Skip to main content

ZTE's dual-camera, DAC-equipped Blade Max 3 is a heck of a bargain at $200

ZTE Tempo X
Image used with permission by copyright holder
If you’re looking for a powerful smartphone that won’t break the bank, you could do worse than ZTE’s Blade series. The Shenzhen, China-based smartphone maker’s budget-minded smartphone line has incrementally improved with each new release, and the newest entry, the Blade Max 3, is no exception.

The Blade Max 3, a spiritual successor to last year’s Imperial Max, sticks to the curved, ergonomic design language of its predecessors. It sports a 6-inch Full HD screen  (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) with 2.5D Gorilla Glass shielding, and a 2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor paired with 2GB of RAM under the hood. There’s 16GB of onboard storage (expandable via MicroSD slot), and a 4,000mAh battery that ZTE said should deliver up to 40 hours of talk time and 31 days on standby.

Recommended Videos

The Blade Max 3 doesn’t skimp in other areas. Dual rear cameras — a 13MP primary sensor and a 2MP companion camera that captures color data — can take pics in all lighting conditions, and a 5MP front camera handles selfies. And uniquely, the Blade Max 3 features a digital-to-audio (DAC) converter, which ZTE says will ensure a high-quality headphone experience.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

In terms of sensors and ports, the Blade Max 3 is outfitted as well as any other smartphone in its price range. You’ll find a fingerprint sensor and USB Type-C port, plus a 3.5mm audio jack. Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, a light sensor, a proximity sensor, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and a compass round out the hardware.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Perhaps the Blade Max 3’s only downside is its software. Oddly, it runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow, a version behind Android 7.0 Nougat, the newest. Making matters worse, it’s unclear if it’s going to be updated anytime soon.

Nevertheless, the Blade Max 3 isn’t much of a compromise. It costs $200 in full for new and existing U.S. Cellular subscribers, or $12.50 a month for 24 months on an installment plan. That may not be as cheap as ZTE’s new Max XL ($130), but you’d be hard pressed to find a high-definition screen, large battery, and DAC for less.

ZTE is hoping U.S. Cellular customers agree. It’s angling to rank among the world’s top three smartphone makers by 2020, and it’s well on its way. Last year, the company joined the ranks of the top six global smartphone manufacturers, coming in fourth in North America with 3.5 percent of the country’s market share. And this year, ZTE is projecting it will rank first in 4G global shipments and increase its market share “in both wireless and wired markets.”

Kyle Wiggers
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kyle Wiggers is a writer, Web designer, and podcaster with an acute interest in all things tech. When not reviewing gadgets…
A new leak teases how thin the Galaxy S25 Slim will be — and it’s impressive
Side profile of the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 "Slim" has been part of the rumor mill for a while now. If you've missed it, here's what you need to know: It almost certainly does exist, and it's expected to launch sometime during the middle of 2025, instead of next month like the rest of the Galaxy S25 lineup. And now, we have a better idea of just how thin this phone might actually be.

Well-known tipster Ice Universe shared the information on Weibo, stating that its thickness "may be 6.x mm." In other words, the leaker isn't sure of the exact thickness, but expects it to fall between 6mm and 6.9mm.

Read more
Google Photos is getting a cool new feature to speed up your photo edits
Google Photos' year in review feature for 2024.

Google Photos for Android is introducing a new feature that simplifies photo editing right before sharing. A tipster from Android Authority first reported this tool.

The new “Quick Edit” tool lets users easily enhance or crop individual photos before sharing them. It features an “Enhance” button, which functions similarly to the “Enhance” effect in the standard photo-editing options. A crop button is also similar to the one in the regular photo editor. When multiple photos are selected before hitting the share button, the typical share sheet appears instead of the new “Quick Edit” screen.

Read more
The base model Galaxy S25 will get a RAM upgrade we’ve waited years for
Someone holding the Samsung Galaxy S24 with the display turned on.

Back in November, we heard rumors that the Samsung Galaxy S25 might come with an upgraded amount of RAM compared to the base Galaxy S24. The Galaxy S24 Plus and S24 Ultra both start with 12GB of RAM minimum, but until now, the majority of base-model Samsung handsets only had 8GB.

Abhishek Yadav, a known leaker, shared a post on X that said the base storage variant of the Galaxy S25 would come with 12GB of RAM. This also implies that the base storage is likely to be 256GB too. As apps, operating systems, and integrated AI become more powerful, so do their technical requirements. A bump to the base amount of RAM and storage will yield improved performance (hopefully) without a significant cost increase.

Read more