Today we have a fresh budget smartphone ZTE Blade A72s on review. This is an affordable device with a very nice price tag, 6.75-inch screen with refresh rate up to 90 Hz, fingerprint scanner, NFC and good battery life. Of course, we didn’t do without compromises – within this segment, there is no place without them. I suggest to see what kind of device it is, what its strengths and weaknesses are and who might be interested in it.
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The average cost of the A72s is $126, so the device belongs to the lower price segment. It does not aim to impress users with big power, top design, cool cameras or any special features. It is a simple device with basic functionality for communication and the tasks for which we use a smartphone today – online banking, messengers, applications, social networks and everything like that.
The smartphone arrived for review in a concise orange box with the main specifications and the model name on it. Inside we see the smartphone, a paper clip for the slot, a 22.5W charger, a USB-A to USB Type-C cable and accompanying literature. The package does not provide a case, but in the box put a thick protective film, which the user can protect the display if desired. Screen protection is definitely a cool option.
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A72s is a rather nice representative of budget-class smartphones. We got the device in a noble grey colour for review, and the smartphone is also presented in blue. There are practically no decorations on the back, except for an interesting texture on the camera panel. The texture of the body – under the matte metallic. It looks laconic and quite “mature”, nothing superfluous. And the matte texture is also quite practical – fingerprints don’t accumulate on it. On the sides of the “back” there are small roundings, and in the lower right corner you can see the brand name and technical markings.
The cameras are located on the top left, as usual. The modules are mounted on a “pedestal” that matches the colour of the case, but with mirror texture and silver edging. The camera unit is noticeably elevated above the body, so when the smartphone is lying on the table, it sways noticeably. Visually, the camera area is divided into three parts. On top – a large main 50-megapixel sensor, below on the left – a couple of additional modules, and to the right, a little to the side, placed the flash.
Let’s turn the device over and see a huge 6.75-inch screen with average for budget devices bezels (the top and bottom bezels are slightly larger than the side bezels) and a drop-shaped cutout for the selfie camera. At the junction of the display and the top end there is a thin speaker grille.
If the side edges are slightly rounded, the top and bottom have a small recess that extends almost through the entire edge. The case, of course, is plastic, and there is no protection against water or dust.
With dimensions of 168.0×77.5×8.6 mm, the Blade A72s weighs about 206 g. The smartphone is quite large, because the screen diagonal is 6.75 inches, but thanks to the matte texture of the body and a good aspect ratio, it lies securely and comfortably in the hand. The power button, where the fingerprint scanner is hidden, is located almost in the middle of the A72s, so when you hold the device in your right hand, your thumb is just on the button. Thanks to this, unlocking is fast, because you don’t have to intercept the smartphone. Adequate one-handed control is out of the question, of course, if you don’t switch on this function in the settings and the interface doesn’t “move” to the bottom of the screen.
Верхний торец оставили пустым, а снизу есть порт для зарядки Type-C, аудиоразъем 3,5 мм, основной динамик и отверстие для разговорного микрофона.
The smartphone is equipped with a large 6.75-inch IPS-matrix with a resolution of 720×1600 and 260 ppi. The screen has a pleasant natural colour reproduction and good brightness. As for the viewing angles, they are not record-breaking, and already at a slight deviation from the screen there are changes in the reproduction of colours. Nevertheless, the display is still readable. But it has a very nice chip – refresh rate up to 90 Hz. And this is what makes working with the screen more pleasant.
In general, the screen is good. Both textual information and multimedia content are perfectly perceived on it. I would like it to be possible to adjust the colour reproduction or contrast, but in general it is quite good by default.
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Inside the A72s there is an 8-core entry-level Unisoc T616 processor made on 12nm process technology. Of the 8 cores, 6 are Cortex-A55 with a clock speed of 1.6 GHz, and the remaining 2 are Cortex-A73 with similar characteristics (up to 1.6 GHz). It is accompanied by Mali-G57, which is responsible for graphics processing. Permanent memory is 64 GB (UFS 2.2, but there is also a version with 128 GB), and RAM – 4 GB. Both figures can be increased: the first – with microSD (up to 1 TB), the other – at the expense of permanent memory. That is, the physical RAM here is 4 GB, and you can get another 4 virtual GB from flash memory. And this chip really makes the smartphone more snazzy and faster. Anyway, with and without the addition of virtual RAM, there is a difference and the device performs better with it. As for wireless connections, there is everything – Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC, and, of course, a number of actual services for geopositioning.
In addition to Google services and some other popular applications, a few simple games and narrow-profile programmes (like Booking) were installed on the smartphone by default. Nevertheless, they are not “embedded” and can be easily deleted, freeing up space. That is, technically, except for the appearance, the software part of A72s is not much different from many other Android devices. This means that you don’t need to get used to something different. And, for example, for users of the older generation this will be a plus.
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The sound of the Blade A72s is mono, and quite standard. The speaker is loud, which is good for notifications and calls, but it’s not multimedia at all. At high volume you can hear clanking and other artefacts, so for music or video it’s not the best option. Headphones to the rescue, especially since there’s not only Bluetooth, but also a 3.5mm jack. As for the sound quality, let’s not forget that we’re talking about a smartphone with a price tag slightly above $100, so there’s simply no point in picking on the lack of stereo, Dolby Atmos or something else.
The rear camera consists of three modules: the main 50-megapixel module with f/1.8 light sensitivity and a pair of auxiliary 2 MP each with f/2.4. The actual resolution of the leading sensor is 13MP, because it uses 4-in-1 pixel matching technology. The maximum resolution for video is Full HD, 30 fps (for both the main and front cameras), no stabilisation is provided.
Let’s run through the camera app and shooting modes. We have the following:
And then there’s the inbuilt QR code scanner, Beautify, Google Lens and filters.
How does the Blade A72s shoot? In the daytime, with some patience, you can get pretty good shots. But if you take photos in a hurry, you may encounter dullness of colours, low sharpness and contrast, “blurred”. I immediately recommend switching to HDR-mode – so the image is clearer and sharper. As for low-light shooting, everything is expected here – the pictures are rather mediocre. Night mode helps a bit, but it is not a panacea either. More light is captured, but mostly the photos turn out to be backlit. Clarity on light sources is not enough, artefacts in the form of reflections appear, textures are blurred. A few examples below.
ZTE BLADE A72S PHOTOS IN ORIGINAL RESOLUTION
But we all understand that A72s class devices are definitely not chosen when you need a high-quality camera phone. For its positioning, its photo capabilities are adequate.
The front camera in the smartphone is 5 MP with aperture f/2.2. For cool selfies for social networks it will not be enough, because the clarity and detail is not enough, but it will cope well with video communication.
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ZTE Blade A72s is quite an interesting budget phone, which, of course, is not without its pros and cons. Let’s start with the first. The smartphone is definitely worth praising for its attractive and at the same time practical design, a large pleasant screen with a refresh rate of up to 90 Hz, good autonomy and support for fast charging. It has the option to double the amount of RAM at the expense of flash memory and in practice it really makes the device faster, and there is also a fingerprint scanner and supports all modern wireless technologies – from Wi-Fi 5 to NFC. Well, its probably the most convincing trump card is its price of $126.
As for the shortcomings, we have here a basic “hardware”, which copes well with everyday loads and multitasking, but for something more serious is not suitable. Cameras correspond to the positioning of the smartphone – they shoot without wow-effect.
Who is this smartphone for? Its main target audience – unsophisticated users who need a device more for communication and simple leisure. In addition, it can be a good option as a first smartphone, so children and older users also fall under its “scope”. In this role, A72s will be quite effective and successful solution.
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