ZTE is releasing a six-inch smartphone with high-end specifications in the US as the company sees big promise in the country’s prepaid handset market.

Dubbed as the Grand Max X Plus, the new phone will be available on Cricket Wireless for $200 without a contract.

The Chinese company revealed that the Grand Max X Plus will feature a six-inch high-definition display, a 3200 mAh battery that can last an entire day, 4G LTE connectivity, and a five-megapixel front-facing camera.

Although not all US consumers are familiar with ZTE, the company has seen its smartphone business steadily grow within the country.

According to Lixin Cheng, senior vice president of ZTE, the company’s handset shipments to the US climbed by 40 per cent year-over-year in 2014.

“We now have 20 million active users using ZTE devices in the United States,” said Cheng.

He noted that the company has emerged as the second biggest provider of prepaid phones in the country, with a 19.4 market share.

However, the majority of prepaid phones in the US tend to offer older tech specs compared to contract phones, said Jeff Yee, ZTE USA vice president.

“Today premium smartphones have wonderful capabilities, but again, it’s for post-paid users,” said Yee. “A prepaid users will look in awe at his friend, and the things he or she can do on that phone.”

This is the trend that ZTE hopes to change with its Grand Max X Plus, which is a phone that the company believes will cater to the needs of customers shopping for prepaid phones in the US.

“They (customers) told us, we want a phone like everyone else,” said Yee.

The Grand Max X Plus will be displayed at the International CES show in Las Vegas.