Damn you, ZTE! WHAT did you do to my ZMAX Pro?!

[Jeton]

I was quite happy with this phone when I got it, even if the larger screen proved visually inferior to the phone it replaced: a BLU Life One X.

Just like with BLU, I took the promissory hype of eventually getting an Android update with a grain of salt.

HOWEVER, I at least assumed that ZTE was a more mature manufacturer aiming for long term profitability...before the BLU I owned the original ZMAX, a very stable phone with a very stable build. Responsive.

As was my preceding phone, the LG Motion. Poor lo-res screen paired with a snappy processor for the era, and a very stable and responsive LG build.

This ZMAX Pro has grown glitchier with each update, from b08 to b14 to b20...and lately my phone freezes constantly, especially when touching the screen. I have this thing stripped down, reboot regularly and run few apps. Few running or cached processes. Sometimes even hard rebooting gets delayed!

ZTE, what the hell do you have my phone now doing that has it so overtaxed?? Is it moonlighting for you in some giant botnet or spynet or spamnet? Is the idea to push users toward more premium products?

It's true: I think I want a more premium phone. it's gonna be a hardship for me (notice the budget phone history) but the original b08 build stripped of excess apps made my phone my go-to device even when my laptop is up n running.

I WAS getting a taste for that, but then ZTE seemed to show ZMAX Pro owners contempt with these unacceptably half-assed updates that lowered my phone's ability to function.

That is an insult, especially when ZTE so vexingly locks the bootloader and obstructs us from the rooting and improving of this phone ourselves.

ZTE delivers glitchy, curse-worthy updates AND prevents you from improving your own phone! Worst of all, this last and most damaging b20 "update" is declared to be the last they intend to release? THIS is where you're leaving us, ZTE? REALLY?!

I have to find a new app to get notices of phone calls and texts? Great product...not!

I'm excited about the One+ 5 coming out soon, or maybe one of the new Motos. Maybe even LG.

I can't imagine staying with a company that flaunts its contempt for me as a customer. I really had higher hopes for ZTE, but some things can only be remedied by competition.

 

[Spec2nirvash]

I think ZTE should take some blame for the Zmax Pro being as intermittently buggy as it is, and blame the rest on Marshmallow for completely wrecking stability and performance. Blame Google, it's their fault lol... But,  I've assessed this: If your ZMP worked OK right after buying it, the upgrade broke it.
If your ZMP was a complete piece of shit right out of the box like mine was, upgrading fixed it. B14 is where I keep mine at. It's tolerable, it's connectivity is stronger and with a few non-root CPU/task killers running, disabling some Google apps, seems to do the trick, or at least make this phone that much less aggravating.
Every single phone I have with Marshmallow or above sucks. Quad core, octo-core, regardless of RAM, doesn't matter. Google killed off stability and performance for the sake of longer battery life, and made it a nightmare to shut all optimization off. OEMs making rooting these things damned near impossible just compounds the problem.
Having a lousy, unstable, RAM sucking, (I mean 90-95% memory squeezed with only a couple of downloaded  play store apps), stuttering phone with great battery life is pathetic. If I could get the stability at a cost of half the battery life, SOLD. Just give me a toggle to make it happen. It's a 50/50 split.
Had the Zmax Pro been shipped with 5.1 Lollipop, it would have been worth every $.01 and then some. 5.1 was perfection, 6.0 is meh, and 7.1 is a better looking 6 with more annoying notifications and maybe improved doze crap... But seriously for me, I don't need optimization for a phone that has a 3000+ MAh battery.

 

[asianrocker]

ZTE updates are the equivalent to Windows updates. It will 100% F up your OS AFTER every update. LOL. Welcome to the club.

But wait!! there's a GENIUS solution for your problem - Factory Reset!! YES!

I honestly almost did it too recently coz MMS is not working after b20 update. Thank goodness textra save this shi-tty phone.

 

[Jeton]

Thanks guys, your insights are appreciated. I've been fighting the idea of a factory reset again...something almost always goes wrong and i lose something needed.

Worst of all, I don't know if the factory reset will fix my issues. This phone is now glitchier and more freeze-prone than when I posted this thread.

I'm rebooting several times a day! Arrrgh i hate you so much ZTE! HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO TURN MY LOVE TO HATE SO EASILY?!