ZTE continues to do a good job with its mid-range, and the proof of this is this ZTE Blade V7 Lite . A system of excellent audio by Arkamys , sensor fingerprint to which you can get a lot of play and a photographic quality team with 13 megapixels in the rear camera and 8 on the front , the ZTE Blade V7 Lite takes advantage to its capacities and all for only 160 euros . The screen is 5 inches in size, with HD resolution , the processor is a quad-core Mediatek and2GB of RAM and storage is 16GB . Lastly, the battery is 2,500 milliamps . We are now going to break down this ZTE in detail.

Design and display

ZTE has developed a common design line for its phones, and it maintains them. That is the case with this ZTE Blade V7 Lite . The model maintains the matte metallic finish on an aluminum unibody body to which we have become used all this year, in this case with a single color, silver . It is a narrow terminal, 70 mm , allowing an easy grip, with 7.9 mm thick on the side and 135 grams of weight. A comfortable and light terminal, adaptable to bags and pockets, thanks mainly to its 5-inch screen size, something that today, in the face of the unstoppable rise of thephablets , is considered typical of a small phone . No front button, also as we are used to, with the fingerprint sensor behind, and two speakers also in the back. Speaking of the technical characteristics of the screen, it is a TFT IPS panel with HD resolution (1080 x 720 pixels) quite well used thanks to the 5-inch size: the menu looks really good and the applications and videos are reproduced without problem and detail.

performance

We have started talking about the external vision, we are going to focus now on the internal one, how this ZTE Blade V7 Lite works inside . The processor incorporates a  MediaTek MT6735P of four cores at 1GHz with a memory 2GB RAM and a storage capacity of 16 G B expandable via a microSD card, located on the SIM tray. Our experience at the controls of the ZTE Blade V7  Lite confirms that it is a terminal with quite optimized performance, since in the test time it has not shown overheating, nor hangs. Anyway, this type of analysis requires a slightly more objective assessment, so we have used the AnTu Tu Benchmark and Geekbench 4 programs to do a complete check, and these have been the results. In the AnTu Tu Benchmark it gave a 22881 , something that puts it in 37th place in its ranking , immediately below the Xiaomi Mi 4s and the Meizu M3 Note.

For  Geekbench 4 , the result has been 390 for a single core and 1093 for all four cores running at the same time. According to the program, it is a rather poor assessment , although on the other hand it is normal that it produces that feeling, since the program automatically compares you with high-end phones .

The ZTE Blade V7 Lite's operating system is Android 6.0 Marshmallow that comes with a very particular customization layer,  My Favor . Navigating the phone we find some peculiar elements , such as an inverted blind with which we can change the color or the photo of the background , the texture of the icons or even the effects of movement when moving from a “page” of applications to other. Rotating cross, Wave or Cube are some of the effects that are offered to us. Speaking of applications, the customization of the ZTE Blade V7 Lite eliminates the classic application menuto offer all in the same entry menu, iPhone style . From here we think that it is a good idea , since it optimizes navigation within the terminal, and since we can customize your order, we are never going to lose ourselves looking for our favorite applications , since we can place them at the beginning of everything, or even put them together in blocks, as some of the pre-installed applications come,  just the ones that we are going to analyze now.

Serial applications

When opening the phone we find different types of pre-installed applications. On the one hand, the common and current of all smartphones: Calendar, Clock, Mail, Downloads, Gallery, Music, Video, Voice Search, Calculator, Recorder, FM Radio, Notes, Contacts, Messages, Settings and Browser . Then we have on the other hand the applications that ZTE has included in its own way , seeking to help the user with them (exactly, we will not find any games, only applications for practical use). These are:

WPS Office

It is an office automation application for mobile , like a small Microsoft Office available to you. It allows you to write and read .doc files , presentations in .ppt , calculation hours .xls and even notes in .txt format . In addition, it includes a PDF file reader . The application is beautiful, fast and full of possibilities, although it may not be the most successful phone to take advantage of them, due to the size of the screen. Writing something long, as well as editing spreadsheets or spreadsheets can be a bit tedious., since the font sizes we work with do not allow optimization of an application that itself has no drawbacks .

AccuWeather

This weather forecast application is quite complete and offers us a prediction including the humidity percentage, the ultraviolet rays index and the wind speed, among others. It also allows us to check the temperature variations that will occur as the hours go by , and also a forecast for the rest of the month with maximum and minimum temperatures, as well as the estimated level of cloudiness and rain. In addition, apart from our current location, it allows us to record different locations in order to compare temperatures in real time in different places. An easy app that works automatically on the phone and who will help us, without leaving the house, to know if we have to take the umbrella, the coat, or the sandals.

