ZTE and Amazon.com are bringing the ZTE Nubia 5S mini LTE to the U.S., available unlocked beginning 27 August for just $279.99. The smartphone features a rear 13 megapixel camera and front facing 5 megapixel camera.

Other specs include:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 Quad Core with Adreno 305 GPU at 1.2 GHz
• Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
• 4.7 inch 720x1280 Sharp IGZO display
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB internal storage, expandable to just 32GB with a microSD card
• Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
• 13 megapixel F2.2 aperture rear camera with 5 element lens
• 5 megapixel front facing camera
• 2000 mAh battery
• 134.8 x 65.8 x 7.6mm and 120 grams

ZTE says that there is camera software to give you full control over the photo experience, including pro (manual) mode, fun mode, and auto mode. HDR, panoramic, burst mode, and more are supported as well.

It seems that you don't have to pay $600+ for a smartphone that gets the job done. Chinese makers such as Huawei is also offering the $300 Ascend Mate2, Nokia sells a few sub-$200 Lumia smartphones, and Motorola has the Moto X, Moto G, and Moto E for the cost-conscious consumer.

According to the latest data released by Strategy Analytics, ZTE is third in Android marketshare in the US, behind Samsung and LG, with 9.4 percent after the second quarter of 2014.