If you're looking for a cheap/decent unlocked Android phone, try the ZTE ZMAX 2

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
12/07/2015 at 16:15 • Filed to: None

Oppo deal heads up: if you’re looking for a cheap and not-crappy unlocked Android phone, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Sorry, deal’s expired, but it’s still a good, cheap phone!

It’s not a particularly fancy phone, but it seems to be a well-realized package that people like, according to what reviews I could find. It’s got a 5.5” 720p screen, Snapdragon 410 CPU, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of ROM, mostly-stock Android 5.1, a big, removable battery, and a microSD slot.

My gf has an old !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! she’s wanted to replace, but she just bought herself a treadmill (long story) and isn’t making any other big purchases for a while. She wants a phone with a bigger screen but otherwise doesn’t need anything fancy.

So I grabbed this ZTE since it’s cheap enough to be a borderline impulse purchase and given as either an anniversary (on Dec 20) or Christmas present, while being a nice upgrade for her to a more modern phone.

Which now brings my total Black Friday/Cyber Monday spending up to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and this phone for her. I’m such a big spender.

UPDATE: The phone has arrived, and I gave it to my gf as an early anniversary present, since her old phone is all old. She’s extremely happy with it.

The specs aren’t fancy, there’s no NFC or 5 GHz wifi, but it’s got an almost entirely stock build of Android 5.1.1 and runs nice and smooth with no issues. Only having to render stuff at 720p resolution probably helps keep it from getting bogged down.

I’ve played with it and it’s a totally decent phone especially for how cheap it is. The 720p screen is at least nice and bright and clear with good colors and you don’t really notice any pixels.

Obviously, this phone is not as nice as my Moto X Pure Edition, but it’s only like 1/3 the price. If you just want a basic, totally-functional Android phone with a big screen, I can totally recommend it.

Now, the bad news: Newegg is all sold out at $119. As it sits right now, the best price on the unlocked ZMAX 2 is $164.95 through a couple of Amazon third-party sellers.

If you have AT&T, or use an MVNO that piggybacks on AT&T’s network like Straight Talk or Cricket, you can get the AT&T GoPhone branded version of the ZMAX 2 for $129 at either Walmart or Best Buy. It should work fine with any AT&T-compatible SIM card. You can just buy the GoPhone version and not activate the GoPhone service.

So really, if you want a cheap phone with a big, totally-ok screen, and mostly stock Android Lollipop (who knows about future updates) this is a pretty solid pickup for the price. Keep an eye out for deals and maybe it’ll get cheaper again.

DISCUSSION (18)

Spoon II > Textured Soy Protein
11/29/2015 at 19:50

If you’re looking to spend around $300, I’ve got to recommend the Asus Zenphone 2. I’ve had one for months now, and the performance is excellent. Plus twin SIM cards and a MicroSD Card slot.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Textured Soy Protein
12/07/2015 at 16:18

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/motorola-…

This is the phone I have, and it’s a solid no-frills phone for $100. The 3rd gen is out, so finding deals like this on the older (but still totally serviceable) 2nd gen will be easy.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Textured Soy Protein
12/07/2015 at 16:22

This phone is also inexpensive .

Kinja'd!!!

Textured Soy Protein > Aaron M - MasoFiST
12/07/2015 at 16:28

The Moto G 2nd gen is “fine” but its specs are not in the same ballpark as the ZMAX 2, which steps up to a 64-bit CPU instead of 32-bit, 2 GB of RAM instead of 1 GB, 16 GB of ROM instead of 8 GB, and a 5.5” screen instead of 5”.

Textured Soy Protein > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
12/07/2015 at 16:30

Much lower-end specs and smaller screen for the same price ballpark, and you’d have to want a Windows phone.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Textured Soy Protein
12/07/2015 at 16:36

All true. The 3rd gen is closer, and in the same ballpark price-wise without the discount (~170).

Aaron M - MasoFiST > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
12/07/2015 at 16:37

I had a Lumia 520 for a while when I needed a replacement phone and didn’t want to worry about money. Yeah, it’s the slowest phone I’ve ever had, but when you consider I bought it for $40 it was pretty damn good.

Textured Soy Protein > Aaron M - MasoFiST
12/07/2015 at 16:43

I like Motorola and have an X Pure. Moto G 3rd gen is $179 for 1 GB RAM/8 GB ROM and $219 for 2 GB/16 GB like the ZMAX 2. In this case, my gf had a 4.7” phone and wanted a good bit bigger screen. I got the same specs as the $219 version of the G, with a 5.5” screen instead of 5”, for $90 less.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Textured Soy Protein
12/07/2015 at 16:45

Makes sense. I’m pretty happy with my Moto G, and I think when it’s time to buy another phone I’m going to be aiming more for the ~100 price point than worrying about the specs, unless something really interesting happens in the phone world in the next three years.

