ZTE Blade V review

So, there we have it. One ZTE Blade V review. We know that a few of you will have skipped everything that we've written in all the previous sections and come right here, in which case, shame on you.

We've put the ZTE Blade V through its paces, and we are able to say that it is possibly the best piece of kit that the Chinese firm has put out to date, but when its competition is the likes of the awful ZTE Kis, that was hardly going to be difficult.

We liked

It is hard to say that we didn't like the quad-core processor, because it kept everything moving along smoothly. It allows for some more intense use, whilst making sure that there was little extreme slow down.

We also thought that battery life was pretty impressive. It managed to last a day with some pretty intense photography and a couple hours of Wi-Fi use (helping us to work out which minor celebrities were at Comic Con).

Having a microSD card slot is also a massive bonus. We don't see it enough on modern smartphones, with the likes of the HTC One and Apple iPhone omitting expandable storage. We'll always encourage manufacturers to pop a slot in if possible, because it allows users to take more control over their device.

We disliked

Whilst we can say that we liked the quad-core processor of the ZTE Blade V, we can also say we didn't like it. It felt through the entire time that we had it, that the Blade V was underpowered. We would much have preferred to have had a higher powered dual-core offering.

The camera was also nothing short of atrocious. We thought that the quad-core would help make the camera quick, but there was a very noticeable time to focus and shoot, which meant that we came out with some really poor shots.

Internal storage is also an issue. The way the 4GB is broken down means that there is only 2.5GB for users, with only 1.5GB of that as an internal SD card. This means that any apps that you can't install onto SD, and all the files that allow those that do, soon clog up the internal storage.

Verdict

Overall, we are left asking ourselves just how the ZTE Blade V coped for about £80. For those that are after a cheap handset to take to school, or as a back up to something a lot more powerful, there is little that can be argued with.

But for those that are after a more dedicated handset, we really have to advise that you spend your money elsewhere, as some of the more basic smartphone functions are badly handled.

A quad-core processor will doubtless handsets, but there are some problems. Stripped down OS' just doesn't need that much power, with single cores often pushing Android on nicely like in the LG Optimus L5 2, or on Windows Phone like the Nokia Lumia 520.