Rumor: ZTE Nubia Z9S to be unveiled on June 30 with support for LTE Cat 9
Our readers with a keen interest on Chinese smartphones might know that two major manufacturers are gearing up to launch new smartphones on June 30. Huawei was the first to announce that it will unveil the Huawei Honor 7 on June 30, which is also when Meizu will unveil a phone of its own, the Meizu MX5.
According to a new rumor from China, yet another major manufacturer of smartphones aimed at the Chinese market is planning to unveil a smartphone on the date. We're talking about ZTE, as a new report argues that, on June 30, the company will unveil the ZTE Nubia Z9S, a slightly updated version of the bezelless flagship smartphone that ZTE unveiled back in May.
Allegedly, the only significant change in terms of capabilities will be support for Cat 9 LTE networks. Interestingly, the original ZTE Nubia Z9 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chip, one that integrates a modem that's compatible with Cat 9 LTE. As it turns out, however, the model on the original ZTE Nubia Z9 is limited to Cat 4 LTE.
At this point, it's unclear whether the Snapdragon 810 chip inside the ZTE Nubia Z9S comes with a slightly lesser LTE radio that tops out at Cat 4 LTE, or if the capabilities are limited by the software, but we're willing to bet on the latter.
The difference between Cat 4 and Cat 9 LTE is a big one in terms of theoretical download speeds. While Cat 4 tops out at 150Mbps, Cat 9 LTE maxes out at 330Mbps. Obviously, your carrier needs to be able to support such high transfer rates.
The Chinese report also includes a picture of the ZTE Nubia Z9S being passed through a mobile data speed test. The photo reveals that the handset will be able to reach download speeds of up to 245Mbps.
It remains to be seen if the Nubia Z9S will come with any hardware differences compared to the original Nubia Z9. If not, do you guys think that a software update is enough to validate the 'S' in the name? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
source: cnBeta via GizmoChina
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