After the more than remarkable ZTE Blade V7 Lite, ZTE offers us the next member of the family. The ZTE Blade V8 Lite aims to maintain the line of phones with good value for money and small size. In this case, the latest from ZTE has a 5-inch screen, with 2GB of RAM and an eight-core Mediatek chip . The collaboration with Arkamys continues to offer quality audio, and all with a price below 200 euros. We are going to do an analysis of the ZTE Blade V8 Lite after having used it for a few days.
Design and display
For this edition, a device with rounded edges on the sides and the back has been chosen. The finish is in glossy aluminum, with three colors to choose from . There is a black, silver and rose gold version. This latest version, the one we had the pleasure of testing, is only pink on the back and white on the front.
We still do not have a front button and we bet again on the rear fingerprint reader. A centerpiece at the back shows us the camera and the flash . It is equivalent to that of the ZTE Blade V8, but with a single camera on the left, with the flash in the center.
The volume and power buttons are located on the right side, and the microSIM and microSD slot, on the left. Above we have the headphone minijack port, and at the bottom, the micro USB charging port.
The ZTE Blade V8 Lite remains somewhere in the middle when it comes to dimensions, without being particularly thin or heavy, but not the opposite either. We are talking about a terminal with a thickness of 8 millimeters on the side and a weight of 137 grams .
The IPS LCD screen is 5 inches, and the resolution is HD (720 x 1280 pixels) . Image density is 294 dpi. Within the mid-range, it is a resolution standard that meets the main use needs. Even more if we take into account the size of the terminal.
ZTE BLADE V8 Lite specifications
| screen | IPS 5 inches, resolution 720 x 1280 pixels, 294 dpi | |
| Main chamber | 13 megapixels with autofocus | |
| Camera for selfies | 8 megapixels | |
| Internal memory | 16 GB | |
| Extension | microSD up to 128 GB | |
| Processor and RAM | Mediatek MT6750 Octa-Core 1.5GHz, 2GB RAM | |
| Battery | 2,500 mAh, no fast charging | |
| Operating system | Android 7 Nougat | |
| Connections | minijack, micro USB, LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS | |
| SIM | microSIM | |
| Design | Aluminum and glass. Colors: silver, rose gold and black | |
| Dimensions | 143 x 71 x 8.0 mm (137 grams) | |
| Featured Features | fingerprint reader, Arkamys sound | |
| Release date | Available | |
| Price | 180 euros |
performance
The operation of the ZTE Blade V8 Lite is supported by an eight-core Mediatek MTK6750 chip with 1.5 GHz clock frequency . The RAM is 2 GB and the storage is 16 GB, expandable via microSD up to 128 GB more.
Our test experience has been quite satisfactory, considering the range of the terminal. Both when browsing the software and when testing games, we have not experienced crashes or slowdowns . Of course, it is not a mobile designed for the most powerful titles in the Android catalog. To solidify our opinion, we have made the ZTE Blade V8 Lite pass the Geekbench4 and AnTuTu Benchmark tests.
In the first case, the valuation has been 578 for a nucleus and 2308 for the combination of the eight . According to the information from the app itself, the performance of this device could be compared with that of the Samsung Galaxy S5 or the LG G3, since they have similar scores.
We now proceed to do the AnTuTu analysis. The score of this benchmark app has been 38807 . If we consult this team in the ranking of scores, we will find it in position 51. Other terminals with a similar score would be the Meizu MX6 and the OPPO R9s Plus. This only confirms the clear mid-range condition of this ZTE Blade V8 Lite.
software
Android 7 Nougat is the version of the operating system used by the ZTE Blade V8 Lite. The firmware is customized, through the My Favor desktop. However, for this mobile the brand has not wanted to offer too many interface editing options to the user . Far from changes in themes and screensavers, what we find is a start menu where the total number of apps downloaded to the system are placed. Therefore, there is no app menu.
The total number of pre-installed apps is quite large. We have some of our own from ZTE, such as ZTE Support or Mi Sports, the latter an app to count steps and calories. There is also a suite of Google apps with Drive, Duo, YouTube, Maps, Chrome, Gmail, and Photos .
