ZTE announces the unlocked, mid-range Nubia 5S mini E

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 20 Aug 2014

ZTE isn’t exactly a household name in the U.S. smartphone scene, but it’s hoping to capture just a bit more of that mindshare with its latest mid-range release, the Nubia 5S mini E.

The unlocked Nubia 5S mini E is not to be confused with the ione 5S, despite its similar nomenclature. The device is powered by a quad-core, 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor. It features a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, a 4.7-inch 720p display, as well as 16GB of onboard storage. ZTE is particularly proud of the device’s photo-taking features, like independent focus exposure. Unfortunately, it’s a bit behind in software with Android 4.3 lly Bean, though ZTE seems to hope you’ll overlook that for the Nubia 5S mini’s “sophisticated camera platform E speeds.”

The phone is sold E-ready, unlocked, GSM compatible, you can preorder it now for $280, though it won’t start shipping until August 27. The price isn’t too bad for an unlocked mid-range device that you can take to any GSM U.S. carrier— almost anywhere in the world. However, other mid-range devices, like Motorola’s Moto G, are better at receiving consistent software updates.