News / Review of ZTE Axon 7 mini: the best sound for the least money

ZTE is a Chinese company, known primarily as a manufacturer of OEM devices (smartphones sold under the brands of operators and other companies). ZTE also produces smartphones under its own brand, mainly budget and mid-range devices.

However, ZTE also has two lines of premium devices – Nubia and Axon. Nubia smartphones are aimed primarily at the American market; they are made with an eye on the popular iPhone in the US, have a similar design and technical characteristics, but are significantly cheaper.

Axon is a line of smartphones that embodies all the company’s technical achievements. When developing these devices, ZTE is not afraid to experiment; it was in the Axon series devices that one of the first dual cameras on the market, a retinal scanner and a pressure-sensitive display appeared.

At the presentation of new ZTE products, held on May 26, the company showed the world its top-end flagship - Axon 7, which in terms of technical characteristics is not inferior to the “A” class flagships, and has a number of features that make it an extremely interesting device.

Equipment and appearance

ZTE Axon 7 comes in a fairly large square package made of thick, rough cardboard. The box is decorated in matte black; on its front there is a champagne-colored inscription indicating the name of the smartphone model.

The equipment of the device is as follows:

• Charger;
• headphones;
• USB-C cable;
• SIM card tray needle;
• instructions and warranty card.

The charger and headphones are made in white. The headphones themselves copy the design of the EarPods; they are quite simple, but at the same time easy to use, and they produce sound quality that is good for a complete headset, which you can be satisfied with before purchasing higher-quality headphones.

Axon 7 is available in 3 body colors - black, silver and champagne. The dimensions of the device are 151.7*75*7.9 mm, weight – 175 grams. At first glance, the smartphone seems quite thick, but after a few hours of use you get used to the device. The smartphone has excellent ergonomics; it fits comfortably in the hand, does not try to slip out and does not “cut” the palm, as happens with overly thin devices.

The smartphone has an all-aluminum body with a rounded back cover, at the top of which there is a camera module, flash and fingerprint scanner. The scanner itself does not break performance records, but it copes with its task confidently. On the back cover there are two horizontal strips of plastic, necessary for the normal operation of the antenna, which harmoniously fit into the overall design of the device.

The large 5.5” screen of the smartphone is made in a frameless style; it is framed at the top and bottom by two huge stereo speakers. The display is covered with 2.5D glass curved at the edges with a good oleophobic coating; it practically does not collect fingerprints. There is also a front-facing camera and a multi-function LED sensor above the screen.

On the top edge of the device there is a headphone jack, on the bottom there is a USB-C port, on the right there are volume and lock keys, on the right there are trays for memory cards and SIM cards. The device is equipped with hybrid trays; the user can install two SIM cards or one SIM card + a MicroSD memory card.

The only complaint regarding the appearance of the Axon 7 can be made to the rather large black stripe above the screen, separating the display from the metal part of the body. However, this element is duplicated by a similar strip under the screen, on which the touch buttons are located, so it is not so striking.

In general, Axon 7 looks extremely decent, it combines many of the latest design delights in the field of mobile design and there are no shortcomings that spoil the overall impression.

ZTE Axon 7 design

ZTE Axon 7 full review turns to its technical characteristics. Each element of the body is bright and attracts attention. Literally everything is highlighted: speakers, fingerprint scanner, plastic inserts for antennas. All this creates a single, stylish and very neat appearance. The body is completely made of metal, with the exception of small plastic inserts for the antennas.

The build quality is at the highest level, and the weight is definitely not modest - 175 grams. The rounded ends and lid make the smartphone very convenient; it fits into your hand like a glove. Despite the rather large diagonal of 5.5 inches, it is convenient to operate with one hand.

Control elements are installed as standard. On the right side there is a volume rocker and a power key.

At the bottom there is a USB Type-C port, as well as a microphone.

On top there is a 3.5 mm mini-jack for a headset.

Below the screen there are three classic touch buttons, the functionality of which can be customized in your own way.

