ZTE Axon 7

The Lurker

The Lurker

Fully [H]
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Messages
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I didnt see a thread so here it is. I have been looking forward to this phone since Chang3d turned me onto it while I was collecting info for Dual Sim phones. Well its finally available for pre-order and it looks like the specs are:

Axon 7 - America's Premier HiFi Smartphone

5.5" 2560x1440 OLED screen
SD820 with 4gb of ram
64gb Rom
20mp rear camera with OIS, 8mp front camera
Dual front facing speakers
Rear mounted fingerprint scanner
Dedicated audio amplifier (AKM 4961 + 4490)
3250MAH battery
Dual Sim support or SD expansion to 128gb
USB 3.0 Type C with Quick charge
Android 6 with MiFlavor UI

Available for Pre-order now from ZTE for $400(originally thought to be $450) with free case.

I'll admit, I caved and pre-ordered. This phone ticks all the right boxes for me. I am just hoping ZTE will play nice with the community and offer an unlock.

Thoughts on what, on paper, is an amazing phone with a high chance of being a chinese spying device.
 
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They're all made in China in one respect or another nowadays so that's a moot point overall. ;)

Specs look good, and I owned a ZTE Zmax last year for a short period of time, it has what the new kids call "God tier" or GOTA (God Of All Things) battery life, I swear: I regularly, like most every day, had 10+ hours of SOT (Screen On Time) - that's most every single day in the ~6 weeks I owned that Zmax, pretty amazing stuff. Yes it was a 1280x720 IPS panel in it so the lower resolution technically did help with the battery life but even so, at 40% brightness 10+ hours of SOT is astonishing. Had great LTE speeds in excess of 75Mbps consistently using my T-Mobile service in most areas of Las Vegas where I live too.

The Axon 7 looks to be a great device overall, the specs are top notch and they dropped the price a bit (according to what I've read as noted above). I have a friend that was practically gnawing his fingers to the bone in anticipation of getting one, even got one of those $70 off coupons direct from ZTE he planned to use but, being the impatient sumbitch he is he ordered a Moto X Pure on Tuesday and sure enough the Axon 7 preorders started what, Wednesday. I told him to cancel the Moto X order but he's committed to it now, what a maroon. :D

I hope it's a success for ZTE, definitely, and as long as they don't screw over the enthusiast community and hopefully they do offer a bootloader unlock potential (even if it voids the warranty which it most likely will) then it could be a big hit for 'em.
 
I'm going to have to wait till my next paycheck to commit. I had impulse-bought the segway minipro on prime day, and now I have to catch pokemons...
 
Tiberian said:
got one of those $70 off coupons direct from ZTE he planned to use but,
.
Click to expand...

Can I have it?

Tiberian said:
hopefully they do offer a bootloader unlock potential (even if it voids the warranty which it most likely will) then it could be a big hit for 'em.
Click to expand...

It looks like they are gunning for One Plus. If they want to really bend them over, they should offer the unlock without voiding warranty, the way One Plus does today.
 
I'm not sure if he still has that coupon code, will check and let you know, it might have been issued to him specifically since he signed up like 2 months ago when it was first announced (to be notified of the pre-orders).
 
Looks like a solid phone. Especially with the newegg pre order deal combo. Hmmm order this or wait fit the new Nexus? Decisions decisions
 
I pre-ordered from bestbuy (so basically no questions asked easy return if needed), had a %10 electronics coupon that worked for it so snagged for $360. I figured I'd get it out of curiosity and see how it is. I sprung for the charcoal one tho so have to wait till mid august for release.
 
They are seriously copying HTC in like almost every way possible. Which is a good thing for Android.
 
The most important stat for this phone:
"Axon 7 will support T-Mobile band 12 LTE, VoLTE, and Wi-Fi Calling."

And PCMag Review:
ZTE Axon 7
 
CHANG3D said:
The most important stat for this phone:
"Axon 7 will support T-Mobile band 12 LTE, VoLTE, and Wi-Fi Calling."

And PCMag Review:
ZTE Axon 7
Click to expand...
Lte bd12 and volte yes but wifi calling is a negitive. Outside of the 6p and 5x those are the only non tmoblie phones that support this
 
Vengance_01 said:
Lte bd12 and volte yes but wifi calling is a negitive. Outside of the 6p and 5x those are the only non tmoblie phones that support this
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Umm.. sure it could be a marketing promise. But the ZTE Axon Pro, for example, supports TMo WIFI calling. So I dunno why ZTE would drop this feature on the next generation flagship.
 
CHANG3D said:
Umm.. sure it could be a marketing promise. But the ZTE Axon Pro, for example, supports TMo WIFI calling. So I dunno why ZTE would drop this feature on the next generation flagship.
Click to expand...
You are right sir. I stand corrected. Based on these reviews this looks to be a great phone. Loving everything about it. Nearly a perfect phone. Lets hope they can fix the camera :)
 
Wow, this thing looks epic.. if it had an IR blaster, it would be my perfect phone in terms of hardware; AMOLED, front facing speakers, expandable storage, current flagship specs, and USB C. My current 6P ticks most of these boxes for me as well, but I'm a mobile gamer and can see the 810 holding it back in almost any game I play. That's about the only issue I have with it. I don't care much about camera performance, as any flagship phone in the last couple years has been good enough for me for the few occasions I want to take any pics.

My only reservation for this phone now is the bootloader/root situation. If it can be (bootloader) unlocked and rooted so I don't have to depend on ZTE for software updates, then I'd seriously consider trading my 6P for one.
 
According to some reviewer, ZTE will supposedly try to fix the low light performance with software.

But then Microsoft could maybe fix it for them by offering Pix for Android. Holy shit! Pix for iPhone is great and that's an understatement.
 
CHANG3D said:
Umm.. sure it could be a marketing promise. But the ZTE Axon Pro, for example, supports TMo WIFI calling. So I dunno why ZTE would drop this feature on the next generation flagship.
Click to expand...

Looks like the axon pro was offered by Tmobile. Unless the Axon 7 is getting picked up, Wifi calling will not happen.
 
Look. I'm just quoting what a ZTE rep said in their forums. