VERDICT
ZTE Axon 7 is less expensive than the best flagship smartphones, yet it looks and performs like a top-tier Android Marshmallow handset, with front-facing speakers, 64GB of storage and only a few sacrifices.
PROS:
- Inexpensive yet well-designed,Generous 64GB of internal storage,Awesome dual front-facing speakers
CONS:
- Slippery in the hand,Not on all US carriers,Doesn't match Samsung's camera
Update: ZTE Axon 7 is getting Android 7.0 Nougat, but the official release date has been delayed due to quality standards. Here's our review of the phone in its current software iteration as well as a ZTE Axon 7 Mini review.
The ZTE Axon 7 is a new Android phone with a sleek design, powerful specs and a reasonable unlocked price, which challenges the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and iPhone 7.
And that last fact explains the confusing name of this successor to last year's ZTE Axon Pro (ZTE Axon Elite in the UK); ZTE has skipped right over the Axon 2 through Axon 6 between 2015 and 2016.
The Chinese phone-maker is ambitiously trying to compete with the top phone manufacturers from the US and South Korea, so much so that it designed the phone outside of China, in the US.
ZTE Axon 7
What we end up with is an Android Marshmallow smartphone with a polished metal design, rich-looking Quad HD display, booming front-facing speakers, and a load of software customizations of the kind often found in a more expensive handset.
That's not all. It won't be long before the Axon 7 is updated to Android Nougat, and ZTE is touting it as the first phone compatible with Google Daydream VR, which is technically true – we're just waiting for Android 7.1 Nougat, which debuted with the Google Pixel, Google Pixel XL and Google DayDream View VR headset, to make that happen.
ZTE Axon 7
The ZTE Axon 7 doesn't outclass Samsung's top-of-the-line camera in the Samsung Galaxy S7, or the elegantly curved look of the Galaxy S7 Edge – but it does come really, really close for the price.
It's not quite inexpensive enough to make it onto our best cheap phones list, but it does now feature on TechRadar's updated best phones list. Let's break down why that is.
Release date and price
The ZTE Axon 7 release date was July 27 in the US, it came to the UK and the rest of Europe in September, and finally launched in Australia in late November. You just won't find it everywhere, including in US carrier stores.
ZTE Axon 7
You have to buy this phone unlocked on Amazon or another retailer and pay full price. It won't be sold at US carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon or Sprint and you shouldn't expect price subsidies.
While it technically has enough bands to support all US phone networks, it only works with AT&T and T-Mobile nanoSIM cards right now. Verizon and Sprint compatibility is due "possibly later in the year", essentially requiring the two CDMA carriers to flip a switch. All of the antennas are inside – this isn't just a GSM phone.
The good news here is that if it works with your carrier, the ZTE Axon 7 is available at an attractive price. Packed with 64GB of internal storage it costs $399 (£359, AU$699). Plus, you won't have to deal with a pesky two-year (or any) contract or carrier app bloatware for that price.
ZTE Axon 7
There's also a 128GB ZTE Axon 7, which includes the company's own take on a Force Touch display, an always-on screen and 6GB of RAM - which makes it potentially faster than the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge - but we'll have to see if that one ever makes it out of China; there's no price or availability information for Western markets yet.
All of this contrasts with the 32GB Samsung Galaxy S7 unlocked at $669 (£569, AU$1,148) and the 32GB iPhone 7 at $649 (£599, AU$1,079); note that both these phones have smaller screens and half the internal storage space.
Design
The ZTE Axon 7 feels like the grown-up version of last year's ZTE Axon Pro thanks to its all-metal design, and it's considerably less chunky. It looks and feels ready to compete with Samsung, LG and Apple.
ZTE Axon 7
You can hold it in one hand, but with palm-stretching dimensions of 151.8mm x 75mm x 7.8mm and a slippery aluminum design, you'll find yourself struggling to reach for the corners without using two hands.
Handily, there's an ultra-thin silicone case included in the box, along with standard earbuds and a USB-C-to-micro USB adapter. The clear case makes the phone grippable without seriously detracting from the stylish metal design or matte gold color.
What ZTE has done nicely on the front of the Axon 7 is maximize the real estate for its 5.5-inch 2K display, with a virtually edge-to-edge screen and an overall minimalist look.
The front of the phone is also home to awesome-sounding dual front-facing speakers, a small front-facing camera, and three out-of-the-way capacitive buttons.
ZTE Axon 7
These always-present yet subtle buttons are an improvement over ZTE's original on-screen buttons, which vanished to enable the display to go 'full screen' in certain scenarios (usually right when you wanted to hit the back button).
