Hands-on with the ZTE Axon

ZTE isn’t exactly the first name you think of when it comes to high-end Android devices, and this is particularly true in the United States. Up until now, ZTE has primarily focused its U.S. efforts on the budget market, but this all changes today with the introduction of the ZTE Axon.

The main idea behind the Axon phone is that it is has been designed “in the U.S., for the U.S.”, with the aim to provide users with everything they would want. Do they succeed? While we won’t fully be able to answer this question until we have more time with the device, let’s jump in and go hands-on with our first look at the ZTE Axon!

Design

As far as the design is concerned, the Axon phone features a full metal unibody construction, with some nice curves along the sides and the back, allowing for a very comfortable feel in the hand. With its noticeable heft and premium construction, the device also feels extremely solid. This phone isn’t striving to be the thinnest or lightest, with its thickness and weight of 9.3 mm and 175 grams respectively, but that makes for a very substantial device when holding it in the hand.

Going around the device, the buttons and ports are all to be found at their typical locations, but what the Axon phone offers that isn’t found with a lot of Android devices is a dedicated camera shutter button to quickly and easily launch directly into the camera and take a shot. Capacitive keys can also be found up front below the display, denoted by a glowing circle that represents the home button, flanked by two individual dots for the menu and recent apps keys.

At first glance, you might think that the Axon phone features dual front-facing speakers, with the matching set of uniquely styled grills, but unfortunately, only the bottom section houses the speaker. What this device does have two of though are the cameras on the rear, which coincidentally also come with the grill design, for some extra finesse.

Display

On the front is a 5.5-inch display, but the Axon phone is considerably larger than some other devices with a similar screen size in terms of height, due to the large top and bottom bezels above the display, in addition to the two grills as well. As a result, one handed usability might be a bit of a challenge for some.

As mentioned, the Axon phone comes with a 5.5-inch display, which is sharp, given its Quad HD resolution and resulting pixel density of 534 ppi. So far, the screen looks fantastic, with great colors, viewing angles, and brightness, and should be a pleasure to use in all situations, from normal day to day tasks or when playing the occasional game, as well as for media consumption.

Hardware

Under the hood, the Axon phone packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, clocked at 2 GHz, and backed by the Adreno 430 GPU and a whopping 4 GB of RAM. This is the revised version of the Snapdragon 810 processor, so overheating shouldn’t be as much of a concern, and thus far, things appear to be very snappy and responsive. With 4 GB of RAM available, performing very heavy multi-tasking or playing games should pose no problems for the Axon phone. Whether the overheating issues rears its ugly head again is something we can only find out after really putting the device through its paces when we give it the full review treatment.

For storage, the Axon phone comes with 32 GB built-in, which is the only option available, and without the option of microSD card expansion, you’ll have to rely on the cloud for your extra storage needs. Aside from the standard suite of connectivity options, the Axon phone features 4G LTE compatibility with the T-Mobile and AT&T networks in the US. The device is also the first to be sold in the US to feature Hi-Fi audio playback, which is supposed to give you a fuller, louder, and purer sound quality than ever before, and the difference should be noticeable even with a pair of inexpensive earbuds.

Keeping the phone powered throughout the day is a beefy 3,000 mAh battery, so at least on paper, battery life should be good for a full day, if not more. Given its metal build, wireless charging is not possible, but the device does come with Qualcomm QuickCharge 2.0 fast charging capabilities, which should allow you to get back up to 50% of the charge in just 30 minutes.

Camera

The dual camera setup on the back of the device is comprised of a 13 MP main shooter and a 2 MP secondary sensor. This setup is similar to what we’ve seen on the HTC One M8, to allow for a much faster auto focus, and the ability to refocus the shot after the fact. The camera is also capable of video recording in 4K, and comes with twin microphones, along with some of the best in noise suppression technology available to help eliminate background and wind noise when recording concert videos and voice calls. The device also packs a wide-angle 8 MP front-facing camera, which is fantastic for all you selfie lovers out there.

The camera interface is fairly simple, with most modes being accessible with just a swipe across the display, but an interesting feature with this camera is the ability to manually adjust the f-stop on the fly, from 8, all the way down to 1, but this is most likely done on a software level, and not really an aperture change. How well this device fares against the competition is something we’ll have to wait to see, but with devices like the LG G4 and the Samsung Galaxy S6, the bar is certainly set very high.

