ZTE Grand X Pro Review

Introduction

ZTE's popularity falters in comparison with its numerous rivals, but only the uninitiated would underestimate what the company can deliver, as we've recently seen with the Nubia line of devices. The ZTE Grand X Pro is from a very different stock, however, and it instantly raised a few potential flags, before we even got to the reviewing part. Will these manifest themselves into real problems, and does the Grand X Pro have any aces up its sleeve? Read on to find out.

Design

Design-wise, there's nothing wrong with the ZTE Grand X Pro. But it simply feels a teeny bit under-inspired, almost as if on purpose, and not for a lack of talent. Accents like the large, rectangular speaker and the camera ring do add to the distinctiveness of the handset, yet ZTE's phone is unlikely to turn too many heads on the street. Regardless, we like what we're seeing. In terms of build quality, we've got the same middle of the road approach – not top notch, but not bad either. Overall, the phone is quite ergonomic, and feels great in the hand.

You get somewhat conservative bezels at the all-glass front, a plastic attempt at metal imitation around the profile of the device, and a grip-friendly matte plastic back. The only hardware buttons the ZTE Grand X Pro features are the power button (top left) and the volume rocker (top right), both of which feel very solid and have just the right amount of travel to them. And yes, that means on-screen navigation buttons, if you wonder. Overall, the phone is quite ergonomic, and feels great in the hand.

Interface and functionality

The Grand X Pro runs on the now largely outdated Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, so it's not exactly in tune with the times. On the bright side, despite the modifications that ZTE has added on top, the experience is that of a decidedly stock Android, but with some extra eye candy here and there (for example, icons have been reworked).

But not everything is great in ZTE land. For starters, the lockscreen unlock really bugged us – you have to press the key and hold it for about a second, but even that feels like an eternity. ZTE must agree, for it has actually clipped the press time in half in more recent firmwares. While still on the topic of the lockscreen, it does offer some customizable shortcuts, which is a feature we always like, so it does get a thumbs up on this front.

Lastly, with the exception of a bunch of extra toggles in the notification pane, the rest of the UI, as we mentioned, doesn't deviate nearly at all from Google's idea of Android. And that's a good thing.

Processor and memory

The HD screen on the ZTE Grand X Pro is putting pressure on the hardware as it runs on a 1.2GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6577T chipset, with PowerVR's sluggish SGX531 GPU. This is a lower-end 2012-era SoC, built on a 40nm technology, so don't expect any miracles. In fact, even scrolling through the UI feels a bit laggy, so much so that it prompted us to wonder whether it's a software- or a hardware-related issue. Regardless, Temple Run 2-class games run well, just don't expect to boot into NOVA 3 and do some shooting. It simply ain't happening.

Turning to the memory side of the equation, we've got 1GB of RAM and 4GB of microSD-expandable (up to 32GB) native storage. Not bad, but far from great on account of the prohibitive storage.

Internet and connectivity

Browsing on the ZTE Grand X Pro is by no means perfect, but it's pretty solid. That's thanks to the fact that MediaTek chipsets don't render the entire page in full detail, but rather only once you zoom in. This is a mixed blessing, of course, but we find this approach preferable overall.

The ZTE Grand X Pro strings along the usual cache of connectivity options – Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and FM Radio. In case you're worried that it may not run on your carrier's waves, it's also got support for a swath of 3G HSDPA frequencies: 850/900/1900/2100. If this looks a little cryptic to you, it simply means that it's going to work for a large part of the world.

Camera

The main camera on the Grand X Pro is an 8-megapixel unit with Auto Focus and an LED flash, but drawing parallels with similarly spec'd cameras would be unwise to say the least.

In reality, the results aren't horrible by any means, especially if you're looking to do some casual photography, though there are some key takeaways to consider. First and foremost, the amount of light (or lack thereof) is detrimental to the performance of the snapper. Said otherwise, as soon as the lights go down (or out), the already overexposed snaps get an awful cyan tint to them, making them a pain to look at. The amount of detail is on the low-side, and photos often have more than average noise to them.

The front shooter is a lowly 0.3-megapixel unit that offers passable quality for the occasional video call.

Multimedia

There isn't a whole lot to be said about the multimedia capabilities of the ZTE Grand X Pro – they cover the essentials, but you'll struggle playing something fancier in an .mkv or .mov encoding for example. Speaking of playback, the speaker (found on the lower back) is pretty loud, but quality goes down the toilet as soon as you crank it up.

The built-in players are your normal stock Android representatives, they simply have a skinned icon, which some people may confuse for something custom-made. They perform fine, as they always have, though you do have an incredible amount of alternatives to pick from on the Play Store, in case they're not your cup of tea.

Call quality

From our testing, we can conclude that call quality won't number as a problem if you decide to pick up the Grand X Pro. Despite having only one microphone, it's doing an okay job of phasing out background noise and chatter. Voice is properly transmitted on both sides, so you won't have trouble identifying who's on the other line. Things go a little downhill with the speaker, however. It sounds a bit hollow, and there's a sometimes persistent buzzing sound on the side. But overall, we were satisfied.

Battery life

The 2000mAh battery on the ZTE Grand X Pro works a little miracle, persevering for 6 hours and 32 minutes in our in-house battery test. This result places the device in the top 10, and is a pretty good showing overall. Said plainly, expect the ZTE Grand X Pro to hold its ground for up to two days on a single charge.