ZTE Blade A55 Review: Affordable Excellence with Modern Features

November 23, 2024, 09:28 AM
by Farhana Afrose Rini

UNB News
Publish- November 23, 2024, 09:28 AM
Farhana Afrose Rini
Update- November 23, 2024, 10:05 AM

ZTE Blade A55

The ZTE Blade A55, a standout addition to the Blade A series by the Chinese tech brand ZTE, is designed for entry-level users seeking a reliable smartphone for calls, browsing, and social media. Released in July 2024, this budget-friendly device combines essential modern features with an unbeatable price point. Here’s a comprehensive look at the ZTE Blade A55’s specifications, advantages, drawbacks, and its price in Bangladesh.

Key Features of ZTE Blade A55

Design and Build Quality

The ZTE Blade A55 sports a sleek design with a plastic back panel in vibrant colours like Mint Green, Starry Black, and Sunset Orange. Its dimensions, 167.7 mm by 77.4 mm by 8.5 mm, ensure it feels comfortable in hand, though its exact weight is unspecified. The side-mounted fingerprint scanner adds convenience, making it easy to unlock the phone swiftly.

Compared to the ZTE Blade A54, the A55 is slightly larger and offers a more premium feel thanks to its modern colour options.

Display Quality

The Blade A55's 6.75-inch IPS LCD offers 720 by 1600 resolution. It edges out the ancestor Blade A54 (6.6-inch) and rival Poco C61 (6.71-inch) with a larger screen. Surpassing the Lava Yuva Star 4G’s 60Hz refresh rate, the A55 has a 90Hz refresh rate like the Poco C61, ensuring smoother scrolling and transitions.

Though the Blade A55 provides decent sharpness, its 260 PPI density falls short compared to rivals like the Poco C61 featuring a slightly higher 268 PPI density.

However, the similarly priced competitor Poco C61 steps ahead slightly with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection for added durability.

Camera Performance

The Blade A55 has a 13 MP primary camera outshining Poco C61’s 5MP sensor. It delivers satisfactory photos with vibrant colours and acceptable sharpness in good lighting. The LED flash helps in low-light conditions, but images suffer from noticeable noise.

A55 also has an 8 MP front-facing camera. The front camera performs well for casual selfies but lacks the clarity of higher-end devices.

ZTE Blade A54 offers a similar 13 MP camera but a downgraded 2 MP selfie camera, making the A55 a clear improvement. The Lava Yuva Star 4G matches the A55 in main camera specs but lags in selfie camera quality with a 5 MP sensor.

Like the Poco C61 and Lava Yuva Star 4G, the main sensor of the Blade A55 can capture a maximum of 1080 pixels of footage at 30fps.

Processor Performance

Powered by the Unisoc SC9863A1 28nm chipset, the ZTE Blade A55 includes an octa-core CPU with 4x1.6 GHz Cortex-A55 and 4x1.2 GHz Cortex-A55 cores. This chipset is efficient for everyday tasks like browsing, messaging, and social media. Coupled with 4 GB of RAM, it ensures smooth multitasking, though the performance is limited for demanding applications.

Compared to the ZTE Blade A54, which runs on the slightly older Unisoc SC9863A, the A55 offers a marginally improved processing experience. However, it falls short of the Poco C61’s MediaTek Helio G36 chipset, which provides faster performance with 2.2 GHz Cortex-A53 cores, making it a better choice for power users. The Lava Yuva Star 4G matches the A55’s chipset, keeping them neck-and-neck in performance.

Gaming Performance

Gaming on the Blade A55 is decent for casual titles like Subway Surfers and Clash Royale, but it struggles with graphically demanding games like PUBG Mobile or Call of Duty: Mobile, which run on low settings with occasional frame drops. The IMG8322 GPU can hardly handle heavy gaming tasks well, making it less suitable for gaming enthusiasts.

In this segment, the Poco C61 once again leads the pack, with its PowerVR GE8320 GPU delivering better gaming performance. The ZTE Blade A54 and Lava Yuva Star 4G share similar performance constraints as the A55, offering only basic gaming capabilities.

Battery Life

The 5000 mAh battery on the ZTE Blade A55 provides excellent endurance, lasting about a full day of moderate use, including browsing, streaming, and calls. However, its 10W wired charging is slow which can disappoint users expecting faster charging solutions.

While the ZTE Blade A54 shares the same battery size, the A55 benefits from its newer software optimizations for slightly better efficiency. The Poco C61 and Lava Yuva Star 4G match the A55 in battery capacity and charging speed.

Software and User Interface

Running on Android 14 (Go edition), the ZTE Blade A55 provides a lightweight and intuitive software experience tailored for budget-friendly devices. The Go edition ensures smooth operation despite modest hardware, though it limits advanced features and customization options.

The ZTE Blade A54 runs on Android 13, offering fewer features than the A55. Meanwhile, the Poco C61 runs Android 14 with MIUI, which offers a more feature-rich and visually appealing experience. The Lava Yuva Star 4G shares a similar software experience with the A55.

Storage Options

The Blade A55 is available in 64 GB and 128 GB internal storage options, both paired with 4 GB of RAM. A dedicated microSD slot allows for storage expansion, accommodating users with larger media libraries or app needs.

This setup is identical to the ZTE Blade A54, but it is outpaced by the Poco C61, which offers configurations up to 128 GB with 6 GB of RAM. The Lava Yuva Star 4G provides only 64 GB storage, making the A55 a more flexible option.

Pros and Cons of ZTE Blade A55

Pros

- Large 6.75-inch display with 90Hz refresh rate
- Decent battery life with a 5000 mAh capacity
- 13MP main, 8MP selfie camera
- Fingerprint sensor
- Dedicated microSD slot for storage expansion.

Cons

- Low display resolution compared to some competitors
- Slow 10W charging speed
- The camera struggles in low-light conditions
- Lacks NFC support
- No additional durability features like Gorilla Glass
- Unisoc SC9863A1 chipset.

Price of ZTE Blade A55

The ZTE Blade A55 is unofficially priced at around 9,999 BDT in Bangladesh. However, the price may vary depending on the seller.

Final Words

The Blade A55 is a stylish phone with a large display, good battery life, and smooth everyday performance. It is a competent smartphone in the budget-friendly segment. If affordability and simplicity are your priorities, the Blade A55 is a solid choice within the 10000 Tk price range.

However, the ZTE Blade A55 is not recommended for high-end gamers, camera enthusiasts, or those needing faster charging and higher display resolution. The power users may prefer alternatives like the Poco C61.