dual-core ICS-based mid-ranger for Australia
Although it did threaten to take the Western tech world by storm during 2012 with several high-end phones and tablets some time ago, ZTE is still keeping a somewhat low profile outside Asia. The only new handhelds we’ve seen from the company in the past couple of months have been the same old decent looking budget-friendly devices with low-end specs.
And while the new T81 doesn’t exactly fit into that profile, being clearly much snappier than the recently released Blade 3 or Warp Sequent, it doesn’t have the necessary muscles to fight the Galaxy S3 or LG Optimus G either.
The T81 is for the time being marketed as an Australian exclusive phone, though judging by its specs and features it would be a pity to not see the 4.3-incher get a wider release. The LCD qHD display with 960 x 540 pixels resolution might not be a big deal (anymore), but the dual-core 1.5GHz processor powering the device still sounds above par.
The CPU is an MSM8960 from Qualcomm, so it’s of the Snapdragon S4 variation which was the standard for high-end phones just a few months ago. There’s also 1GB of RAM to complement the powerful SoC, while the 4GB of on-board memory don’t exactly scream high-end, though the microSD support should take care of any storage problem you might encounter.
The rest of the known features include a mediocre sounding 1,900mAh battery, Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich (kudos for that), but also a more than decent 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p HD recording.
Finally, it seems that the ZTE T81 will also come with 4G LTE support, meaning that we should probably expect Telstra to jump at the opportunity of enriching its line-up of high-speed phones. Optus and Vodafone’s LTE services are also in the works, but we doubt the T81 will be one of their first handhelds to get the new support.
No words on pricing and availability just yet, although it shouldn’t take ZTE long to get the phone out. We’re also pretty short on official pics with the phone at this time, so if you happen to have access to ZTE’s official Australian and New Zealand website, do be as kind as to share anything that looks half decent.
Who’s interested in the ZTE T81? What would be a fair price to ask for it? Would there be a place for the phone outside Australia too? Let us know below.
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