ZTE Blade V50 Design 4G Review: Surprising Features on a Budget-friendly Phone

March 10, 2024, 10:54 AM
by Shahriar Rabab

UNB News
Publish- March 10, 2024, 10:54 AM
Shahriar Rabab
Update- March 10, 2024, 11:06 AM

ZTE Blade V50 Design 4G

Ever since officially launching operations in Bangladesh, ZTE has been on a roll with its smartphone releases. Their smartphones ranging from entry-level to mid-range, provide a good value-for-money option. The brand recently launched its Blade V50 Design 4G on 2nd March in the Bangladesh market. Let’s take a detailed look at the device.

Key Specs of ZTE Blade V50 Design

Design and Build Quality

The Blade V50 has the word ‘Design’ in its official name. While it might sound rather odd, the stylish look and hefty build quality would justify the naming choice. Even at an affordable price, the Blade V50 design comes with a glass front, plastic frame, and a glass back design.

The dimension of the device comes in at 165 mm by 76.1 mm by 8.3 mm with 207 g weight. Beyond the dimensions, the ports and button choices are all standard on the V50 Design. There’s a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a micro SDXC slot, and a power button that doubles as the fingerprint scanner. The only downside to an otherwise iPhone-like design is the lack of a secondary noise-cancellation mic.

Other than that, the Blade V50 Design is everything one would expect from a budget-friendly smartphone. It will be available in three colorways - Beach Green, Sunrise Violet, and Diamond Black.

The Display

The display is one of the strong suits of the V50 Design. It’s a 6.6 inch IPS LCD panel with 1080 by 2408 pixels resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio. ZTE claims that the screen has a 90.5% screen-to-body ratio with the noticeable chin on a water drop-style display design.

Being an FHD+ panel, the pixel density comes in at around 400 PPI. Users might notice a cooler tone on the color profile out of the box. However, it can be easily tweaked from the settings for a more vivid look. As for the display itself, there’s good contrast with sufficient brightness and details making it perfect for media consumption.

The Camera

There’s a triple camera setup on the ZTE Blade V50 Design. The main sensor is a 50 MP f/1.8 wide-angle shooter with PDAF. The additional sensors are a 2 MP f/2.4 macro shooter and a depth sensor with the same configuration.

In effect, the 50 MP does all the work here. Pictures came out great in direct sunlight with good details and dynamic range. ZTE claims to have incorporated some AI features that help with subject profiling and exposure.

There’s also an 8 MP front camera which is good enough for casual selfies.

But like any other typical budget-friendly phone, the photo quality significantly drops at night or in artificial lights. There were visible grains and noises in the image in anything other than ideal lighting. The night mode helped with the exposure issues but the softness remained.

The V50 Design can shoot up to 1080P at 30fps. However, the lack of internal stabilization makes for choppy videos.

ZTE Blade V50 Design 4G

Processor and Performance

The processor on the Blade V50 Design is Unisoc T606 based on the 12 Nm architecture. For a 15000 BDT smartphone, a Unisoc processor is honestly a letdown when most competitors are providing Helio processors.

The octa-core processor has a 2x1.6 GHz Cortex-A75 & 6x1.6 GHz Cortex-A55 with Mali-G57 MP1 GPU. The storage option includes 8/128 GB, 4/256 GB, and 8/256 GB.

The quirk with Unisoc processors is that the performance level falters with time. Users might get great performance initially but over time there might be performance issues. In the test, games like PUBG and Asphalt 9 ran on basic graphics with slight frame drops here and there. Like every other Unisoc processor, this one is also best suited for casual use and 2D gaming.

The processor worked well for casual day-to-day use. Browsing the web, watching videos, and surfing social media was a breeze. However, the lack of a higher refresh and the outdated display design somewhat negates the overall experience.

Software

Blade V50 Design is running on MyOS based on Android 13. ZTE has been known for its clean and minimal UI with little bloatware in its OS. There are probably 3-4 proprietary and third-party pre-installed apps that can be easily uninstalled after setup.

Navigating the UI and animations has been fast and smooth. Even though the V50 Design doesn’t have a fast refresh rate, the clean UI makes for a pleasant interaction with the device.

Battery and Charge Time

The battery on the ZTE Blade V50 Design is 5000 mAh. There’s a 22.5W fast charging with the device which is a welcome addition in this price range. Users can expect to get around 5 to 7 hours of continued usage on a full charge.

Pros and Cons of Blade V50 Design

Pros:

- Updated design
- Solid build quality
- Good Camera
- Strong battery life.

Cons:

- Sub-par processor.

Price of the ZTE Blade V50 Design in Bangladesh

The official price of the ZTE Blade V50 Design is 15,499 BDT for the 8/256 GB variant.

Final Words

ZTE Blade V50 Design for all its worth gets the design aspect on point. It's refreshing, and stylish and uses materials that are otherwise not seen in this budget-friendly range. However, the great looks come at the expense of a sub-par processor that simply lacks in contrast to its competitors.

On the plus side, the camera and battery performance have been excellent. Given its overall package, the ZTE Blade V50 Design 4g would be best suited for those looking for a casual daily driver with less intensive usage.