ZTE Grand S Revealed, "World's Thinnest" 5-inch Phone

Two days ago Alcatel unveiled the One Touch Idol Ultra, the "world's slimmest smartphone" at CES 2013 Now ZTE tells us "Nu-uh, we have the world's thinnest 5-inch phone right here!" Enter the ZTE Grand S.

The ZTE Grand S—a "grand" device that inarguably just secured ZTE's entry to the high end market—is a 5-inch HD (1,920 x 1,080) Android 4.1 Jelly Bean device that sports a whopping 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor paired with 2 gigabytes of RAM. And at its super thin profile, it still has room for a microSD slot. The following is the quick specs of the ZTE Grand S:

ZTE Grand S Specifications

• OS: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
• Processor: 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro
• Display: 5-inch full HD display, 1080 x 1920 pixels, ~441 ppi pixel density, 16M colors
• Memory: 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, microSD expandable up to 32GB
• Camera: 13-megapixel rear camera w/ autofocus, LED flash, 2-megapixel secondary front camera
• Connectivity: EDGE, HSPA+, LTE, GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
• Battery: 1,780mAh Li-ion, non-removable

If anything ZTE sacrificed the battery (a meager 1,780mAh) to maintain the device's thin profile. It also doesn't help that the battery cell is sealed within the unit. There's also the huge issue with the ZTE Grand S' MiFavor UI (see: hideous). And to think that this hardware-beauty software-ugly device is about to be released too.

As with Lenovo's IdeaPhone K900, the Grand S' pricing is yet to be disclosed. But if previous pricing history is any hint, the ZTE Grand S will be priced terribly expensive when it hits the Philippines—if and when I don't know—especially now that the company is entering the high end market. The best we can do is hope.