ZTE will unveil high-end flagship smartphone at CES 2013

ZTE will unveil high-end flagship smartphone at CES 2013
Big things on the way

ZTE will at last launch a major, high end smartphone at CES 2013 in Las Vegas, as it finally steps up to take on the key players in the mobile market.

The Chinese firm is steadily building its brand around the world, with mainly budget and mid-range handsets to its name so far including the ZTE Tania, Grand X and Kis – with a distinct lack of killer devices.

That's set to change come January, with Hagen Fendler, ZTE's global chief design director telling Computer World: "It will kind of be a starting point of a new design era for ZTE."

Not Nubia, that's different

Fendler was unable to offer any further details or insight on the handset, but we'd hope it will sport a 4.5-inch or larger display and pack some serious power and technology under the hood to rival the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC One X+ and iPhone 5.

Previously there have been rumours surrounding a "Nubia" device from ZTE, and although Fendler confirmed this brand did exist, the phone currently in question does not belong to this family.

"The Nubia brand is a second brand, which we use to address the high-end in parallel to this activity."

It looks like ZTE may be taking a leaf out of Sony's book, which has two separate channels, both of which have their own flagship devices in the form of the Xperia S and Xperia T.

TechRadar will be Vegas-bound in January to hit CES to bring you all the latest on ZTE and it's new flagship handset, so stayed tuned for the inside skinny.

John McCann
Global Managing Editor

John joined TechRadar over a decade ago as Staff Writer for Phones, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He's interviewed CEOs from some of the world's biggest tech firms, visited their HQs and has appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC and BBC Radio 4. Originally specializing in phones, tablets and wearables, John is now TechRadar's resident automotive expert, reviewing the latest and greatest EVs and PHEVs on the market. John also looks after the day-to-day running of the site.