ZTE is today announcing the Axon 7, the successor to last year's Axon flagship. The Axon 7 continues on with the original Axon's goal of high-end specs and materials at a wallet-friendly price. The new phone has Qualcomm's highest-end processor, 4 or 6GB of RAM, a quad HD AMOLED display, metal chassis, quick charging, and a new dual-speaker system with Dolby surround sound. You might expect to pay upwards of $600 or $700 for a device with those specs, but ZTE says the new phone will cost under $500 when it arrives in the US in the coming weeks.
The Axon 7 is a refined version of last year's Axon (it is the direct successor to the Axon, but since ZTE released so many variants of last year's phone, it has decided to name the new model after its place in the line, which is seventh), with the most notable improvements found in its design and display. The design, which was commissioned by BMW's DesignWorks firm (you might recall this gaming mouse from the same firm), features a full metal unibody with rounded corners and edges. It is strikingly similar to the HTC One M8 from 2014, right down to the antenna lines and matte finish, but it does feel very nice to hold. ZTE is offering it in gold and grey color options — I personally saw the gold, which is nice, if a bit derivative.
The new screen is a significant step up from last year: it's a 5.5-inch AMOLED panel with the aforementioned 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution and curved edges. It's covered in Gorilla Glass 4 and pops like you'd expect an AMOLED display to. Colors are rich and vibrant and the contrast levels give Samsung a run for its money. Suffice to say, it's a much better display than available on other sub-$500 devices.
ZTE will be offering two versions of the Axon 7 — a 64GB model with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB version with 6GB. The company says it has not committed to selling the higher-end model in the US, but both versions have microSD slots for expansion. They both are powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 processor and have 3,250mAh batteries with Qualcomm's QuickCharge 3.0 that provides 50 percent charge in 30 minutes of charging or a full charge in 100 minutes. The Axon 7 has a 20-megapixel camera with optical stabilization, f/1.8 lens, and 4K video capability. The phone's front camera has 8 megapixels of resolution. A USB Type-C port is used for data transfer and charging.
One of the features that ZTE is highlighting is the Axon 7's sound system. It's a dual-speaker setup with both drivers on the front of the phone. It provides stereo sound and can mimic surround sound environments. In a brief demo I received ahead of the phone's announcement, the sound was exceptionally impressive — full and rich in a way that most phones can't match. In addition, ZTE has upgraded the phone's audio chip for headphones and supports high-resolution audio.
The Axon 7 is launching with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, and ZTE says it will be upgraded to Android N when that is made available later this year. The phone will work with AT&T, T-Mobile, and related MVNOs when it launches, though ZTE says it will also work with CDMA carriers such as Sprint and Verizon once it receives technical approval from them.
Stay tuned for more on the Axon 7 once we have spent some time with a review unit.
Comments
Seems like a great device and bravo ZTE for releasing an unlocked model that will work across all the major U.S. carriers. That’s something Samsung has yet to do.
By il buono on 05.26.16 9:12am
It will work on T-Mobile and ATT, not on Verizon or Sprint. This doesn’t have WCDMA modem.
By bonta on 05.26.16 10:15am
By Ebony & Ivory on 05.26.16 10:54am
That is a lot of phone for the money. Essentially htc 10 specs for $200 less.
By low_tech on 05.26.16 9:12am
You have to use that $200 for another Axon phone next year just to get your updates.
By vision33r on 05.30.16 3:46pm
WOW!!!! Everyone seems to have very short memories. HTC isn’t any better than ZTE when it comes to updates.
By cakebatter on 06.13.16 8:51am
Seems to be an all-round good phone. Even the software looks rather pleasant except for the icons.
By AG47 on 05.26.16 9:22am
I love that they will have a switch that lets you switch from their UI to stock android…i wish ALL OEMS would offer that
By Rivenwater on 06.05.16 8:13pm
Really? That’s a pleasant surprise.
By AG47 on 06.06.16 1:13pm
that’s just a theme.
By Just_Some_Nobody on 08.01.16 8:35am
Let the average selling price continue to fall!
By Nyasha Mushambi on 05.26.16 10:07am
"Colors are rich and vibrant and the contrast levels give Samsung a run for its money"
The panel is made by Samsung
By Nyasha Mushambi on 05.26.16 10:08am
You forgot to mention the DAC on this phone that make it stand out even more. It has 24-bit/96kHz audio support.
By bonta on 05.26.16 10:12am
Without a meaningful upgrade promise this doesn’t even get a glance from me. ZTE has a really bad history with updates – ‘it will get N’ isn’t enough.
By Danrarbc on 05.26.16 10:22am
With better specs than most phones out including the S7 line you’re crazy to "not get a glance"
I’m running Android N on my Nexus 6P right now…and Samsung will have that update in late 2017 MAYBE.
With an unlocked bootloader, this phone will get massive support because of its specs and offering
By Rivenwater on 06.05.16 8:15pm
As long as tech bloggers refuse to revisit devices 6-12 months after launch, manufacturers will continue to focus on new hardware rather than support legacy hardware. HTC had their "HTC Advantage" which promised updates for 24 months, and they renegged on it. I’m sure ZTE would do the same.
By cakebatter on 06.13.16 8:58am
They kind of have to to stay in business.
It’s not an either or. What they should do is have one phone per year in each category they want to compete in and support each one of those. And by support I simply mean security updates. I don’t feel it is necessary for them to keep the phones up to date with the latest OS. It’s a nice to have, but I’d rather them focus on security first.
By Just_Some_Nobody on 08.01.16 8:40am
I hate hate hate Android phones with no actual buttons. On-screen buttons are the bane of my existence. I don’t know if this has no buttons for navigation (off-screen), but if it does, deal breaker.
By Nii Apa on 05.26.16 10:29am
You’re wrong.
Okay this is a matter of opinion. But really, they’re so much better.
By Danrarbc on 05.26.16 11:31am
I disagree, give me capacitive buttons below the screen any day. Having owned both I definitely prefer off-screen buttons.
By CodyMcRockAwesome on 05.26.16 1:28pm
I have a OnePlus One. I can use either interchangeably.
By Danrarbc on 05.26.16 4:22pm
I agree with you that they’re better but disagree with the oneplus impl. I’d rather have my screen use the space that would’ve been dedicated to the capacitive buttons than have buttons beneath my onscreen buttons (or no buttons and just bezel.)
By mikeru on 05.27.16 6:38am
Also having owned both I 100% disagree with you.
By Keith Schwerin on 05.26.16 4:31pm
This.
I would much rather the screen real estate used for the app and not the buttons.
By Just_Some_Nobody on 08.01.16 8:43am
Having them is why I will never buy Samsung.
By Keith Schwerin on 05.26.16 4:32pm