Hands-on with the ZTE Blade 8 Pro, a budget dual-camera smartphone

ZTE is one of several Chinese manufacturers breaking into the US market with affordable smartphones and their share of bells and whistles. At CES, we checked out its Blade V8 Pro, an affordable phablet rocking a dual rear camera with a couple of tricks up its sleeve.

ZTE is one of several Chinese manufacturers breaking into the US market with affordable smartphones and their share of bells and whistles. At CES, we checked out its Blade V8 Pro, an affordable phablet rocking a dual rear camera with a couple of tricks up its sleeve.

First and foremost, let's establish the most notable feature of this phone: its price. Blade V8 Pro preorders for US$230 and is expected to start shipping before the end of January. It ships unlocked directly from ZTE and is compatible with non-CDMA networks (in the US, that means no Verizon or Sprint).

There is no confirmation whether that price point will creep up after the preorder period, but either way, it still undercuts its main competitors. Even similar offerings like the Huawei Honor 6X and OnePlus 3T start at $250 and $439, respectively.