ZTE Blade V8 Pro surprised us at CES 2017 by stealing away Apple's best iPhone 7 Plus feature – the dual-lens rear camera – and pricing it at only $230.
Is the quality as good? We'll know very soon. The wait for this new Android handset is almost over, as ZTE has begun selling the Blade V8 Pro in the US today via the following retailers.
ZTE Blade V8 Pro at NewEgg for $229.99
ZTE Blade V8 Pro at Amazon for $229.99
ZTE Blade V8 Pro at B&H Photo for $229.98 (best deal)
Obviously, if you're literally counting every penny, you'll want to go with B&H Photo. All versions on sale today come in black with 32GB of storage.
Other notable specs, besides two 13MP rear cameras that produce bokeh-rich Portrait Mode photos, include a 5.5-inch Full HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, 3GB of RAM and a 3140mAh battery.
Is ZTE Blade V8 Pro right for you to buy?
There's a lot to like about the ZTE Blade V8 Pro considering the rock-bottom price for an unlocked phone running the Snapdragon 625 chipset.
However, you should be aware that this is a GSM-only phone, meaning it'll work on carrier likes AT&T, T-Mobile, Tracfone and a few other networks.
It won't work on CDMA carriers, including Verizon and Sprint. Despite being an unlocked phone, the ZTE Blade V8 Pro just doesn't have the proper bands to run on those networks.
There's also the fact that this phone runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow instead of the latest Android 7.0 Nougat that debuted with the Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL. But that can be fixed with an update in the future.
It remains a killer value if the Blade V8 Pro specs live up to the hype. We'll know for sure soon as we test out the performance in an upcoming full review.
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