Is the ZTE Blade V8 Pro the best phone at about $200-$250 USD? I need a new phone. Pls Help.

TimeOmnivore · April 9, 2017

So, this morning my old Samsung Galaxy S Blaze finally kicked the bucket after months of stuttering, freezing, boot looping, etc. and now I am in the need for a new phone, soon. I've been looking through Newegg/Amazon in the $200 - $250 price range but it's hard to determine which phone would be the best buy. So, I've come here, hoping there are some of you who may have useful experience in this price range you would like to share. I'm a user who doesn't use the camera at all, so that's a nonissue for me. What I do care about, however, is a reliable phone with a 1080p 5.5-inch display, microSD expansion, the ability to run Hearthstone and Clash Royale (most demanding apps I use), at least 3 GB of RAM, and can connect to a GSM network, specifically T-Mobile. Physical/Capacitive navigation buttons, USB-C, and a removable battery would be nice, but aren't dealbreakers. I want something that will last me a good few years without breaking down.

I'm mainly looking at the ZTE Blade V8 Pro ($230), which, after about 7 hours of looking through a shit ton of spec sheets and reading/watching various reviews for different phones, seems to be the best phone for [most of] what I'm looking for as listed above. The lack of Android Nougat may prove an issue, but since I've been using 2.3/4.0 for about the past 4 years, I doubt it'll matter too much. Does anyone know if I'm right and the Blade V8 Pro would be a good buy, or have any good alternatives to recommend? Thanks.

Also, if anyone here uses T-Mobile, is switching phones as simple as putting the old SIM in the new phone, or would I need to buy a new SIM?

Shiv78 · April 9, 2017

Seems like a pretty good phone, spec-wise... idk about ZTE's general warranty support and reliability but it seems like a great budget phone.

planeace222 · April 10, 2017

I own this phone and I absolutely love it! Build quality is amazing, the screen is 1080p and beautiful, and the cameras are by far the best I have ever used. Battery life is really impressive, and easily last 1.5 to 2 days without a charge. I do notice that it gets hot when fast charging, so take off the case and put it on a cold surface like a table or glass table. Performance is smooth, and I have never had a lag spike in games or apps. General UI is easy to use but takes some time to get used to placement of apps. Runs Android marshmallow but hoping for a nougat update. The glass screen is rated gorilla glass 3 but I already have small annoying scratches on it. Otherwise, great buy, and I even got a few looks! Oh. And any GSM network will work. I have tracfone on AT&T and it works flawlessly, even picking up extra bandwidths.