Avast Mobile Security

This application is an antivirus that, unlike AccuWeather , appears pre-installed on the system but does not work automatically . To do so, you must go to Settingsand press for the system to give the application permission to perform regular analyzes and monitor the interaction with other applications. Taking into account the proliferation of viruses and Trojans in the mobile field, that extra security never hurts . Our test was simple and quick, it didn't recognize any threats, and it doesn't seem to affect the overall performance of the phone, so it seems like a good idea to have it activated.

Clean Master

Another application that comes pre-installed but not activated , the Clean Master is a classic in cleaning junk files and optimizing the battery. The way to activate it is the same as for the previous application,  Settings, and once we do, the program will be regularly checking the level of cache accumulated in the system, in addition to all those files and applications that can be put into hibernation so that they do not work in the background and thus make the battery last longer . In our time of use we have noticed it, the revisions occur, and the device seems to work more smoothly  since it was activated. Another success by ZTE, offering pre-installed applications that are of real help to the user .

ZTE support

For the end we leave ZTE's own application designed for technical service . When we enter we find a first menu of frequently asked questions , which works through the search for keywords . For example, if I type "Wi-Fi," the application redirects me to Wi-Fi problem links, such as "What should I do if the phone cannot connect to Wi-Fi?" or "How can I share my phone's Internet connection with other devices?" Clicking on any of the options we go to a menu with a detailed explanation of the resolution of the problem . The second menu that we find is the Web Services , which is essentially a series oflinks to the official website , the ZTE support email address, Facebook, Twitter , and a link to the Spanish ZTE page that takes us to a search engine for ZTE technical service companies . By writing the province we can know where we have a technical service closest to our area, with an exact location on the map . Be careful, this option is not integrated into the system, it requires being connected to the Internet to be able to carry it out.

Finally we have a third menu, called Hardware Test . In this function we will find various tests to be able to make a first evaluation of the device and locate exactly the problem. We can test the touch screen system , the music speakers, the speaker and the phone microphone, the volume buttons , the headphone jack, the camera , the fingerprint sensor, the vibrator mode and the GPS. A really complete option that can help us at times when we doubt whether an error we find is a specific crash of the system or a real failure of the device.

To finish with the applications  we have two more blocks of applications: Social Networks , which includes Facebook, Facebook Messenger and Instagram (the complete Facebook package) and then a block of Google applications , in which we find Google Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Google Drive, Google Play Music, Google Play Movies, Google Hangouts, and Google Photos. In addition, of course, it has the Google store, Play Store , from where we can download the rest of the applications that we consider interesting.

Apart from traditional applications, the ZTE Blade V7 Lite has two shortcuts to specific phone functions that can be found in the Settings folder, and that allow you to get a lot of play from the device . We talk about Gestures & movements and Fingerprint . Let's see what each one consists of and we will explain its main characteristics.

Gestures & Movements

We find a shortcut to the Gestures & Movements tool in the phone's input menu, but we can also access it through SettingsThanks to this tool, we can carry out a series of quick actions with just movements of the hand or finger. This tool is divided into two sections, Gestures on the one hand, and Movements on the other.

Gestures

The gestures that the ZTE Blade V7 Lite allows can be carried out in the air or with the screen black . The first are gestures that we perform with the same hand that we hold the phone, while keeping the volume button pressed . In this way, we draw a letter in the air with the phone , and then we release the volume button. There are four possible letters to draw, the "M", which is used to activate music playback , the "O", which is used to pause it , and then the "V" and "Z" which are customizable , with which we we can decide which application we want to be redirected to, we can chooseamong all those installed in the terminal. These letters drawn in the air can be done with the phone on or locked.

On the other hand, the gestures with the black screen have another dynamic. They are done with the finger on the screen when the phone is idle. There are two already predetermined movements, relative once again to the music, which are the movement of moving the song forward (moving the finger in a horizontal line from right to left) or going to the previous song (moving the finger in the opposite direction, from left to right). The rest of the actions are customizable , and go through drawing the following letters on the black screen of the phone. A "C", an "O", an "M" and a "W". The application itself shows you how to draw itso that it is easily recognized, and then you can choose between all the downloaded applications which one you want each drawing to be assigned to. Here is a sample of our selection:

One last option that is offered to us within the Gestures menu is to activate the phone when it is idle with two simple touches on the screen . Tap Tap. This option is simple and useful.

Movements

The movements are actually actions that we carry out with the phone in hand , which serve as a signal for the phone to activate or deactivate certain functions. We are going to be more specific. For example, we can make calls simply by placing the handset of the phone near the ear . In order for the phone to know which contact to call, we must have it open, either through the Contacts application or in Recent Calls . Another action that we can carry out by placing the phone close to our ear is to answer a call automatically. We can also activate a "Pocket mode", which consists of the phone recognizing if it is stored indoors, and automatically changes its settings to have the highest vibration and the sound at the highest volume when calling. We can also flip the phone to silence an incoming call, or to stop the alarm. Finally, this tool allows us to turn on the flashlight or calculator simply by shaking the phone with our hand. If we want to turn off the flashlight or exit the calculator, we just have to shake the phone again, and that's it.

