IFA 2012: ZTE announces first Intel-based smartphone

ZTE Corporation (ZTE), a provider of telecommunications equipment, network solutions and mobile devices, has announced its first Android Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone with Intel Inside, the ZTE Grand X IN. This ZTE flagship handset is the latest product from the ZTE Grand series and will be launched in Europe in September.

The Grand X IN delivers fast and efficient performance via the low power Intel Atom processor Z2460 with Intel Hyper-Threading Technology and support for HSPA+ 21Mbps network with the Intel XMM 6260 Platform. Together these Intel technologies help deliver end users with an energy efficient, high performance user experience enabling fast browsing and a responsive Internet experience.

The ZTE Grand X IN

“The Grand X IN is ZTE’s first flagship smartphone in Europe to feature Intel Inside, and we look forward to building our partnership with Intel,” said Ao Wen, Vice President of Europe Operations for ZTE Handsets. “The handsets in the ZTE Grand portfolio are quality devices focused on providing a great level of service and, with the inclusion of Intel’s technology in the Grand X IN, we have provided a handset with enhanced capabilities, reliability and ZTE has nearly 10 years experience of smartphone research and development and commits 10 per cent of its annual revenue to R&D. ZTE’s focus is to provide the best handset for the best value so all consumers can enjoy the experience of using a very capable smartphone. We want to focus on things that matter, so we excel at providing superior battery life and fast feeds and speeds, resulting in a high level of customer satisfaction.”

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“We’re pleased to extend the close collaboration we entered with ZTE at Mobile World Congress 2012 to Intel-based smartphones. ZTE is a fast growing global handset maker that strives to create products with features and capabilities that people care most about,” said Helmut Vogler, vice president and general manager of Mobile and Wireless Sales for Intel Corporation. “The Grand X IN is a well-rounded device that marries robust hardware and software to deliver great performance and value for consumers.”

Here are the specifications of the phone:

• 4.3-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels
• EDGE, 3G, HSDPA, HSPA+, NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11 /b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct
• GPS Enabled
• Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP
• 8 megapixel AF camera with full HD video recording, 0.3MP front facing camera
• 16GB internal memory expandable up to 32GB via microSD
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

This is one of the rare phones to have an Intel processor outside of the Xolo range of phones. In June, Lenovo had released the K800. The phone was meant to compete with the Lava XOLO X900. The K800 has slightly beefier specifications compared to the Lava XOLO X900. For starters, it sports a larger and higher density screen at 4.5-inches with a resolution of 1280 x 720. This gives it a high pixel count of over 320ppi, which puts it in Apple’s Retina Display category. The phone also feature the same Atom Z2460 Medfield CPU running at 1.6GHz and a PowerVR SGX540 for the graphics.