Review Verdict: Those looking for an affordable 5G phone have a strong option with the Smart ZTE Blade A75 5G. With a price that’s under Php 5k (that includes a Smart SIM), Smart’s latest offering is the perfect entry point for Filipinos who are looking to own their first 5G phone. 

Pros

• Fast UFS 3.1 storage
• Can shoot 4K videos
• Very affordable for a 5G phone

Cons

• Data is limited to Smart/TNT SIMs
• Stuck in Android 13
• No MicroSD card expansion

As telcos are speeding up their pace to expand their 5G networks in the Philippines, 5G-ready devices are starting to be more affordable. Smart is leading the race with the ZTE Blade A75 5G, which is affordably priced at under Php 5k as of writing this review. We have been using this budget 5G phone for a few months to test out Smart’s promise of making 5G accessible to everyone. Did they stay true to their promise?

 

Smart ZTE Blade A75 5G Review: Design

With our review unit in black, the Blade A75 5G makes use of red accents on the power button and the humongous bump at the back. We find the latter impractical since the Blade A75 5G only has one functional camera–the other being the usual filler shooter. You only get a ZTE 5G branding on the back, and the glossy finish makes it a fingerprint magnet.

The button and port layout is typical of what you see on other ZTE phones, and we find it strange that the loudspeaker is hidden in the earpiece area. We don’t know why ZTE went for this approach, but it does help keep the lines of the Blade A75 5G as minimalist as possible.

 

Smart ZTE Blade A75 5G Review: Display

The Blade A75 5G joins the recent trend of budget phones that have a 120hz refresh rate but only have an HD+ resolution. The high refresh rate makes the navigation experience smoother, and the HD+ resolution is bearable when watching videos. YouTube streaming is capped at 1080p resolution, which is fine for an entry-level device, and the same goes for Netflix streaming with its Widevine L3 certification limiting it to SD streaming.

Those limitations aside, the Blade A75 5G’s display has good colors for binge-watching, and its maximum brightness is good enough for most lighting conditions.

 

Smart ZTE Blade A75 5G Review: Cameras

While you only get a 50-megapixel main camera, the Blade A75 5G is intriguing as you can actually shoot 4K videos with it.

Don’t expect stable footage since it lacks OIS and EIS, but otherwise, the 4K videos we took with the Blade A75 5G are surprisingly usable–as long as you shoot in daylight and have a tripod or gimbal with you.

When it comes to photos, we got fairly good shots when we took photos during the daytime. However, we noticed the Blade A75 5G struggling with balancing highlights, which is a typical challenge for budget phones.

The Blade A75 5G offers a 2x digital zoom feature, but we advise against using it as the quality takes a dip even when shooting with good lighting. We suspect this is more of a post-processing issue that can be addressed through a software update.

 

Smart ZTE Blade A75 5G Review: Internals 

We mentioned in our first impressions that the Blade A75 5G is a unique budget phone as it is the only one in its class to offer UFS 3.1 storage, which has faster read and write speeds compared to UFS 2.2 and eMMC 5.1. The use of UFS 3.1 translates to faster app loading times, and it also helps offset the fact that you’re limited by the Blade A75 5G’s meager 4GB RAM.

Moving to the processor, the Unisoc T760 is an intriguing chip. You can count the number of phones that use Unisoc chips, and the T760 is a relatively new one. Based on the benchmarks we ran, the T760 is at par with the popular Helio G99 and is slightly better than the Dimensity 6300.

While we couldn’t run our usual gaming benchmark tools, the Blade A75 5G can run Genshin Impact in Low graphics, although we noticed stuttering and frame drops especially during mob fights. We think this is because of the game’s lack of optimization to run on Unisoc processors. It should not be a big deal, especially since those planning to get the Blade A75 5G will not prioritize gaming.

As for its 5G connectivity, the biggest catch of the Blade A75 5G is that you can only use Smart or TNT SIMs for data–on top of SIM 1 being locked to Smart. That might turn off people, but Smart’s 5G is decent. Depending on the location, we got download speeds as fast as high as 227Mbps in Manila, with speeds dipping to 64.8Mbps when we tried using it inside our studio in Greenhills. That should be fine for day-to-day use, though they fall under the slower side of 5G. You can check our speed tests in other locations here.

There’s also a limitation with the software, as the Blade A75 5G only comes with Android 13 out of the box that’s specifically designed for Smart. We have yet to receive any software updates, and we hope ZTE rolls out at least an update to Android 14 or security updates to the Blade A75 5G. To Smart’s credit, the Blade A75 5G’s bloatware is kept to a minimum, with the added apps including the Smart app, Maya, Smart Livestream, and MWell.

The Blade A75 5G has a 5000mAh battery inside, and our real-life use got us using the phone for a full workday, leaving us ample juice by the time we got home. Charging speeds are only at 18w, so it will take around 2 hours to charge the Blade A75 5G’s battery to 100%.

 

Smart ZTE Blade A75 5G Review: Wrap-up and Conclusions

While it is not a perfect device, the Blade A75 5G nails it right in Smart’s promise to make 5G devices affordable to everyone. With its affordable price point, the Blade A75 5G might set the standard for budget phones with some of its surprises that include the ability to shoot 4K videos and having speedy UFS 3.1 storage. There’s still room for improvement for the Blade A75 5G, and it all depends on ZTE’s commitment to providing timely software updates for it.

Smart ZTE Blade A75 5G Review: Price

The ZTE Blade A75 5G has an official price of Php 5,490, but it is priced at Php 4,990 as of writing this review.