The small capacitive buttons are also a better use of space than going to the other extreme; the Moto Z , for example, makes room for a larger-than-necessary chin that includes a Moto logo, a fingerprint sensor and on-screen buttons, with the result that there's too much bottom bezel and not enough screen.
Our only complaint is that we wish these tiny buttons lit up for easier night-time use - your brain will have to adjust to memorizing their location.
ZTE Axon 7
You won't find a fingerprint-sensing home button taking up space on the front here. Instead, the biometric sensor is elegantly embossed on the back.
It's easy to reach the fingerprint sensor on a phone of this size (easier than we found it to be on the taller Nexus 6P), and the one on the Axon 7 is just as fast and accurate as those on competing top-end handsets (ZTE uses the same Swedish sensor supplier, Fingerprint Cards, as other leading brands).
ZTE has also resisted the temptation to stamp its logo on the front of the device, favoring the back for splashing its name, which creates a cleaner look all around.
At the moment Ion Gold is the only color option for the ZTE Axon 7, and the included earbuds have a matching gold trim. The company plans to add a Quartz Silver color, too, but this isn't available at launch.
Display
The ZTE Axon 7's display is 5.5 inches, with a 2560 x 1440p quad HD resolution. It's the same resolution as last year's Axon, but the important difference here is that it's an AMOLED display instead of an LCD.
ZTE Axon 7
That may not seem like a big deal at first, but the colors really pop on this screen, and the Axon 7 also has improved battery life as a result of the change.
The Quad HD display shines brightly (even outdoors) once it's on, but ZTE hasn't gone as far as to include an always-on screen on the Axon 7 with 4GB of RAM, as we have seen with the Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5.
We've learned that ZTE is saving this display feature (along with its version of Force Touch) for the souped-up 6GB of RAM version of the phone - as mentioned, this more powerful phone hasn't show, its always-lit face just yet.
The Axon 7 screen is really being set up to not only look good on the phone, but to support VR. Really, that's the only reason to make displays of this size go from 1080p to Quad HD in our opinion - when it's that close to your face, then the higher resolution matters.
ZTE Axon 7
Not surprisingly there's an 'inexpensive' (though no price has been announced yet) ZTE VR headset coming. It's another Samsung Gear VR clone, like the Huawei VR headset, but it's been future-proofed for Google Daydream.
It also doesn't hurt that ZTE has put together a nice selection of wallpaper that really lets the lock screen show what the display is capable of - it's scrollable and randomized by default.
We really can't understand why phone-makers stop short of presenting a vibrant set of default wallpapers when you first boot up a handset's 2K display (read: the LG G5's sickly green gradient). ZTE sells itself better from the get-go.
A smaller, but still noteworthy display upgrade comes in the form of Gorilla Glass 4, rather than Gorilla Glass 3. It's not quite as durable as Gorilla Glass 5, or shatter-resistant like the Moto Z Force, but you'll appreciate it if (admit it: when) you drop your new phone.
The ZTE Axon 7 doesn't just resemble a Samsung or Apple handset on the outside, the inside is also able to compete with top-of-the-line Android phone internals despite its fair price.
It has a Qualcomm 820 processor running at 2.2GHz, and 4GB of RAM, matching chip-for-chip what we've seen in the LG G5, HTC 10, Moto Z, Moto Z Force and Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 Edge and Note 7 (well, Samsung's US version of their phones, at least).
ZTE Axon 7 review
Even without the 128GB/6GB option at launch, there's still a big differences between the Axon 7 and other Android phones when it comes to storage. The default 64GB of internal storage doubles ZTE's competitors (except for the new OnePlus 3 and Note 7).
Not enough space? It has expandable storage with a microSD card slot or, if you're not using that, you can turn the empty tray into a second SIM card slot thanks to dual SIM card support. That's right, the ZTE Axon 7 remains a dual SIM phone for the US, UK and Australian models when most manufacturers rudely change the design on Western variants. Not this time.
The option is a welcomed change for travelers who want to keep their main number active for phone calls and texting while overseas, but allocate costly data to a cheaper foreign SIM or simply T-Mobile's priceless international-included plan (at slower, but acceptable 2G and 3G speeds) outside of the US.
Performance
The ZTE Axon 7 is snappy and showed no signs of slowdown when put through our tests. Best of all, at no time did the phone overheat like the ZTE Axon Pro did with the Snapdragon 810 processor.
ZTE Axon 7
Qualcomm did a much better job with its latest chip, and the Axon 7's Geekbench 3 benchmarks show just that. Its processor, along with an Adreno 530 graphics chip and 4GB of RAM, sped up to multi-score average of 5,393.
