ZTE announces Spro Plus, a premium quality Android projector and wifi hotspot

Android’s flexibility as an operating system has prompted some companies, like ZTE, to create some pretty interesting products that don’t fit neatly into our pre-existing categories. Foremost among these is the company’s Spro line, which is a series of projector/wifi hotspot combos that just saw its third addition with the announcement of the Spro Plus.

While the Spro and the Spro 2 have been around for quite a while, there’s no word yet as to whether a Spro 3 is in the works. Rather, ZTE is creating a new Plus line, which is a new category within the Spro family that tricks out the concept by introducing more premium specs. 

A quick comparison to the Spro 2 quickly reveals how ZTE has improved on their design. Whereas the Spro 2 had a 6300mAh battery that kept it alive for 2.5-3 hours of projection time, the Spro Plus sports a 12100mAh battery that keeps it going for up to 4 hours. We were impressed with the Spro 2’s brightness, which offers 200 lumens at 20,000 hours, but the Plus model more than doubles this figure, bringing 500 lumens to the table.

Although the display isn’t really your main concern with a device like this, the 720p 5-inch screen on the Spro 2 did look a little bit grainy. This display has been enlarged to 8.4 inches on the Plus and tightened to a clean 2K resolution. The Plus also comes with Marshmallow rather than Lollipop, and the processor is the Snapdragon 801 instead of the 800. It’s true that you’re dealing with a significantly larger device with the Plus, but its extra bulk and heft offers an extra gig of RAM over the Spro 2’s 2GB, and instead of a paltry 16GB of internal storage, you get the option between 32 and a whopping 128GB. Oh, and they’ve tacked on voice control.

The wifi version of the Spro Plus is slated to hit the market in Q2 2016 with an LTE version coming later this year. We don’t have any word as to whether partnerships have been secured with carriers, but we do know that the device will come in gold, black, and silver variations. We’re expecting this projector/hotspot device to sell for more than its already pricey little brother, which went for about $400 on launch. This is a pretty high pricetag for those who are just looking for casual media consumption, but for those who see potential workplace applications, the Spro Plus might be a pretty useful tool.

What are your thoughts regarding ZTE’s new premium-version upgrade of their projector line? Something you might be interested in, or a gimmick that you’ll be passing on? Let us know your opinion in the comments!