With the unveiling of the 5.7-inch Grand Memo, ZTE is looking to tap into the potential of the bigger smartphone space and has thrown the gauntlet to the best-selling phablet: the Galaxy Note 2.
So, can ZTE eat into Samsung's phablet pie and pull the rug from underneath the smartphone market leader's feet? Here's a look at how the Galaxy Note 2 and Grand Memo stack up against each other:
Processor
Under the hood, the Galaxy Note 2 packs in a powerful quad-core Exynos processor, which clocks at 1.6GHz. On the other hand, the ZTE Grand Memo features a 1.7 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor (European variant) or the Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 (for China).
Display
The Grand Memo sports a 5.7-inch HD TFT display which is slightly bigger than the Galaxy Note 2's 5.5-inch Super AMOLED screen. Both the displays have a 1280 x 720 pixels resolution.
However, when it comes to pixel density, the Galaxy Note 2 is slightly better the Grand Memo with a pixel density of 267 ppi vis-à-vis 258 ppi.
Form Factor
The Galaxy Note 2 measures 5.95 x 3.16 x 0.37 inches, whereas the Grand Memo measures 6.30 x 3.25 x 0.33 inches, making the Grand Memo taller, wider, and thinner than the Samsung offering.
The Galaxy Note 2 weighs 6.35 ounces, whereas the weight of the Grand Memo is currently not known.
Storage and Memory
The Galaxy Note 2 is the clear winner here. It is available in 16/32/64GB on-board storage options, whereas the Grand Memo will only be available in 16GB.
What's more, the Galaxy Note 2 has an expandable memory option (of up to 64GB) via a microSD card. The Grand Memo also has an expandable memory option of up to 32GB.
Both devices offer 2GB of RAM.
Software
Both the smartphones come pre-loaded with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. However, the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update for the Galaxy Note 2 went live in December 2012.
Camera
Camera-wise, the Galaxy Note 2's 8-megapixel primary camera is no match for the Grand Memo's 13-megapixel Intelligent AF Camera with face recognition and panorama.
However, the Galaxy Note 2 betters the Grand Memo in the front-facing camera department. It has a 1.9-megapixel snapper whereas the ZTE offering has a paltry 1 megapixel one.
Battery
The Galaxy Note 2 packs in a powerful 3100mAh battery that supports up to 16 hours of talk time on 3G.
A slightly bigger 3200mAh battery fuels the Grand Memo for "super-long standby time." The talk time support offered is currently not known.
Availability
The Galaxy Note 2 released in October 2012 and has gone on to sell a whopping 5 million units worldwide, which bears testimony to its popularity. The Grand Memo is expected to hit the shelves in Q2 2013.
The unlocked Galaxy Note 2 (16GB) costs nearly $580, whereas the price for the Grand Memo is currently not known.
The Galaxy Note 2 has an S Pen stylus unlike the Grand Memo, which gives it an edge over other phablets in the same league, a feature notably missing in the ZTE phablet.
