Chinese smartphone maker ZTE has announced the global availability of the ZTE Blade S6 Plus, a "phablet" first unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year.
The Blade S6 Plus is a slightly larger version of the Blade S6 smartphone that was revealed at the same time, and it was the smaller-screened incarnation that hogged most of the headlines at the time. Though the official specs in ZTE's press release list the Blade S6 Plus as having a 5-inch screen, it does in fact have a HD 5.5-inch screen -- so we can only assume the company reappropriated the spec list from the Blade S6 and forgot to update it.
The larger screen has also had a knock-on effect on the price -- while the smaller version of the device went on sale for $250, the Blade S6 Plus comes in at $300, which is still pretty good value for money. But you will actually be able to grab one of the devices for $270, for a "limited time only," the company said.
Everything else on the phablet is more or less the same as its smaller cousin: It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core chipset, runs Android 5.0 Lollipop, and, importantly for some, sports dual-SIM functionality. However, in addition to a bigger screen, the Blade S6 Plus also has a bigger battery -- 3000mAh rather than 2,400mAh.
It's also worth mentioning ZTE's chosen distribution channel -- the company is selling the phablet through eBay. That's not to say it won't also eventually be made available through other retail outlets, but for now you'll be restricted to eBay if you want to get your hands on one of these.
This isn't the first time ZTE has elected to use eBay to sell its devices -- it did so too for its Firefox OS-powered phone a couple of years back, while the ZTE Blade S6 was also made available via eBay in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.
It's worth noting here that ZTE has yet to reveal where or when the device will be made available within the U.S. We've reached out to ZTE for clarification, but it's perhaps safe to assume that the company will be selling these device through mobile carriers in the States. That said, if you are in the U.S. you can still procure the device from eBay via Hong Kong, which is where most countries will be buying from. Only Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and the U.K. can buy the device from local versions of eBay.