Software

On the software side of things, the Axon phone is running on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with some customizations on top by ZTE, along with a handful of pre-installed applications. A lot of Google’s Material Design elements have been retained, as seen in the notification dropdown and the Overview screen, and this certainly helps maintain performance.

Specs

Gallery

Pricing and availability

As far as the pricing is concerned, the Axon phone will be available directly from ZTE, and is currently up for pre-order for $500. Unfortunately ZTE can’t give comment on global availability, but we’ll be sure to let you know once we find out.

So there you have it, our first look at the ZTE Axon phone! Featuring a premium metal build, impressive camera, minimalistic software and an affordable price point, this device is sure to turn some heads when it becomes available. What do you think? Do you think you’ll pick one up? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments!

ZTE Axon officially announced: what you need to know

Despite having a number of high-end devices, ZTE is better known in the United States for its budget offerings. This is largely because most of ZTE’s high-end products have been reserved for the international market, but this is slowly starting to change. Just last month we learned that the Nubia Z9 was heading to the states, and now ZTE has also taken the wraps off a new high-end flagship for the US market called the Axon.

We want to get closer to the people, to our fans. We are in a very competitive industry so we have to do something different. We have to use big data to truly understand what consumers want. (Jeff Yee, VP of tech planning and partnerships, ZTE)

Android Authority is live in New York getting a hands-on look at the ZTE Axon, and we have to admit we are pretty excited by what we are seeing so far!

While we’ve been hearing about the Axon for a while now, ZTE did an excellent job at keeping most of the key details under wraps. So what exactly does their new US-centric handset bring to the table? Let’s start by taking a look at the spec sheet.

Specs and features

As you can see, the ZTE Axon is far from the budget end of the spectrum, easily keeping pace with 2015 flagship offerings from Samsung, LG, HTC, and Sony. Although the Snapdragon 810 has a mixed reputation, it is worth noting that the Axon utilizes the V2 revision which should address any potential overheating issues due to a more efficient design.

Moving past the processor, the Axon also offers a massive 4GB RAM, a beautiful 5.5-inch QHD display, and a pretty impressive camera package that includes a dual-lens setup on the rear.

Its camera is certainly one of its biggest calls to fame, with a large f/1.8 aperture that span to f/1.0, fast shutter speeds of 1/90000 of a second, and the ability to capture bokeh effect thanks to the second lens on the rear. The front cam is equally solid.

Another big win for the Axon is in the sound department. Not only does the phone offer front-facing speakers (though only the bottom grill actually has a speaker), it also has Hi-Fi music support. Basically that means you get two dedicated audio chipsets that supposedly creates a more immersive sound when used with a pair of headphones. Speaking of which, the phone includes a pair of JBL E13 in-hear headphones right out of the box.

On the software front, you’ll find a near-stock build of Android Lollipop. In a manner similar to Motorola, ZTE has made a few minor changes to the UI and added a few special apps that make it a bit heavier than true stock, but it’s still pretty close to what you’d get with a device like the Nexus 5 or 6.

Design

When it comes to its marketing materials, ZTE iterates that the Axon was “designed in the U.S. for the U.S.”, and while that’s just PR speak at its finest, there is no denying that this is an attractive looking device. The ZTE Axon features a premium metallic build, complemented by attractive dual grills on the front, and is available in your choice of Phthalo Blue, Ion Gold, or Chromium Silver.

ZTE Axon pricing and availability

Many times companies use their announcements to hype up a device without revealing key details like pricing or even an official retail launch date. Thankfully, ZTE hasn’t gone that route. The ZTE Axon will set customers back just $499, unlocked. Pre-orders will begin today from ZTE’s website and are said to ship as early as July 27th.

ZTE Axon: additional coverage

Want to learn more? Check out the following:

• ZTE Axon hands-on
• ZTE Axon vs Samsung Galaxy S6
• ZTE Axon vs LG G4

What do you think?

Until we get more time with the device, we’ll refrain from making an official judgment call, but we do admit this phone looks pretty solid. Even better is the price tag, undercutting even the LG G4, and priced a fair deal less than the Samsung Galaxy S6. What really matters however, is what you think. How do you feel it fares against the competition?

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