ZTE Blade A1: First phone from a ‘big’ brand to offer fingerprint security below $100?


When the UMi Fair released, it was the only phone in the sub-$100 range to have a fingerprint scanner. Larger, multinational brands are now stepping up the gas on bringing fingerprint to very basic mid-range phones, and the ZTE Blade A1 is perhaps only the start.

The ZTE Blade A1 is priced at a mere $94 (599 Yuan in China), and comes with a decent spec set besides just the fingerprint sensor. Take a look at the entire spec sheet after the break.

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The Blade A1 has a 5-inch 1280 x 720p display, a quad-core MediaTek MT6735 processor (the ‘full’ 1.3GHz version, not the throttled 1.0GHz one), 2GB RAM, 16GB on-board storage, a 13 mega-pixel rear camera, 5 mega-pixel front facing camera and a 2800mAh battery.

It runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box, and measures 42 x 70.2 x 8.9mm with a weight of 137g. To save up on inventory costs, ZTE will be producing only a White version of the phone, at least for now.

It’ll go on sale in China through JD.com starting December 11th. Time for Xiaomi to pull off something magical with the Redmi 3?

Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

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11 Comments

  1. Steven Fox
    December 4, 2015

    Very, very nice device.
    Will have to wait for reviews, but it looks like a killer bargain.

    • December 4, 2015

      Going to try to get one for review. Looks pretty good

      • Lazar Prodanovic
        December 4, 2015

        Looks pretty much like ZTE Blade V6 to me & hardware is mostly the same.

        Can you get a Alcatel Flash 2 for a review?
        It doesn’t sound much on paper and it’s not so cheap but it has two things users aprichiate most (camera and battery) even display is not so good along with dragon trail glass. .

      • Muhammad Yasir
        December 4, 2015

        thats my man !
        im hoping for a candid and lethal try out of this from you gang !

  2. balcobomber25
    December 4, 2015

    Not bad kit at all, might be one of the best budget phones of the year.

    • Joel Adames
      December 4, 2015

      hi out of the blue… no pun intended.

      Listen i’m about to buy a gionee elife e8 AKA blu pure xl. any thoughs on that idea or you think i coulg get something better at same or CHEAPER price?
      do you honestly think there won’t be any updates to it?

      • balcobomber25
        December 4, 2015

        Which version are you buying the Gionee or the Blu? They are the same base phone but updates can vary between the two companies. I have had better luck with Blu devices getting updated than Gionee’s but even then it varies from model to model. Given that the Pure XL is Blu’s new flagship support should be pretty good.

        Are you deadset on a 6 inch phone? Because I can think of a few phones that are better for less money but they are mostly 5.5 inches.

        • Joel Adames
          December 5, 2015

          I’m going with the BLU pure xl.
          Then NO … I’m flexible if there’s something better in a easier handling form factor. So what ever idea I am open for them. Thanks

          • balcobomber25
            December 5, 2015

            Well the Blu is great because it has the US LTE bands (at least for Tmobile) whereas most Chinese phones will only have 3G bands. If LTE is important to you go with the Blu if not I would say the Meizu MX5, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, OnePlus Two and LeTV are all better options at a similar price point.

            • Joel Adames
              December 5, 2015

              Great !!! Thanks for the advice. Sadly can’t deal with LeTv as it ships with weird Roms then the Op2 I do not like I became friends with MKT so… Now Redmi Note 3 dies on the space subject and ram subject. I will see more of the MX5 and see if I can live with it. So I will see

  3. yalok
    December 5, 2015

    I would call 2015 a year of great $100 smartphones from trustworthy brands.