The phone was announced yesterday. The AXON 7 is the successor to the AXON. ZTE’s convoluted naming strategy has resulted in it being called the “7” though. The company released so many variants of the AXON that the new device is really the seventh in line.
As designs go, the AXON 7 is far from unique. The all-metal body with dual front-firing speaker grilles could easily be mistaken for the HTC One M8 from afar. It features rounded corners and a matte finish and is available in either gold or grey.
The 5.5-inch AMOLED 1440p display is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820, the latest in flagship smartphone processors. Two storage levels are available, 64GB with 4GB of RAM or 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. The rear camera has a 20-megapixel sensor and the front selfie-shooter is 8-megapixels.
Other notable hardware includes a futureproofed USB Type-C port for charging, a fingerprint reader, a large 3,250mAh battery capable of charging to 100 percent in 100 minutes and a dual-speaker sound system that is able to emulate surround sound using stereo effects.
ZTE said the AXON 7 has been designed “especially for music and audio lovers.” It has consulted experts in the field and established a dedicated sound design lab to create what it claims is an exceptional smartphone audio experience. The speaker setup has been endorsed by popular Chinese pianist Lang Lang.
“Not only does the AXON 7 mirror Lang Lang’s urban and sophisticated style, we’ve also designed the smartphone especially for music and audio lovers,” said Adam Zeng, CEO of ZTE Mobile Devices. “We’ve consulted music professors, and set up a dedicated sound design lab to achieve the best sound possible. We’re confident that the AXON 7 will become the smartphone of choice for business as well as ordinary people that appreciate exceptional sound quality anywhere, anytime with our AXON 7.”
The camera has also been tuned extensively to take photos reminiscent of an SLR. It features dual image stabilisation, advanced auto focus, exposure and scene detection technology and optimised noise reduction algorithms.
The AXON 7 will launch with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow preinstalled. It will receive an upgrade to Android N shortly after the new operating system’s launch though, including support for one of the key features of the new release.
ZTE has developed its own virtual reality headset to take advantage of the Daydream VR feature coming to Android in version N. Details on ZTE VR are currently scant but the company said it is designing the headset to “complement” the Axon 7’s hardware.
The AXON 7’s exact pricing and availability have yet to be announced. ZTE has said it will cost less than $500 and will be available in the U.S. Retailers will include Amazon, Best Buy, B&H and Newegg, each supplying a free two-year warranty. The handset will also be available in Europe and additional regions worldwide.