It edged out the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge by a small margin (5,342), at least in the US where Samsung's phone also has the Snapdragon 820 processor. Everywhere else in the world, the Galaxy 7 series uses Samsung's Exynos chip, and those phones rank way better (6,500).
ZTE Axon 7
Whether or not the ZTE Axon with 4GB of RAM is faster than the Samsung Galaxy S7 is a split decision, fully dependant on where you live. But, no matter what, the benchmark tests tell us that this phone performs well under pressure.
Beating the S7 US variants is a noble accolade, but the similarly priced OnePlus 3 (5,425) and its 6GB of RAM beat all US phones. Axon 7 also faces new challengers right away: the Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe may outperform all of these phones with the new Snapdragon 821 processor in addition to its aforementioned 6GB of RAM.
The thing is, this is very much a meaningless numbers game at the moment. You won't notice a speed difference during the first year of owning this phone. Apps just don't take advantage of 6GB yet, so you're safe with the 4GB Axon 7 for now.
ZTE Axon 7 comes with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow running out of the box, which is a relief because, funny story, at the phone's launch event in Beijing, everything "Google" was blocked.
As a result, we initially had trouble nailing down the Geekbench-rated performance of its System-on-a-Chip and running basic apps during our hands-on because the Google Play Store doesn't work in ZTE's home country.
ZTE Axon 7
Don't worry. ZTE has a good working relationship with the search engine giant, so much so that the Axon 7 is poised to get Android Nougat sooner rather than later.
After all, ZTE must upgrade to Google's first maintenance firmware, the one that launches after Nougat, to work with the Daydream VR platform at all. That will speed up the process. Faster Android updates are a side benefit to VR, even if you're not one to step foot into virtual reality.
Android Marshmallow
What's on the phone right now is extremely close to stock Android Marshmallow. In fact, it's the default theme, with an optional ZTE MiFavor skin that's also close to the pure Android interface found on the Nexus 6P.
Lockscreen notifications are here, but initially hidden inside of a bell icon in the top right corner. Tapping the bell reveals all of your alerts in their usual place. You'll either love this extra privacy measure or hate the extra step. It's grown on us and lets the fantastic wallpaper to shine on the AMOLED.
ZTE Axon 7
Chinese phone makers are known to run amok with operating system changes, but this one keeps things tidy while still maintaining the app drawer. That's one change that irks users most when (primarily Chinese) companies make tweaks.
There are just twelve ZTE apps pre-installed and they're all relatively harmless. You won't find carrier bloatware, either. Axon 7 gets you started with the basics: Gallery, Calendar, Email and Clock, and provides its own red-flavored Mi Music and Video multimedia players. There's a File Manager to dive into the system folders, but don't look for a way to unlock the bootloader if you like tinkering with Android phones. It's not there.
ZTE Axon 7
The My Voice app does a solid job of complimenting Google Now and its voice commands, with extra features like voice unlock, music playback, photo capture and app launcher. You also can train it send SMS messages, make calls and perform nitty-gritty system functions down to raising the brightness.
Buried within the My Voice menu is a neat (non-voice-related) trick to automatically answer calls when the phone is put to your ear. It works so naturally and it's a shame the idea isn't in more phones already.
The No. 1 feature consumers continue demand from new phones is better battery life, and the capacity on this phone has increased beyond last year's 3,000mAh ceiling.
There's a 3,250mAh battery inside the ZTE Axon 7, and it's a tremendous improvement. We were able to finish each day with anywhere between 15% to 20% juice remaining after 18 hours of mixed use. Having a phone with day-plus battery life is what we expect from the best phones, so we're particularly impressed to see this here.
ZTE Axon 7
Our real-life experiences included turning on the screen regularly, snapping dozens of photos and pumping music through its dual-front-facing speakers for 20 minutes a day. Its lightweight, near-stock Android operating system overlay does well not to overly tax the battery.
TechRadar's lab tests confirmed all of this, with a respectable battery drain of 17% after we ran a 90-minute looped HD video on a fully charged ZTE Axon 7. It beat the OnePlus 3's smaller battery, but both the LG G5 and Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge lasted longer. You get phones that push beyond a day and a quarter to a solid day and a half for all of that extra money.
ZTE Axon 7
What's great about the ZTE Axon 7 and almost all most Android phones in 2016 is that it supports fast charging, in this case the Qualcomm's QuickCharge 3.0 technology. With a QuickCharge-compatible charging adapter and a USB-C cable (both are included), we were able to charge up a dead phone back up to 25% within 15 minutes, and 50% within 30 minutes.
The charging pace slowed down after that, with a 74% charge in 45 minutes and 91% resorted in an hour's time. But it topped 100% after just 88 minutes. That's incredibly quick for a powerful Android phone that's prepared for another day (and change) of use in a little more than an hour.