KirkyV > Textured Soy Protein
12/07/2015 at 16:46

All true - I wouldn’t get a G, myself - but it’s worth pointing out that a 5.5 inch screen isn’t necessarily an upgrade for a decent number of people. A big part of why my ongoing search for a decent replacement for my old Nexus 5 is proving so difficult is that I actually like using my phone in one - tiny - hand, so the dearth of decent sub-5.5-inch options is causing me all kinds of trouble.

The Nexus 5X is out because it tops out at 32GB storage - I’m fed up of streaming music - and only has 2GB RAM. The Galaxy S6 is compelling, particularly with how cheap it’s gotten lately, but I don’t think I could put up with the RAM management issues, so I’m waiting to see if Marshmallow improves it at all. The HTC One M9 has a lot of what I want - 5-inch screen, expandable storage, decent battery life and those lovely speakers - but the camera’s kinda crappy, and the screen’s not nearly as nice as the S6’s AMOLED panel.

All in all, it’s the first-worldiest of problems one could possibly have, but it’s still a quandry. I wish Motorola hadn’t made the X fucking gigantic with the most recent generation; if the Style/Pure were smaller, it’d be a no-brainer.

Textured Soy Protein > KirkyV
12/07/2015 at 17:07

I have an X Pure. My hands are a little above average male hand size, but I can’t palm a basketball. I upgraded from an LG G2 and it was a bit of an adjustment, but for the most part I can use the X Pure with 1 hand fine. I put an Incipio Octane case on it which makes it easier to grip even though it’s bigger with the case.

My gf, she has kinda long skinny fingers for a girl, but still her hands are noticeably smaller than mine. There aren’t many name-brand cases for the ZMAX 2, so I just got her an eBay TPU case . She was complaining about the keyboard on her old phone being too small. That’s a Pantech Discover which has a 4.7” screen. For her, the bigger screen means bigger keyboard. She’s only had the phone a few days but says she very much prefers typing on the bigger screen. Go figure.

Textured Soy Protein > Spoon II
12/07/2015 at 17:09

How’s the bloatware? I really hate bloatware and everything I’ve seen about the Zenfone 2 says it has a lot of bloat on it. ASUS now makes several versions from $200-300 depending on specs but the bloat seemed pretty annoying.

KirkyV > Textured Soy Protein
12/07/2015 at 17:31

I haven’t been able to get any hands-on time with an X Style, but I did try using a Nexus 6P - also 5.7 inches, though slightly larger overall - and my thumb could barely get halfway up the screen. I think I might just be able to manage with, say, a G4, but not comfortably.

I really wouldn’t be surprised if my hands were smaller than the average girl’s, even. They’re definitely smaller than my friend-who’s-a-girl’s, and I don’t think she has particularly large hands.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Textured Soy Protein
12/07/2015 at 18:05

But Windows works on lower end hardware better than Android does, so apart from the camera, you aren’t missing anything in terms of hardware.

Apps aside, Windows is a great mobile OS. Especially on a cheap phone.

Textured Soy Protein > KirkyV
12/07/2015 at 18:26

I haven’t played with a Nexus 6P but the Moto Nexus 6 is noticeably bigger than the X Pure. It was a bit too big for me.

With the X Pure I have to do some repositioning of the phone in my hand if I’m right handed, and if I’m 1-handing, I can reach all but the top left corner of the screen with my thumb without really thinking about how or where I’m supposed to move my hand. That top left corner takes a little juggling.

Textured Soy Protein > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
12/07/2015 at 18:27

Windows is great if you want Windows, but this post is:

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Textured Soy Protein
12/07/2015 at 19:23

Yeah, so? I’m just providing commentary on another option.

You’re welcome to delete my posts if you don’t think they’re relevant to the discussion about cheap smartphones.

Mbassile4life > Textured Soy Protein
07/22/2016 at 11:35

Just purchased the GoPhone version of the ZMax 2 for $59.99, a nice price for a phone with a large enough screen seeing as I own 2 Galaxy Mega. Certainly worth the purchase, technically it’s an upgrade software-wise. But I consider it a budget choice to carry me over to my next BiG Face phablet in a year or so.