ZTE’s Grand S 1080p tablet/smartphone hybrid to be launched at CES 2013

A snippet of information published on the CES 2013 schedule has revealed ZTE will launch the Grand S at the show, its first entry into the burgeoning 5-inch, 1080p smartphone/tablet hybrid market.

The coming year is shaping up to be one filled with 1080p smartphone/tablet hybrids, a trend kicked off recently with the arrival of the HTC J Butterfly, the Droid DNA and this week, the Oppo Find 5. The next model could be coming from ZTE, at least that’s the impression we get from its listing on the CES 2013 schedule.

An entry for January 8 reveals a ZTE announcement set to take place between 1:30pm and 2:30pm, where it will be, “Introducing the ZTE Grand S,” a currently unannounced device. Clicking the link brings up a windows with some explanatory text, saying, “Be the first to see the brand new Grand S, ZTE’s flagship handset in its high-end Grand Series of products.”

A new top-of-the-range phone from ZTE sounds interesting enough, but it gets better, “ZTE’s first FHD [which we take to mean Full HD] smartphone is also the world’s thinnest for 5-inch FHD smartphones. Made of ceramic and featuring traditional Chinese style, the Grand S is the perfect phone for the fashionable set.”

So, the Grand S will have a 5-inch, 1080p screen just like the other devices we mentioned. For it to take the title of world’s thinnest, it needs to beat the Droid DNA’s 9.7mm thickness, which doesn’t sound too difficult, although we’re still waiting for the Oppo Find 5’s official dimensions. Early leaks pointed to a 6.9mm thickness, making it only sliver off the record-holding Oppo Finder at 6.65mm thick. If this is right, and as the Find 5 looked a lot thicker in the final pictures it may not be, then ZTE will have managed quite a feat if the Grand S is under that figure.

ZTE has previously been rumored to be producing a 5-inch, 1080p device named the Nubia Z5, which according to a recent rumor will measure 7.6mm thick, bringing it well under the DNA’s dimensions. The same source hinted the phone would feature a 12-megapixel camera, 2GB of RAM and a Snapdragon S4 chip. In the past, ZTE has used the quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, in the Grand Era for example, and sources have told CNet the Grand S will indeed feature a quad-core processor.

The devices are most likely the same, as ZTE has a habit of renaming its phones for different markets, however there’s a chance the Nubia name has been dropped in favor of continuing to build its already partially established Grand series.

CES 2013 begins on January 8 and continues until January 11.

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