ZTE makes a discreet US carrier comeback with the $99 Visible R2

After escaping from the brink of bankruptcy, embattled Chinese smartphone maker ZTE made a pleasantly surprising return to the market with the high-end Axon 9 Pro. But stateside, the company made far less noise with the release of the unlocked mid-range Blade Max 2s and Blade Max View.

ZTE’s first handset sold through a US carrier since the beginning of the whole trade sanctions violation scandal is an even humbler affair, starting at a fitting $99 price at Visible. Dubbed simply the Visible R2 (wait, was there ever a Visible R1?), the modest Android Oreo device is billed as “designed by ...