving hard to provide better built phones.
Comparison
As we’ve said with other budget quad core devices, there are virtually innumerable competitors even with this device. Most devices like XOLO Q800, Zen Ultraphone 701 HD, Lava Iris 504q turn out to be slightly better priced than this device from ZTE. However, it is just the start for ZTE in India, we’re sure they will grow as a manufacturer and marketer in the country, and are sure to find a section of the audience who would choose ZTE over other similar devices/manufacturers.
Key Specs
| Model | ZTE Blade E |
| Display | 4.5 inches FVWGA (854×480) |
| Processor | 1.2 GHz quad core |
| RAM, ROM | 512MB RAM, 4GB ROM expandable up to 32GB |
| OS | Android v4.1 |
| Cameras | 5MP rear, 0.3MP front |
| Battery | 1600 mAh |
| Price | 11,999 INR |
Conclusion
The phone seems to be priced fairly, which looks even better when you consider the fact that ZTE is selling the Blade L, which is a dual core phone, for a price greater than what they ask for the Blade E. ZTE is a trusted and well known manufacturer world wide, and even Indians have been using their dongles, albeit unaware of the brand. The build quality on ZTE phones is expected to surpass that on phones manufactured by other (newer) Chinese and domestic manufacturers and most probably, the device would be worth paying the extra bit of money for.
