Headlines have grabbed the attention of potential smartphone buyers that Banglalink, a prominent mobile phone operator in Bangladesh, has offered a ZTE Android smartphone at BDT 3,500 which otherwise costs about BDT 10,000. Indeed a juicy offer. But that begs the question, is it worth the purchase?
Just because something is offered at an extremely low price does not mean it’s a good idea to buy them. That’s why we take a second look at ZTE V807, the smartphone Banglalink is offering to its Priyojon platinum & gold and silver customers at an extremely reduced price.
Basic Specs of ZTE V807
ZTE V807 is a 4-inch display that packs a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. The display technology is TFT capacitive with a ppi of around 233. The phone has a dual core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 processor with MediaTek MT6577 chipset. For gaming and other graphics performance, it packs a PowerVR SGX531u Graphics Processing Unit. But the worst nightmare of almost any Android phone is the RAM. It has a RAM of 512 MB and an internal storage of 4 GB which can be expanded to up to 32 GB via a microSD memory card.
A good rule of thumb: 512 RAM = endless suffering
The basic designed smartphone has 3G capability, which is a good thing for Bangladeshi customers, but packs a battery of 1600 mAh which may cause the battery to run dry if constantly on a 3G network. It has WiFi, Bluetooth v3.0, GPS, Accelerometer and Proximity sensors. But on the camera end, it not only disappoints, but it disappoints terribly.
The ZTE V807 comes with a 3.15-megapixel back camera with no camera at all in front. The back camera is capable of shooting video but that does not compensate for the lack of front camera which could otherwise be used for video calling via Skype or taking endless selfies wherever you’re on a memorable place.
Last of all, the phone runs on Android Jelly Bean (version 4.1) while the latest Android on the market is 4.4.3 KtKat. The possibility of this phone receiving a KitKat update is almost none.
Is it worth buying ZTE V807?
At around BDT 10,000, we’d strongly suggest against purchasing this ZTE phone that is outdated by at least a year. But when the price is reduced to 3,500 Taka (4,500 Taka for Priyojon silver subscribers), it really makes a good question. For basic usage, this phone is well worth the price. But you must bear in mind that this phone in no way is going to give a satisfactory performance. After a while, the phone will feel laggy and sluggish. It’ll take a moment for the keypad to open up anytime you want to make a phone call.
The apps, not that you can install many of them without sacrificing your phone’s performance to an unusable degree, will become slow over time no matter what. And don’t even think about playing high definition game on this device.
It’s a well known fact that Android is a memory hungry operating system. So any device running Android’s older version (anything below KitKat) on 512 RAM is supposed to suffer. It’s not just because of the old hardware and software, but also because whenever you download an app, such as Facebook Messenger, you’ll get the latest version which is optimized for latest hardware. This is a basic problem with Androids and the low-end, low-cost phones are the worst sufferers of this.
So, in the end, if you want a phone for checking email, sending text messages, and making phone calls that has the ability to run a few Android apps (probably WhatsApp and Instagram, though the camera literally sucks), you might be off to buy a ZTE V807. But if you’re an Android enthusiast and are now thinking that this is your supreme chance to buy a branded Android phone, back off. This phone is going to cause you pain.
When it comes to Android phones, remember two things: 512 RAM = endless suffering; and reduced price = something’s wrong.
All this is not to say ZTE V807 is a bad phone. It definitely is a good purchase for BDT 3,500-4,500. But because it’s a smartphone (that’s meant to be used for more than just talking), you might think twice before making the purchase. You only want to buy this phone if you badly need a phone right now at a low price and you could use the extra 1 GB free data Banglalink is offering with the purchase. And you don’t want this phone if you have specific high expectation (such as hardcore gaming or mobile photography). So, make a mental note of what you want in your phone and match that with what ZTE V807 has in it.
Because it’s already a low-end phone, you should keep your expectations straight.
What’s your take on ZTE V807? Are you eligible for the offer? Are you going to buy it or wait to save more money and get a better phone? Let us know your decision in the comments.
