According to ZTE, the Blade S6 will receive the free over-the-air update around the end of June, which will add the Eyeprint ID feature to the smartphone. The Blade S6, in case you aren’t aware of it, isn’t some monster phone with a giant price tag either; it’s a mid-range Android Lollipop phone that costs $250, or about £170 in the UK.
We checked out ZTE’s retina scanning Eyeprint ID feature at the beginning of the year, when it was installed on the China-only Grand S3. It worked extremely well, unlocking the phone in moments after a short setup period. Cleverly, it only gets faster the more you use it, and ZTE’s system is sensitive to our privacy — it keeps all related files on the device rather than in some cloud server.
Initially only for unlocking the phone, ZTE wants to add in new features including the ability to use eye scanning to secure apps, and to authorize mobile payments, in the future. The Blade S6 itself uses a 5-megapixel front camera, lower than the 8-megapixel camera fitted to the Grand S3, and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 615 chip. Other specs include a 5-inch, 720p screen, and a 13-megapixel rear camera.
There’s no firm date for the software update just yet, but once it does arrive we’ll give the new feature a workout and include our findings in our Blade S6 review. In addition to the Eyeprint ID update, the Blade S6 will also be sold in a few new colors, including a gold, purple, and red model.
