ZTE Blade A7 Prime Review

When you think of inexpensive phones, you generally think of fragile handsets with small screens and bloatware-laden software. If you don’t want to spend four figures on one of the latest flagships, there are plenty of good alternatives. You don’t even need to invest $100 to get started. For $99. the ZTE Blade A7 Prime for Visible provides solid performance and a practically vanilla version of Android 9.0 with a stylish appearance. Sure, the camera and LCD could be better, but the overall value here is hard to argue with.

Design, Display, and Durability

With a textured plastic back panel, the Blade A7 Prime looks quite gorgeous for the price. It’s 5.8 ounces and measures 6.2 by 2.9 by 0.3 inches (HWD).

The front of the phone is dominated by a 6.1-inch IPS display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Because of the teardrop notch for the front-facing camera and thin side bezels, the overall screen-to-body ratio is good. While the chin is big, it isn’t noticeable, and there isn’t any prominent branding like on the Moto G7 Power.

The resolution is 1,560 by 720 pixels, or 276 pixels per inch. As a result, we were astonished to notice that the screen was noticeably less sharp than the Moto G7 Power’s, which has a same pixel density. It’s good for light texting and the occasional online search, but it’s not suitable for long periods of reading. The display makes up for its lack of clarity with brightness and color accuracy.

The back panel is constructed of textured plastic, which adds grip and protects against smudges and fingerprints, as previously indicated. The camera module is in the top left corner, and the fingerprint sensor is in the top center; it’s simple to reach, even with small hands, and it responds swiftly. In the bottom left corner, a small speaker grille may be found.

A headphone jack is located on the top of the A7 Prime, while a USB-C charging connector is located on the bottom. On the left side of the phone is a hybrid SIM/microSD slot, while on the right is a bright red, textured power button and volume rocker. Both are easily accessible and make a nice click when activated.

While the back panel will most likely survive accidental accidents and dings, the display will not. We can’t say how well the screen will hold up to damage because ZTE doesn’t say what kind of glass it uses. Because the phone lacks an IP rating, any contact with water will almost certainly result in disaster. Invest in a protective case for added peace of mind.

Network, Call, and Audio Quality

The ZTE Blade A7 Prime is only available through Verizon MVNO Visible and supports LTE bands 2/4/5/13. You can’t use it anywhere else because it’s carrier-locked. The network is of decent quality. We tested the phone in Manhattan and Brooklyn and found speeds of 41Mbps down and 48Mbps up to be constant.

The call quality is excellent. Our test calls were very clear, with good background noise cancellation. The max earpiece and speakerphone level is 85dB, which allows you can hear calls even on a crowded street.

The audio quality on the A7 Prime is surprisingly good for a phone with only one rear-facing speaker. When streaming media, the speaker volume reaches a maximum of 90 dB and does not sound tinny or hollow, even at maximum volume. We also discovered that holding the phone versus resting it on a table had no effect on audio quality.

The A7 Prime includes a headphone jack as well as Bluetooth 4.2 for audio and wearable communication. The 2.4GHz band is supported, but not the 5GHz spectrum. There is no NFC for mobile payments, which is understandable given the price.

Hardware and Software

A MediaTek Helio A22 chipset and 3GB of RAM power the phone. Onboard storage is 32GB, and the microSD slot may accommodate up to 2TB of external storage.

The phone scored 4,935 on PCMark 2.0, a set of benchmark tests that reflect normal use scenarios. That puts it below the Moto G7 Power (6,107) and Nokia 7.1 (6,224), although those phones are more than twice as expensive. The Blade A7 Prime is adequate for simple tasks such as browsing the internet and sending emails. When opening apps and unlocking the phone, there is a minor lag. Multitasking with more than six apps will slow things down, and the phone isn’t designed to handle processor-intensive games like PUBG: Mobile.

Cameras

A single 16MP rear-facing camera with an f/2.0 aperture and a 5MP front-facing camera with an f/2.2 aperture are included on the Blade A7 Prime.

The rear camera performs admirably in bright light. Although there is some background blur, the depth of field and color accuracy are excellent. On the other hand, the front-facing camera has issues. In the foreground and background, nearly all of our test images exhibited halos and blurring.

In low light, neither camera performs well. Both feature short shutter speeds and necessitate a steady hand to avoid a completely fuzzy image. The rear-facing camera does a little better, although there is still some background blur and small noise around the edges of shots. Meanwhile, if you want to capture selfies in dimly lit areas such as pubs or restaurants, the Nokia 7.1 is the cheapest alternative.

Conclusions

The ZTE Blade A7 Prime isn’t without flaws; the display and cameras could both be much better. It does, however, provide reasonable battery life, competent performance, and a clean software build for the price. While these capabilities are available elsewhere, it’ll be difficult to find them for less than $99, making the A7 Prime a good deal for Visible users.