The smartphone news is set to come thick and fast this week as the annual CES show in Las Vegas is taking place, and whilst we will be expecting some major announcements from brands such as Sony and Samsung there is also a whole host of other manufacturers looking to show off their incoming products.
In line is Chinese manufacturer ZTE which has ousted its next flagship Android smartphone in the form of the Grand S II. The handset is the first major official smartphone launch of the show and its shows that ZTE is continuing its push into the big leagues with its more affordable phones.
The ZTE Grand II will bring a 5.5-inch Full HD 1080p display running off a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, and running the slightly older Android 4.3 Jelly Bean OS. The handset will also come with 16GB of internal storage which compliments the 13-megapixel rear camera along with a 2-megapixel front camera for video calling. There is a 3,000 mAh capacity battery as well, so the Grand S II should offer a decent battery life.
One of the key features of the new Android phone is the voice control. The Grand S II will feature voice recognition unlocking, voice-controlled photography and an upgraded ZTE My-Drive assistant which can also be operated by voice.
The voice unlock will allow users to unlock the handset with a simple voice command, and similarly the voice photography allows users to snap pictures using voice commands. The My-Drive assistant will allow users who drive to automatically receive calls, listen to messages and play music with voice commands, or simply turn on the “do not disturb” mode which will send incoming calls to voicemail and/or automatically reply to any incoming text messages.
What’s more, with the new voice commands users can set up friends and family so that they can unlock the phone and use the voice features too.
There is no word on pricing or a release date just yet, but we expect these details to be announced soon.