The ZTE Axon 7 camera will be able to go pixel-to-pixel with phones in its price range in most well-lit scenarios, specifically the similarly priced Huawei-made Google Nexus 6P.
It has a sharp 20MP camera, f/1.8 lens and optical image stabilization (OIS), all of which put it in a class with most 2016 Android phones that snap better quality photos than Apple's much more expensive iPhone 6S Plus.
ZTE Axon 7
You won't be able to tell the difference between the ZTE Axon 7 and Samsung's top phones in daylight photography without looking closely at the two resulting photos side-by-side. But, we did just that and can see differences. Axon 7 photos are almost always a bit duller in color than the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge's always-vibrant, mobile masterpieces.
Trust us, that's not really a problem when you're posting day-lit photos to your social media feeds and paying considerably less for your smartphone. But when it comes to low-light photography, that's when the ZTE Axon 7 can't match Samsung's post-processing capabilities.
ZTE Axon 7
Photos in dimly lit rooms or outdoors tend to be either too dark, or overcompensate for the lack of light by brightening things up way too much. It's not the noise that's an issue, but whites being too white in an effort to reduce the surrounding shadows. It turns a lot of people in ghosts, which means these photos are only appropriate for Snapchat, where they won't exist after 24 hours.
ZTE Axon 7
There's a fix in the form of a manual mode to properly adjust shutter speed, ISO, exposure, white balance and focus. The dual LED flash also helps. It's enough to brighten up dark subjects with some artificial white and amber light. We often see phone firmware updates fine-tune the cameras within several months of its release. LG has done that in years past to much success. If it's a software issue, this can be remedied.
ZTE Axon 7
In addition to manual mode, the straightforward default camera app includes Live Photos, which automatically take short videos before and after you hit the shutter button. Just like Apple's Live Photos feature, this one works on both cameras, the 20P rear and 8MP front-facing camera.
ZTE Axon 7
There's no manual mode for the selfie cam, however. It's replaced by a beauty slider, which you'll likely want to slide all the way down, then "accidentally" slide back up "just a notch or two" depending on your age. The good and bad news is that the front-facing camera could be better, so it's not going to pick up a whole bunch of detail anyway.
ZTE Axon 7
Super Night Mode seems like a solution that seemingly turns a darkened 8pm night into noon, but it requires the absolute stillness of a tripod and motionless subjects. Our reaction was to tell everyone, "This would work great if you all weren't breathing right now, okay? Thanks!"
The Axon 7 camera's more useful modes include panorama, slow motion, multi exposure, sports magic exposure and time time lapse. There's also a handy, but hidden interval mode, which snaps a photo every one to 60 seconds.
ZTE Axon 7
ZTE Axon 7
ZTE Axon 7
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ZTE Axon 7 review
We liked
Our first reaction was "This is a $400 (AU$699, about £300) phone?" Yes, we do talk like that here, with pricing conversions memorized on command. It pushes out the original Axon's plastic caps at the top and bottom in favor of an all-metal unibody design. Its sleek and elegant in your hand, even if it still takes two to operate the phone. We also complained last year about the lack of expandable storage. The ZTE Axon 7 not only includes a microSD card slot, it turns into a dual SIM slot if you're not using it for its primary function.
Axon 7 is a big step up for audiophiles with Hi-Fi and front-facing speakers that sound much better than the iPhone and Androids with a single speaker grill on the back or at the bottom. Sights and sounds are definitely are definitely a highlight of this phone. Its clean front design focuses on the 5.5-inch display and speakers, while the fingerprint sensor is wisely moved to the back.
ZTE Axon 7
We disliked
The Axon 7 isn't for everyone, specifically if it's not available on your network. Launching in the US first, it's limited to AT&T and T-Mobile, even though it has the right antennas for Verizon and Sprint. This is an expensive phone upfront, so know if it works for your carrier before paying for it through Amazon.
Finally, be aware of these two final cautions: as nice as it looks, it's slippery without using the included case, and, as great as the daytime photos look, it can't compare to the low light prowess of recent Samsung phones.
ZTE Axon 7
Final verdict
The ZTE Axon 7 is a beautiful phone at any price. It just happens to also be one of the most affordable top-tier mobile phones that we've ever recommended. It has a minimalist design that places emphasis on the contrast rich, 5.5-inch AMOLED screen, flanked by powerful dual front-facing speakers.
Inside, it has the specs that match almost every new Android on sale in 2016, a slightly bigger battery than the average and a generous 64GB of internal storage coupled with a microSD card.
If you don't care about the very best low light camera in the world, buy this phone, save your money and take a vacation. This one is dual SIM compatible, perfect for traveling overseas.
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