In a separate category we find the AVG antivirus, the Superb Cleaner, the WPS Office client, the AccuWeather weather app, Facebook and Instagram . Finally, several games are included in the ZTE Blade V8 Lite. We have Real Football, Spider-man: Ultimate Power, Disney Kingdoms and even a Ludigames app to download free games.
As the internal memory of this phone is limited, some users may find this collection of pre-installed apps too extensive. For this reason, the software itself includes an application uninstaller , which allows you to remove apps that come from the factory from the system.
Another interesting element of the firmware is the Family Mode. makes the phone more accessible for older people . When activated, the interface changes to offer large letters and highly visual windows. Its use is made very simple for anyone who has the most limited vision or is not clear with the Android interface.
Camera
The rear camera of the ZTE Blade V8 Lite is 13 megapixels . It is a fairly correct camera, which does not stand out in specific aspects but responds well in its general operation. Among its options we find the beauty mode, the HDR, the smile mode, the panoramic mode, the filters and the manual mode.
The filter menu allows us to choose between eight options: water, negative, warm, posterize, cold, mono, sepia and precious. If we go into manual mode, we can adjust elements such as ISO, white balance or exposure , to make the photo as personal as possible. The panorama mode is quite natural, while the beauty mode offers quite discreet results.
In the Settings menu we find the possibility of activating the timer, face detection and geotags. While we can choose the size of the photos, adjusting the resolution, we cannot do that with the video. Quality is Full HD 1080 pixels .
The front camera, meanwhile, is 8 megapixels, without flash . The modes it offers are essentially beauty, smile and a curious and attractive frontal panoramic photo option. Here are some samples:
Fingerprint reader and security
While other models experimented with alternative uses of the fingerprint reader, for this ZTE Blade V8 Lite we will mainly find its use to unlock the screen . Also, from Settings
Our experience with unlocking the mobile has been satisfactory. Without being the fastest reader on the market, the system has failed to identify any errors .
Smart lock
In addition to the fingerprint reader, the ZTE Blade V8 Lite offers us other tools related to security. They are found in Settings
Trusted sites work through GPS, and are intended to automatically unlock the terminal when it recognizes that it is there . They are ideal for making the phone easier to use in places like home or work. Thus, when we are in these places we do not have to be unlocking the phone all the time.
Trusted devices refer mainly to Bluetooth devices such as car software or our smartwatch . The idea is that when we are near any of these, the phone is automatically unlocked to facilitate its use.
Lastly, voice unlocking. This consists of recognizing the command "OK Google" in order to unlock the phone . In addition, it also serves to use it when we are in the car, through Google Maps. According to our test, the voice unlock worked fast and without having to repeat the order.
Audio
One of the best successes of the ZTE Blade V7 Lite was its collaboration with the French brand Arkamys to improve the audio experience . Luckily, ZTE has repeated experience for this ZTE Blade V8 Lite. That is why the sound quality of this phone is excellent.
The Arkamys system enhances the stereo and brightness of the music , making it much more enjoyable to listen to. In case a listener did not like the result, you can always disable the option in Settings
The sound of the phone when using the speakers is correct, but not spectacular. The good thing is that, even at maximum, the sound does not distort. Although in the back we see two speakers, the truth is that only one sounds, and the other is decorative . The resulting sound is therefore in mono.
Autonomy and connectivity
The battery of this ZTE Blade V8 Lite has 2,500 mAh capacity, but it does not have a fast charging system . However, the charging experience has not been especially long, without arriving at the charging time. Besides, in terms of general autonomy, this smartphone exceeds 12 hours of use without charging, which guarantees us full days without using the charger. Just enough.
We wanted to perform the AnTuTu Battery Tester test and the score was 6769. It is not very high, which confirms that the terminal complies with the basic autonomy but without great fanfare.
We now refer to the connectivity part. The truth is that we will not find many surprises: GPS, Bluetooth 4.1, LTE and Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n . We would have liked to find NFC too, but we will have to wait for the next generation.
conclusion
The ZTE Blade V8 Lite is a correct, balanced terminal that does not stand out for any special element, but that manages to work together. It is a commitment to be practical, functional, comfortable, a mobile for every day . The modest price of 180 euros confirms this verdict.
In terms of software, it is a mobile a little more conservative than other members of the family, deciding to customize the firmware less and offer a simple and easy-to-use system . Recommended for users who want to be connected and up to date, but without getting too complicated.
