14 DAY TRIAL // This week ZTE has taken the opportunity to unveil a new smartphone, a successor to the Star 1 device that went live back in April.
Obviously, the new arrival has been baptized Star 2, but oddly enough the device doesn't resemble the model having received certification from the Chinese website TENAA.
The Star 2's advanced voice controls set it out from the crowd
Anyway, the most prominent feature of the newly unveiled Star 2 is the fact that if offers extensive voice support. Don’t be fooled, the smartphone doesn't come equipped with just a simple app onboard, but actually lets you perform a lot of operations by virtue of voice.
You will be able to open, close or switch between apps. On top of that, owners of the Star 2 will get to snap pictures or play music just by saying the right words out loud.
When you take your phone out and place it next to your ear, you will be asked who you want to call, which makes the whole operation a lot easier. The neat part is that the phone doesn't necessarily have to be connected to the Internet for the vocal commands to work.
ZTE seems to be particularly proud of the system is has set up on the Star 2 and says you should notice a response time of 1.2 seconds. The technology is advanced enough to register 90% success rate, even in noisy environments like a busy pub.
Star 2 lives off a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
When it comes to specifications, you should know the new ZTE Star 2 brings to the tablet a 5-inch display with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution and relies on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core chipset clocked at 2.3GHz and fitted with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD card).
On the back lives a 13MP rear camera with dual-LED flash, while in the front resides a 5MP wide-angle snapper.
The ZTE Star 2 might not be the thinnest smartphone around and it’s certainly no match for the Vivo X5 Max’s 4.77 mm / 0.18 inches, but it’s not chunky either, coming in with a respectable profile of 6.9 mm / 0.27 inches.
The ZTE Star 2 comes equipped with 4G LTE functionality and relies on a 2,300 mAh battery. The handset will ship out with Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box, with the company’s own MiFavor 3.0 UI plastered on top.
There’s no mention of whether the handset will receive the Lollipop update at some point, but we certainly hope this is the case.
Anyhow, the new ZTE Star 2 will be launched on the Chinese market and won’t come cheap. The company will be marketing the device for $400 / €325 a pop, but given the advanced voice recognition tech inside, we shouldn't be surprised.
