ZTE announces Grand S II, Nubia 5S, and even a mini projector/wireless hotspot for CES 2014
Not to be outdone by Lenovo — who, yesterday, we told you was bringing 4 new Android devices to this year’s CES — ZTE is coming in hot with a handful of devices of their own. More a “portfolio” of new products, ZTE will introduce new smartphones and even wearables at this year’s show, including a partnership with AT&T for smartphones and a wireless home phone. Here’s what ZTE has lined up for the event.
ZTE Grand S II
A follow up to last year’s gorgeous ZTE Grand S, the Grand S II is being called a “high-precision voice phone”. What does that mean? Well, in Moto X like fashion, the Grand S II will use voice recognition technology even while it’s sleeping. Voice commands will also play a role in the camera app where the device’s onboard triple-mic noise reduction should help at drowning out background noise. The press release didn’t include photos or other specs, so we’ll have to find out more when CES officially kicks off next week.
ZTE is also bringing a new device to US shores by way of the ZTE Sonata 4G for AT&T’s prepaid Aio Wireless. Light on specs — which also means light on the wallet — the device will feature a 4-inch display, dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB RAM, and 5MP camera. Where most ZTE devices that come to the states find the manufacturer’s name stripped from their title, we found it interesting the ZTE’s name remained intact.
Nubia 5S and 5S Mini
ZTE is further expanding their Nubia line of Android handsets with the Nubia 5S and Nubia 5S Mini. The larger 5S will feature a 1080p display, 13MP camera with Sony RS sensor and large f/2.0 aperture, 4K video capture. No word on other specs, although ZTE did mention both devices will feature a “screaming-fast” Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processors, for what it’s worth.
ZTE Iconic Phablet
ZTE also announced a new phablet they’ll be showing off, appropriately named the ZTE Iconic Phablet. This large-screened device will feature a 5.7-inch display, dual-core processor, and wireless charging. No word on other hardware specs, but we expect this to fit in with their other affordable line of devices.
ZTE BlueWatch
Making the move into wearables, ZTE will debut their first smartwatch dubbed the ZTE BlueWatch. The smartwatch features a built-in pedometer for tracking body fat, calories burned, and the like. Using a Bluetooth connection, the BlueWatch can pair up with your smartphone and be used as a remote for the camera, phone calls, or other media, as well as display notifications from Twitter and Facebook.
Others
But it isn’t all about smartphones and wearables for ZTE. The manufacturer will be showing off a new wireless hotspot that features a built-in projector (we hope it has a big battery), and the AT&T Wireless Home Base. Another partnership with AT&T, the Home Base allows users to connect their standard home phone into the base and connect to AT&T’s wireless network for unlimited local and long distance calling at $20 a month.
Looks like ZTE is slowly but surely making a bigger push into the US market, and we’re sure this is only a taste of things to come. We’ll be giving you guys a hands-on with all these devices and more during our CES 2014 coverage next week. Should be fun!
[ZTE]