AT&T Z998 Review

Introduction

The name isn't new in the US, but generally speaking, Chinese manufacturer ZTE is having a tough time trying to make a dent in the US market, which is already saturated with a mix of phones spanning from the low to high end. Rather than attacking the lucrative high end segment, it seems oh-so fitting for them to try and make strides in the lower end, or in this particular case, the prepaid market. Armed with some modest specs and a price point of $220 outright, the AT&T Z998 no doubt has its appeal to a certain audience, so let's dive in to see what it has to offer.

The package contains:

• microUSB cable
• Bluetooth headset
• Wall Charger
• User Manual
• Warranty Card

Design

Frankly, most of the stuff we're normally accustomed to seeing from ZTE are known to downright cheap – toyish at times to tell you the truth. However, the AT&T Z998 bucks the trend by becoming one of the more appealing devices from the Chinese manufacturer, as it boasts a clean design that might look a bit too conventional at first glance, but nevertheless packs some pleasant qualities. Constructed out of some sturdy plastic materials, of which the rear cover has a soft touch matte finish, we'll say that the combination of all of its materials and weighty feel gives it a solid feel in the hand.

With its power button and volume control, they're sufficiently raised and have responsive feedback when pressed – plus, they're situated in places we're typical to find them. As expected, it features the usual trio of capacitive Android buttons beneath its display, a 3.5mm headset jack, a microUSB port for charging/data connectivity, light/proximity sensors, and various microphones.

Around the back, there sits an ample sized 5-megapixel camera that features an LED flash and 720p video recording. Oh yeah, it's also armed with a front-facing camera! Towards the bottom edge, a small cutout hides away its internal speaker. Closely looking at the rear casing, there's a small slit towards the bottom right corner that grants us access to its 2070 mAh battery, SIM slot, and ever-so-useful microSD card slot.

Display

We shouldn't be too critical, right? Sporting a 4.5-inch qHD 540 x 960 TFT display, it's not the most magnificent thing our eyes have feasted on, but nevertheless, we can't complain too greatly about it. For starters, its detail is adequate enough for most things without having our eyes squint when viewing things in the browser. Furthermore, its color reproduction is punchy in tone – and without being too saturated. Viewing angles are okay, with minimal distortion at wide angles, but its brightness output could be a smidgen more potent to make it easier to view outdoors.

Interface and Functionality

We're not particularly too surprised by ZTE's choice of having a very familiar Android experience with the AT&T Z998. On the surface, it's running an Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean experience that boasts many "stock" visuals, like its app panel, but there are some subtle differences.

First and foremost, the lock screen is a slight departure from the norm, since unlocking the phone requires us to press and hold down the icon – as opposed to swiping away from it. However, using the usual approach of swiping away provides us access to some additional functions, such as getting to the dialer or calendar. Better yet, we can customize the selections to our liking. Overall, the foundational aspects of the platform are all here, like its rich personalization and tight ties to Google's ecosystem, therefore we can't complain about the experience.

Knowing that this is running an experience that's close to stock Android, the usual set of organizer apps are all naturally familiar with their presentations and functionality – so there's nothing particularly new here.

With its modest sized display, the on-screen keyboard of the AT&T Z998 is pretty spacious and agreeable with our thumbs. And of course, it's the stock Android keyboard that we're dealing with here, which is more than usable thanks to its responsiveness and usefulness.

Processor and Memory

By no means are we expecting anything immaculate with this one, especially when it's a prepaid phone from ZTE that we're dealing with here. Regardless of that, its dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus processor coupled with 1GB of RAM is effective enough to handle most basic tasks – albeit, it exhibits some choppy movements with more processor intensive tasks.

Out of the box, it's stuffed with only 2.01GB of free storage – and that's the totally tally once it's set up. A binding amount no doubt, it at least packs along a microSD card slot to supplement its internal storage.

Internet and Connectivity

This mid-ranger is actually packing along support for AT&T’s 4G LTE network, which is pleasant thing to find with a prepaid smartphone. It’s honestly effective enough to like when it comes to surfing the web, as it boasts speedy page loads, timely page rendering, and mostly smooth navigational controls – so there are no complaints from us.

Being a GSM phone, global travelers will surely appreciate the handset’s widespread compatibility with other GSM networks around the world. And it doesn’t surprise us that it’s outfitted with the usual array of connectivity features – like aGPS, Bluetooth 4.0, and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi. Sorry folks, there’s no NFC with this one.

Camera

Running the camera app, we're presented with some meaningful shooting modes and to an extent, a few manual settings as well, that shutterbugs will no doubt appreciate. Beyond that, getting the camera app up and running is fairly quick, but it's a bit slow when it comes to snapping the shot – mainly because of its timely focusing.

Yet again, we're not entirely surprised by the results from its 5-megapixel auto-focus camera, since it's merely there for the added convenience of taking a snapshot when the occasion rises. Overall, it's adequate enough if you want to convert them into 4" x 6" printouts, just because it has enough quality elements that make its photos usable – such as its average details and punchy colors. However, with lower lighting situations, we see a stronger presence of noise, which in turns softens its overall quality.


The passable results with its still image quality don’t translate over to its 720p video recording quality, mainly because it produces many distasteful elements. First, details take a substantial dip – to the point where it’s very indistinct. Secondly, it seems to suffer from under exposure, which causes it to have a very dark appearance. Rounding things out, artifacting elements pop up and its audio recording quality is a bit sharp.

Multimedia

When it comes to listening to some music, we have two options available to us with the AT&T Z998 – the usual Google Play Music app and ZTE's own offering. With the latter, it’s just so refreshing to check out something new. Its volume output is definitely loud, but we’re not entirely impressed by its flat sounding tones.

The specs on this phone are nothing worth writing home about, but nonetheless, it's still great for watching high definition movies. Flaunting a smooth playback with some pleasant visuals, it's more than suitable for us to use it on the road.

Call Quality

Generally speaking, we’re able to have conversations with little distractions with the AT&T Z998. Putting out enough volume, voices have a decent amount of presence through the earpiece – and it helps that they’re audible too. However, our callers mention hearing some distortion on their end. Despite having some muted tones, the speakerphone puts out a sufficient level of volume.

Battery

Donning a 2070 mAh battery, it's enough to get us through 1.5 days of normal usage, which is good enough for our needs. Demanding power users will also appreciate the 12 hours of juice it’s able to deliver.

Conclusion

It's really interesting when you compare outright pricing with contract phones and those from prepaid, mainly because there's a huge disparity – with this being a perfect example! Seriously though, the $220 cost of the AT&T Z998 is actually pretty good, especially when we factor in its modest specs for a prepaid phone, the fact that it boasts the same basic functionality as any other Android smartphone out there, and it comes packaged with a Bluetooth headset.

It'll get the job done no doubt, but maybe not in the same quick manner as other high-end stuff. All told, the AT&T Z998 is a great option if you want something decent if you’re looking at going the prepaid route – instead of picking up one of those cut throat cheapo Android phones that might be nothing more than throwaways after a few months.

Software version of reviewed unit:
Android version: 4.1.2
Build number: Z998V1.0.0B11
Kernel version: 3.4.0-svn6972