The Affordable Alternative to Flagship Devices: The ZTE Blade V8 Review

If you're jealous of the iPhone 7 Plus's dual camera lens but can only afford $230, don't worry – you have several options. One such phone that catches the eye is the ZTE Blade V8, which boasts a similar feature set at an even more affordable price point.

The ZTE Blade V8 comes equipped with a dual camera lens on the back, just like the iPhone 7 Plus and other high-end devices like the Huawei Mate 9 and P9. This allows for that super cool depth of field bokeh effect, where you get blurred backgrounds to make everything look really professional. We tried out the camera, and we're thrilled with the results – it's really great, and very easy to use.

The back of the phone is slightly textured, made of plastic, which may not seem premium at first glance. However, this is where the ZTE Blade V8 shines in terms of its solid feel and weight. It's just over 9 mm thick, which is a sensible size to hold, considering it weighs around 180 grams – not super light, but you can still feel the phone in your hand without losing grip easily. Another pleasant surprise is the fingerprint sensor located at the bottom of the phone, which adds a nice touch of convenience.

One thing that might be a bit disappointing for some buyers is the Android version used by ZTE on this device – Android 6, not Android 7. This may mean you'll encounter some unusual user interface system customs or updates that aren't as common in more recent devices. However, the overall standard Android feel remains intact, making it an easy choice to navigate.

Inside, the phone packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor at 2 GHz speed, which is actually an octacore chip and quite a step up from what you'd find in other budget-friendly options like Motorola's G4 Plus. For comparison, this is similar to the processor found in Huawei's Nova devices and – crucially – better than the one found in ZTE's own Axon 7 Mini, which we've already praised highly.

Now that we have a look at the camera software, let's dive into its features. Due to an unusual situation with shooting this video (but for demonstration purposes), don't expect it to be too polished – however, it serves as a great example of how easy it is to use this dual camera lens. You can adjust the focal point here and take a picture, open the picture, tap the lens there, and then adjust the background blur using the buttons at the bottom – all very straightforward.

In terms of specs, the ZTE Blade V8 comes with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory, as well as a Micro SD card slot. This might seem like it falls short compared to some other devices available in the market, but for its price point, it's actually quite impressive.

One last thing to note is that due to the phone not being officially sold by carriers or network shops (you need to purchase unlocked directly from ZTE), this may deter some potential buyers – although we believe this is worth a look nonetheless. For more in-depth information on the ZTE Blade V8, please visit Digital Trends right now.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyou're jealous of the iPhone 7 Plus's dual camera lens but really only got $230 to spend don't worry because this is the ZTE blade V8 and it costs $230 and you got a dual camera lens on the back so these dual camera lenses they're 13 Maps a piece and like the iPhone 7 plus and a variety of other phones like the Huawei mate 9 and the P9 they take that super cool depth of field bokeh effect where you get blurred backgrounds to make everything look really super professional we tried the camera out it's really great you've seen some great results already and it's very easy to use we'll have a look at the software in just a second back of the phone is slightly textured it's plastic for $230 you're not going to get a premium device but you're actually going to get a very solid device really nice feel this is just over 9 mm thick so it's sensible to hold 180 odd G so it's not super light but you get a phone that you feel in your hand you're not going to lose this in 2 seconds it's a fingerprint sensor down here too again pretty unexpected for a $230 phone nice feature to have ZT has used almost basic Android on here Android 6 not Android 7 which is a bit of a shame but you're not going to have to deal with too many unusual user interface system Customs over the top it's a nice standard Android feel inside is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor 2 GHz speed and that's an octacore chip again a very new processor that's better than you'll get in Motorola's G4 plus similar to the processor you get in huawei's Nova and crucially better than the one you get in zte's axon 7 mini which we already rate really highly uh let's have a look at the software for the camera quickly we're in an unusual situation here for shooting this video but for the purpose of demonstration don't know if this is going to demo quickly this is pretty impromptu you can easily adjust the focal point here take a picture open the picture and tap the lens there and you can adjust the background blur using the buttons at the bottom there so it's really easy you're not going to have to spend days on end fiddling around trying to get the right look for your pictures with this dual camera lens really nice so just rounding off the spec sheet you've got 3 GB of RAM 32 GB of internal memory there's a Micro SD card slot and that's a really pretty impressive spec for $230 what you're not going to do is be able to buy this in a carrier or a network shop you're going to have to to BU unlock direct from ZT itself not a big deal but sometimes it does put people off however we think this is worth a look you can read a lot more about the ZT blade V8 on Digital Trends right nowyou're jealous of the iPhone 7 Plus's dual camera lens but really only got $230 to spend don't worry because this is the ZTE blade V8 and it costs $230 and you got a dual camera lens on the back so these dual camera lenses they're 13 Maps a piece and like the iPhone 7 plus and a variety of other phones like the Huawei mate 9 and the P9 they take that super cool depth of field bokeh effect where you get blurred backgrounds to make everything look really super professional we tried the camera out it's really great you've seen some great results already and it's very easy to use we'll have a look at the software in just a second back of the phone is slightly textured it's plastic for $230 you're not going to get a premium device but you're actually going to get a very solid device really nice feel this is just over 9 mm thick so it's sensible to hold 180 odd G so it's not super light but you get a phone that you feel in your hand you're not going to lose this in 2 seconds it's a fingerprint sensor down here too again pretty unexpected for a $230 phone nice feature to have ZT has used almost basic Android on here Android 6 not Android 7 which is a bit of a shame but you're not going to have to deal with too many unusual user interface system Customs over the top it's a nice standard Android feel inside is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor 2 GHz speed and that's an octacore chip again a very new processor that's better than you'll get in Motorola's G4 plus similar to the processor you get in huawei's Nova and crucially better than the one you get in zte's axon 7 mini which we already rate really highly uh let's have a look at the software for the camera quickly we're in an unusual situation here for shooting this video but for the purpose of demonstration don't know if this is going to demo quickly this is pretty impromptu you can easily adjust the focal point here take a picture open the picture and tap the lens there and you can adjust the background blur using the buttons at the bottom there so it's really easy you're not going to have to spend days on end fiddling around trying to get the right look for your pictures with this dual camera lens really nice so just rounding off the spec sheet you've got 3 GB of RAM 32 GB of internal memory there's a Micro SD card slot and that's a really pretty impressive spec for $230 what you're not going to do is be able to buy this in a carrier or a network shop you're going to have to to BU unlock direct from ZT itself not a big deal but sometimes it does put people off however we think this is worth a look you can read a lot more about the ZT blade V8 on Digital Trends right now\n"