ZTE Grand S II Hands on Review, Photo Gallery and Video

ZTE today showcased ZTE Grand S II and ZTE Nubia Z7 Mini at an event in New Delhi, India. Both of these smartphones will arrive in India in the next couple of months and pricing will be made official sometime closer to the launch. As the specs indicate, it’s a powerful 5.5 Inch Display phablet powered by Snapdragon 801. Lets see if the same holds true with our Initial impressions of ZTE Grans S II.

ZTE Grand S II Quick Specs

• Display Size: 5.5 Inch IPS LCD 1920 X 1080p Full HD resolution,  401 PPI
• Processor:  2.2 GHz Quad Core Snapdragon 800 with Adreno 330 GPU
• RAM: 2 GB
• Software Version: Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
• Camera: 13 MP, Can record 1080p videos
• Secondary Camera: 2 MP, Can record 1080p Videos
• Internal Storage:  16GB
• External Storage: 32 GB using MicroSD card
• Battery:2500  mAh
• Connectivity:  3G HSPA, WiFi, Bluetooth , GPS / GLONASS

ZTE Grand S2 Hands on, Features, Camera, Comparison and Overview [Video]

Design, Build and Display

ZTE Grand S2 isn’t competing for the slimmest tag but feels quite light considering the large 5.5 Inch form factor. The design on the whole is quite conventional. Power key and volume rocker are present on the right edge, while the speaker is present on the back side. The rear side on our unit had two white strips running on the top and bottom and this didn’t appear very appealing to us.

The 5.5 inch full HD display is sharp with great colors, great viewing angles and good brightness levels. ZTE has also shaved off bezels from the sides, which makes Grand S II more manageable. Display is lined by 3 soft keys for navigation.

Processor and RAM

ZTE Grand S II is powered by Snapdragon 800 quad core processor with 4 Krait 400 cores clocked at 2.3 GHz. The Processor has proved its metal repeatedly over past one year and we don’t doubt its ability to smoothly handle all you throw at it.

The processor comes with 2 GB RAM, which should be sufficient for maintaining a decent performance over an extended period of usage.

Camera and Internal Storage

The rear 13 MP camera turned out to be a good performer in our initial testing. Shutter speed and colors are quite good even in low light. We would reserve our verdict till we have tested it thoroughly under different lighting conditions. For video calling and selfies, a 2 MP front facing camera is also present. Both front and rear camera can record 1080p full HD videos.

Internal storage is 16 GB and there is option for expanding this further by another 32 GB using MicroSD card slot. This should be good enough for most users.

User Interface and Battery

Grand S II comes with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean which is slightly dated for a smartphone you buy today. With several apps demanding Android 4.4 Kitkat and all the attention Google’s Material design has garnered – this can be a deal breaker for those looking for a future proof smartphone. The custom skin on top adds voice commands, security features and more.

Battery capacity is substantial 2500 mAh which again sounds pretty decent, especially with Snapdragon 801 on board. We will update you with more info after we have spent some more time with the device, but we are optimistic.

ZTE Grand S II Photo Gallery

Conclusion

ZTE Grand S II looks like a conventional mid range phablet with its Achilles heel being dated Android version. It packs powerful internals without anything particularly dazzling on the outside. Its acceptability will primarily be governed by the price ZTE decides to pitch it for in India.