China’s ZTE is bringing its two flagship smartphones to the U.S., hoping to attract customers who want to avoid carrier contracts. The ZTE Grand S and the nubia 5 will be available through Amazon, Walmart.com, and other third party retailers, but not through any carriers. Both are GSM/UMTS phones, so they are compatible with AT&T’s network and T-Mobile US’s network. They support HSPA+ speeds, but not LTE. The Grand S will retail for $400 and the nubia 5 will sell for $450. Both will be available for pre-order October 5, and are expected to ship later this month.
ZTE hopes the phones will attract buyers who prefer a prepaid service plan, but want to carry a higher-end device than many prepaid plans offer. The company is focusing on online retail partnerships, betting that consumers will be willing to pay $400 or more for a phone without seeing or touching it first.
The nubia 5 targets users who value advanced photography and high-end audio. It features a 13 megapixel camera with a Konica-Minolta lens and intelligent stabilization, Digital Dolby Plus audio, and specially-designed earbuds. “As the software and apps available on today’s smartphones replace more and more of the other devices we use on a daily basis, the specifications for features like cameras, displays and speakers are becoming increasingly sophisticated. The nubia 5 really pushes that trend further,” said Lixin Cheng, chairman and CEO of ZTE USA.
The nubia 5 is a 5-inch, 16GB, Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean) smartphone, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with 1.5 GHz quad-core CPUs. It packs a 2300mAH battery and measures 5.43 inches by 2.71 inches by 0.30 inches, making it a particularly slim smartphone.
Even slimmer is the 0.27-inch Grand S, winner of the 2013 iF International Design Award. The phone was first introduced at Mobile World Congress, and is just now arriving in the U.S. It is similar to the nubia 5 in many respects, with a 5-inch screen, 16GB of ROM and the same Snapdragon S4 Pro found in the nubia 5. The Grand S does run a slightly older version of Android (4.1) and it has a less powerful battery (1780 mAH). Like the nubia 5, it has a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2 megapixel front-facing camera, but it does not have the Konica-Minolta lens.
Both phones were initially launched in China at prices significantly higher than the U.S. prices. The Grand S was priced higher than the nubia 5 in China. ZTE initially sold it for $771 unlocked, while offering the nubia 5 at $546.
ZTE ranked number 5 in worldwide smartphone market share in the second quarter, according to IDC, with 10.1 million smartphones shipped and a 4.2% market share.
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