It should be borne in mind that activate these functions has a clear cost spending more battery , especially those involving having sensors running when the screen goes black, in sleep mode. When it comes to optimizing the autonomy of the phone, or if necessary, the first thing we recommend that you do is deactivate this function .

Fingerprint reader

The fingerprint reader of the ZTE Blade V7 Lite is located at the rear of the terminal, just below the camera , designed to be used with the index finger. Perhaps for the particular model they have put it too low , since when grabbing the phone it is very easy to press it by accident, which can become quite uncomfortable . Apart from that appreciation, with the reader we can perform actions of the most varied , not only unlock the phone as it may seem, but some more. Accessing the direct access from the main menu or from Settings, we can register our fingerprint (one or several), pressing on different sides of the sensor so that you can have a complete reading of the fingerprint. Once done, every time we enter the tool, we will have to identify with it.

After that we will have access to a series of options. The release of the terminal is one of them, the more predictable, but can also use the fingerprint sensor to encrypt some applications and which requires the use of fingerprint to enter. We have done the test with Gmail and it worked perfectly, although we can add as many as we want . Then we have the One touch action , which allows us to turn on an application while unlocking the phone. For example, if we select "Camera", every time we unlock the phone with the reader, the camera will start .

The Smart Fingerprint option is used for us to use the fingerprint reader to perform direct actions, such as capturing a photo , turning on the flashlight when the phone is at rest, or taking a screenshot by tapping the sensor twice. There is also the option to slide your finger up or down on the sensor, to change songs , change the volume of the call while it is being produced, or turn the page if you are reading an eBook. Finally, the Privacy option allows us to shield no longer applications, but specific files, pictures, videos, documents, contacts or even text messages. The user suspicious of their privacy will be delighted with this phone. Yes, to the Gestos & Movements like, these features increase battery drain .

Photography

The rear camera of the ZTE Blade Lite V7 is 13 megapíxele s with CMOS sensor, flash, autofocus, panorama mode and Time Lapse. Also, record HD videos. When we access the camera we have an options button that allows us to choose the image format, activate the self-timer, face detection mode or touch capture, which works by giving two taps on the screen itself. In another submenu we can choose whether to recognize and store our location or to activate the shutter tone. We have hit the streets with our ZTE Blade V7 Lite to see how it responds, and this has been the result.

The front camera has an 8 megapixel sensor, with facial recognition and smile detector. The settings menu is the same as that of the rear camera , except for touch mode (for obvious reasons). Let's look at some tests.

The front camera can also be used as a mirror with the Mirror Camera function , which allows us to access said camera, but without allowing us to take a photo , just to see ourselves, check if we are still well groomed or if we have food remains on our teeth . Quite useful.

Audio and ports

ZTE has chosen to differentiate itself from other brands by betting on quality sound in its terminals, and in this ZTE Blade V7 Lite we find Arkamys Optimspeaker audio technology  that does not disappoint. The sound through the speaker is correct, good volume and does not get to distort even if it is turned up to the maximum. Of course, although in the back we find two speakers, the truth is that only one of the two works , and the resulting sound is mono . Using headphones is when we really notice the difference - the definition is outstanding, plus the surround stereo, at a level that we are not used to even in some high-end terminals . The headphone port is the now disputed 3.5-millimeter mini jack, located on the spine above. Below we find the USB 2.0 charging.

Autonomy

This device has a 2,500 milliamp non-removable lithium battery . Since dancing figures which are used may not seem like much capacity, but the truth is that in our time test battery had an average of 20 / 3rd hour , which is autonomy more than acceptable . Turning on the Clean Master tool probably helped, as well as turning off the Gestures and motions options. Probably with a greater use of this function, the autonomy could drop in a few hours. The real shame is not being able to count on fast charging technology, although it is understandable understanding the range and price of the product. In general the battery rating ispretty good , but let's let the bots have their say . We have passed the phone through the AnTu Tu tester and this has been its verdict: 6576 , above a Nexus 4 and below a Lenovo S920.

Price and availability

One of the elements that unbalances the balance in favor of this ZTE Blade V7 Lite is the price. Around 160 euros , it makes it a profitable option as well as effective. A comfortable phone, with good performance and autonomy, excellent audio and a lot of versatility. It can be bought on its official website or in almost any large supermarket, Fnac, Media Markt, The Phone House or Amazon.

-ZTE Blade V7 Lite-

screen

Design

Camera

Multimedia

software

Power

Memory

Connections

Autonomy

+ info

Price: 160 euros  

Original text

Contribute a better translation

---