It looks premium, feels premium… IS IT PREMIUM?
Just a few days ago, Smart revealed a new device with the goal of bringing 5G devices even to the lowest class. This means everyone can enjoy the benefits of 5G without killing their bank account. Their answer? The ZTE Blade A75 5G, with partnership from ZTE. It isn’t the first time the Filipino telecoms company has launched a smartphone under their own brand. For the foreigners who are reading this, their last was in 2016, during the release of the My|Phone My28. Since then, they haven’t had any phone under their brand name but they do have carrier-locked devices, including the iPhone. So, it’s a nice welcoming return for Smart to do this. We even got invited through a special event where the media, including us, get to ask questions about the device and about Smart.
This is not ZTE’s first appearance Post-COVID. The brand started slowly bringing their RedMagic line of gaming phones to third-party sellers like our good friends from XUNDD. Plus, they opened a dedicated kiosk in SM City Grand Central. In the Philippines, the brand is actually doing business as “Nubia Philippines” since that name is more memorable to Filipinos than ZTE. Technically, we can call this device as the “Nubia A75 5G”. There is a 4G variant of the phone with a completely different design.
UNBOXING: Wrapped Unbox Clean
To make sure that the phone feels exclusively for Smart, the telecoms has added a nice wrap around the retail box revealing the price and some highlights, including UFS 3.1 (woaahhhh). That’s something you’ll never see on a sub-6K device (~approx. USD 100). Yes, you saw that right, a sub-100-dollar phone with UFS 3.1!
Now, underneath this nice wrapping is the retail box itself which is not unlike something we saw before. It is a two-tone box with the model name at the middle and some basic specs, repeating on what’s available at the wrap. Yes, it comes with a free Smart SIM Card with 5GB of data. Once you register it, you can start immediately using this data. Yes, in the Philippines, you need to register your SIM Card first for “security” reasons.
There is nothing unusual about this box. Just the typical ones. These include the 10W charger, a SIM Ejector tool, a manual and warranty card, a jelly case, a pre-applied screen protector, and of course, the phone itself.
DESIGN: ABSOLUTE CHONKER
What we love about the A75 is its flagship-like design. The back and frame are made of polycarbonate plastic, but it feels like glass thanks to that reflective texture. It also feels unique while outside. The most notable feature is that huge circular camera island designed to mimic point-and-shoot cameras, down to the labels. The power button is painted red just like with many Nubia phones. Also, the phone is a M E G A C H O N K E R. It is very thick, making it easy to hold. We are into thick phones but maybe not to this scale. It is somewhat heavy too, weighing 208 grams. Still, we did not feel the phone weighing us down. Also, due to this thickness, the bezels are highly noticeable.
The phone uses a dot notch which houses the 8MP selfie camera. This display is IPS LCD with 1600x720px resolution, and, get this, 120Hz REFRESH RATE! Typically, phones of this caliber only get 90Hz or even worse, just the standard 60Hz but ZTE went up a notch (no pun intended) and gave this 120Hz. We want to test how smooth that actually feels! Stay tuned for the At a Glance video!
The frames feature a few things. The top side is empty. The right side features the aforementioned red power button (which is also a fingerprint reader) and volume rockers, the left side features the dual SIM slot (sadly not expandable) and the bottom features the USB-C port and 3.5mm jack. You may be asking, “where are the speakers”? Glad you asked. The phone has none. In place of speakers, you use the earpiece for audio which already has us pretty skeptical. Meaning, the flaunted “DTS Audio” is wasted. We’ll see more once we get a complete look of the phone.
DISPLAY: Those are some THICK Bezels
Typically, we add the display review on the main part, but it’s also the first thing you’ll see upon opening the box, so we’ll tell you our first impressions here.
This display has thick bezels, signifying that it is indeed a budget phone. You’ll find that the chin is noticeably large while the sides and top also have thick bezels. In 2024, having bezels this thick is considered either dated or being cheap. However, the Blade A75 5G is the latter and frankly, regular consumers won’t really mind having this thick of a display, not especially in this price range.
What we love here is that ZTE spared no expense on the display. It’s a punch hole and more importantly, it features a 120Hz refresh rate! Typically, you will only find 90Hz in this price range. Although, the resolution is still 720p or HD+ but having it FullHD+ feels like asking for too much.
In all honesty, we like how the phone looks and we can’t wait to use it more and share our experiences with it. The fact that it has 5G and UFS 3.1 at a very low price, are already great dealbreakers. The phone is quite a monster on paper but of course, the real thing will always be different. Let’s see if the phone is all just hype or it lives up to its specs.
Again, the phone is exclusive for Smart users and one of the SIM Card slots is SIM-locked. You can use other SIM Cards to call and text but not for data. It is priced at PHP 5,490
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