The standard of “budget-friendly” smartphones is constantly rising and today’s more affordable mid-range devices are easily equivalent to, if not better than, flagship devices of only a couple of years ago. The competition in this space is heating up, and there a lots of devices to choose from, some are sub $300, and the pricing goes as low as $200. One company that has been making waves in this space is ZTE. I just recently reviewed the ZTE Star 2, a sub $400 smartphone with all the qualities of a flagship device. Lanh reviewed the $250 ZTE Blade S6 in February, and now ZTE s6 has launched a bigger version of the same device, the ZTE Blade S6 Plus. With a 5.5 inch display and the same basic internals as the Blade S6, the S6 Plus has lots to offer. So let’s take an in-depth look at the ZTE Blade S6 Plus.
Like the ZTE Blade S6, it is quite obvious what has inspired the design of the S6 Plus. From its gray colored body, rounded corners, circular home button and even the naming convention, the Blade S6 Plus borrows heavily from the design language of the iPhone 6 Plus. Of course, while it looks similar, the actual feel in the hand is a completely different story.
The entire body of the Blade S6 Plus is made of plastic, and while plastic doesn’t necessarily have to feel cheap, unfortunately it could be said of the Blade S6 Plus that it lacks a premium feel. For example, the plastic is coated in a smooth satin finish, likely to mimic the metallic feel of the iPhone 6, and it tends to slip around in the hand quite a lot. Although I didn’t drop the phone during the few days that I used it as my daily driver, I can see that it could be a worry for some.
Although overall the Blade S6 Plus looks like the Blade S6, there is one big difference in its construction. The Blade S6 is a sealed unit that uses trays for both the SIM cards and for the micro SD card. However the S6 Plus is different. The back is removable and the cards are inserted in a more traditional fashion. However the battery still remains non-removable. Lanh’s Blade S6 had a issue with too much movement in the back cover and as a result a general hollow feel to it. But because of its different cover construction, I didn’t see anything like that with the S6 Plus.
Since the ZTE Blade S6 Plus has a 5.5-inch display it is quite a big device. This isn’t help much by the large space at the bottom for the capacitive keys. Although we are only talking about a couple of millimeters, it just seems over-sized to me. But on the plus side, the device is fairly thin at under 8mm, which when combined with the rounded corners and rounded sides, means that the phone easy to hold. However one-handed use, for me at least, is out of the question.
Going around the device, the power button and volume rocker are located on the right side, and can be easily reached. The headphone jack is on the top, along with the IR blaster. While on the bottom is the micro USB port.
The Blade S6 Plus utilizes capacitive keys up front, and they do have an appealing unique look to them. The home button in the center is denoted by a blue ring that also glows a nice bright blue when you touch it, when you have notifications, or when the device is charging. Two LEDs flank the home button to represent the back and menu keys. By default, the back button is to the left and the menu key is on the right, but that is a setting that you can flip if you prefer it the other way around.
This article is from: http://www.androidauthority.com/zte-blade-s6-plus-review-598269/