The review of the ZTE Axon 7 64gb smartphone showed that the buttons are surprisingly devoid of backlighting. This is not something to skimp on. But the mini version uses on-screen control keys, which some may find more convenient.

A wide black strip under the screen is provided for touch keys. The manufacturer came to a similar solution at the top, masking the notification indicator, proximity and light sensors.

Screen

Axon 7 has a Quad HD display with a resolution of 2560*1440 and a pixel density of 538 ppi. The display is made using Amoled technology, which is superior to standard IPS screens in energy-saving qualities. The screen matrix covers 100% of the sRGB color space and has a maximum brightness of 340 cd/m2, which ensures excellent screen readability in sunlight.

The Axon 7's screen quality is comparable to Samsung's Galaxy 7 screens, which are rightfully considered the best on the market. The display does not have an air gap, and when viewing, you get the impression that the image is literally on its surface.

There are no complaints about viewing angles; AMOLED matrices have the maximum. Only the factory calibration of color rendering can raise questions, since with standard settings the picture has excessive saturation and low color temperature (white color is displayed with a slight bluish tint). You can correct the situation by changing the color display profile in the standard settings, or by using software for adjusting color rendering from the Android market.

Note that the older version of Axon 7, equipped with 6 GB of RAM, uses a pressure-sensitive display, while the younger device does not provide such a function.

Display

ZTE Axon 7 smartphone display characteristics are one of its strengths. It uses a high-quality 5.5-inch AMOLED matrix with a high pixel density of 538 ppi and a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels. Protection from external influences is provided by high-quality Gorilla Glass 4, built using the now fashionable 2.5D technology. The oleophobic coating is of high quality, almost no fingerprints remain and can be easily removed. ZTE Axon 7 gray review showed that the display is truly flagship and currently remains one of the best on the market.

The brightness reserve is high, which makes it comfortable to work with the phone in bright sunshine. At the same time, everything is also very good with the minimum brightness mark, reading in the dark is comfortable, the eyes do not get tired. Auto-adjustment does its job perfectly. The quality of the screen is not satisfactory. Thanks to the maximum viewing angles, you can gather with friends and watch an exciting film. The color rendition is excellent, and in addition there is a large selection of additional picture settings.

There is also an interesting feature - wallpaper that changes every time the display is unlocked. They are capable of causing genuine delight in those who use the phone, demonstrating highly detailed images with natural color reproduction. ZTE Axon 7 128gb review showed that the top modification with 6 GB of RAM received a screen with pressure recognition.

Performance

The heart of Axon 7 is the powerful 4-core Snapdragon 820 processor, which is the best on the market in terms of performance today. The S-820 is superior not only to its 4-core counterparts from Samsung and Huawei (Exynos 8890 and Kirin 950, respectively), but also to the 10-core MediaTek Helio X20.

Snapdragon 820, in addition to the highest performance, boasts a built-in 4G modem and the ability to work under heavy loads without overheating. One of the main problems of ZTE phones was previously considered to be poor optimization of hardware and software, but in Axon 7 everything is fine. The smartphone scores 129 thousand parrots in Antutu Benchmark and is one of the three most powerful devices on the market; it is located above such flagships as the Samsung Galaxy S7 and One Plus 3, which says a lot.

Axon 7 is equipped with an Adreno 530 graphics accelerator, it can easily run the most resource-intensive 3D games (GTA:SA, WOT) at maximum graphics settings and has the ability to play video in BDRip 1080p and 2K formats. In general, Axon 7 copes with absolutely any task and the power reserve of this flagship will be sufficient for at least another 3 years of operation.

There are 2 versions of the smartphone on the market - with 64/3 GB and 128/6 GB of memory, there is not much difference in performance between them, and due to the presence of a memory card slot, it is almost pointless to overpay for the older model.

Camera

The main camera in Axon 7 is represented by a 20 MP module with an f/1.8 aperture. The camera is equipped with dual LED flash and phase detection autofocus, which demonstrates excellent focusing speed even in low light conditions.

