EXCLUSIVE:
Chinese manufacturer ZTE is working on the third large-screen Zmax Android handsets, to be called the Zmax Pro. It will feature spec bumps in nearly all categories over the current Zmax 2, as well as the addition of biometric security, according to someone briefed on some of the details.
Whereas the first two Zmax devices offered 720 x 1280 pixels on their 5.7- (Zmax) and 5.5-inch (Zmax 2) displays, the LTE-capable Zmax Pro is said to feature the largest, highest-resolution screen so far: six inches at full HD (1080p). It will also apparently make a return to T-Mobile’s lineup, after the carrier passed on the Zmax 2 (which landed on AT&T prepaid).
It will also allegedly be the first of the series to contain a 600-series Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, the 1.5GHz octa core Snapdragon 617, a bump from the earlier phones’ 400-series chips. And whereas RAM should continue to be the same 2GB found in previous Zmax models, internal storage capacity is getting a boost from 16GB to 32GB. Both the size and internal components of the phone make it sound similar to the company’s recently-announced Imperial Max for U.S. Cellular (pictured above), another six-incher with a Snapdragon 615 inside.
Similarities to the Imperial Max seem to continue in the imaging department, with Zmax Pro reportedly sporting a 13-megapixel primary sensor along with a five-megapixel selfie cam (but not the former handset’s secondary rear camera, a two-megapixel unit employed in wide-angle shots).
However, instead of the secondary camera components around back, Zmax Pro is said to feature the Zmax’s line’s first fingerprint sensor, which should prove to be a welcome addition at its expected price point.
That price was not immediately available, though Zmax phones have tended to sit at the budget end of the spectrum, with the Zmax 2 going for only $150 unlocked. A release window for the Android Marshmallow-powered Zmax Pro was pegged at sometime this summer.