The only drawback in autofocus that we identified during testing was focusing errors during long continuous shooting (10 frames in a row or more), during which the camera can shift focus from the subject to an arbitrary part of the frame. However, this problem is absolutely not critical, since most of us use serial shooting extremely rarely.

In terms of shooting quality during daylight hours, the main camera of the Axon 7 is on par with top-end flagships. The pictures are distinguished by excellent sharpness, wide dynamic range and good color rendition. We also note the well-thought-out application of the standard camera, which can shoot in HDR (frame processing takes about a second) and allows you to take photographs with completely manual settings for shutter speed, photosensitivity and white balance.

However, the software implementation of the camera by ZTE engineers was not the best, since in poor lighting the pictures become significantly worse due to the rough operation of the noise reduction, which manifests itself in a loss of sharpness and detail in the image.

The front camera in Axon 7 has a resolution of 8 MP. This is a typical front-facing selfie camera that produces acceptable image quality, but the manufacturer didn’t bother too much with it. Photos from the front camera can be compared with the Nexus 5P and One Plus 2 devices.

Axon 7 is not deprived of video capabilities either. The smartphone shoots video in Full-HD and 4K resolution, as well as in terms of photos, there is no fault with the video shot during the day, while at night the quality drops noticeably. We note the presence of optical stabilization of the camera, which allows you to shoot handheld and get smooth video, without blurring or shaking.

Perhaps the problems with night photography will be solved with the release of new versions of the device’s firmware; if this happens, then the Axon 7 will be able to establish itself among the best photo smartphones.

Speaker, sound quality

At the presentation of Axon 7, company representatives primarily focused on the audio capabilities of the new flagship, and in this niche the smartphone is truly one of the best. Axon 7 is equipped with a dedicated 32-bit AK4490 audio chip and is capable of producing sound close to that of Hi-Fi audio players.

The smartphone produces crystal clear, detailed sound, without distortions towards low or high frequencies. It is worth considering that the full capabilities of the Axon 7 are revealed only when using high-quality headphones, for which you will have to spend additional money.

The external speakers of the smartphone are also good. Unlike most devices in the mid-price category, in which the speakers have a purely utilitarian purpose, the Axon 7 has two high-quality stereo speakers built in, with a high volume level and balanced sound quality, without squeaky notes or blockages towards the bass.

Out of the box, the Axon 7 has a built-in Dolby Atmos audio manager, through which you can adjust the surround sound of external speakers. The DA system can also be used as an equalizer, customizing the sound to suit your own tastes.

Battery

Battery life is not the Axon 7’s strong point. The smartphone is equipped with a 3250 mAh battery, which is quite small for a device with a 5.5” display. The picture is somewhat brightened up by the Snapdragon 820 processor, which is known for its efficiency in terms of energy consumption; the AMOLED display also consumes little energy, which together allows the smartphone to work for a day without recharging.

In constant screen operation mode, Axon 7 can withstand 10 hours of continuous activity, 10 and a half hours when playing video, but if the device’s performance is used to its fullest (a demanding 3D game is running), the device will last for 5 hours. The Axon 7 features QuickCharge 3.0 fast charging, which can fully charge the battery in 90 minutes.

ZTE has provided 2 energy saving modes in its flagship - standard and maximum, in which the display becomes monochrome and all background processes are closed. This mode is unlikely to be used in everyday life, but in critical situations, when every hour of a smartphone’s life is important, it can be useful.

Autonomy of ZTE Axon 7

The review of the ZTE Axon 7 Max smartphone moves on to its battery. The 3250 mAh capacity lasts for a long time. So, taking dozens of small videos and about a hundred photos took us only 11% of the charge. After an hour of playing Subway Surfers with active mobile Internet, the battery lost 13%. With active flight mode at maximum brightness and 50% sound in video playback, the smartphone lasted 7 hours 45 minutes, which is very impressive.

The result can be significantly improved if you use one of several energy-saving modes. You can reduce performance, set the display to monochrome, or turn off all wireless connections except phone calls. On average, the phone survives until evening charging without any problems. Fast charging technology is supported, thanks to which the charge reaches 100% in an hour and 18 minutes.

Communication and Internet

Axon 7 can work with two SIM cards or one SIM card and a memory card with a capacity of up to 128 GB; there is only one radio module in the device. The smartphone has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2 and GPS systems; there are no complaints about synchronization with satellites - the first time you turned it on, Axon 7 found about 15 signal sources in 40 seconds of searching.

As befits a flagship, Axon 7 works in 4G (LTE) and 3G networks. Mobile Internet speed is excellent, in 4G mode it reaches 25 MB/sec.

The device supports synchronization with external peripheral devices using the USB-C standard - you can connect a printer, keyboard or mouse to it, thereby obtaining the required functionality of a smartphone. There are no questions about the quality of communication - the interlocutor can be heard perfectly, and the operator’s signal is located even in rather problematic areas.

Review of the ZTE Axon 7 Android smartphone: a contender for the top segment

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Specifications
• Packaging and equipment
• Appearance and design
• Display
• Hardware platform and performance
• Software and firmware
• Multimedia
• File system
• Wireless Interfaces and Communications
• Battery life
• Camera
• Comparison with competitors
• Conclusion
• Additional photos

Introduction

We have been familiar with ZTE since the times when smartphones from this manufacturer entered the domestic market exclusively as “gray” supplies.
Today, this brand is officially represented in Russia and not only sells products, but also provides technical support. Since then, we can note a significant increase in the level of smartphones offered by the company. And its lineup includes not only affordable and budget models, but also full-fledged flagships.

It was one of the latter that became the hero of the review, thanks to our partner - the online store Bayon.ru. ZTE Axon 7 introduced on the Russian market in October 2020

distinguished itself by several features, including not only pressure sensitivity, but also Dolby Atmos sound quality improvement technology, and stereo speakers coupled with an Asahi Kasei Microdevices AK4490 amplifier.

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Specifications ZTE Axon 7

Technically, the device really lives up to the title of flagship. It provides a powerful hardware platform, large amounts of RAM and main memory, as well as a high-resolution display.

The only question that raises questions is the battery capacity, yet the smartphone is not small in size or modest in weight. However, we'll see what the tests show.

Packaging and equipment ZTE Axon 7

The packaging is a flat black box consisting of a main compartment and a lid that covers half the ends. Outwardly, it strongly resembled that of the LeEco Le Pro 2 smartphone. There are no complaints about the quality of the materials - the cardboard is thick and dense, and will perfectly protect the contents from mechanical damage.

There are no questions about the build quality; the lid fits tightly into place. In our case, it is worth noting the absence of factory seals.

On the front side, exactly in the center, the name of the device model is displayed. And at the bottom of the lid there is a small manufacturer’s logo.

The reverse side of the box is designed no less modestly. Here you can see several logos and a sticker indicating the identification numbers of the copy. For the umpteenth time we come across the positioning of the model as a “subscriber radio station”. The name of this body color – “Weapon Steel” – also attracts attention.

Inside we are greeted by the smartphone itself. It is recessed into a special stand that exactly matches the shape of the case, and a special tongue is provided for its removal. By the way, the device is protected on both sides by transport films.

Beneath it lies a rich set of supplies.

I am pleased not only with the number of accessories, but also with the fact that each one is neatly packaged and placed in a special compartment. Nothing is loose.

The package includes:

• Power adapter;
• USB Type C cable;
• Wired stereo headset;
• USB Type C to MicroUSB adapter;
• Clip for removing the SIM card tray;
• Silicone Case.

The packaging pleased me with the quality of workmanship; you can immediately feel that the device has status. The delivery package deserves a special plus. It's been a long time since we've come across a smartphone that comes with literally everything you might need and even more.

For example, a USB Type C to Micro-USB adapter doesn’t seem to be necessary, but it will greatly simplify the user’s life, and the paperclip is equipped with a special silicone case that allows you to hang it on your keys like a keychain.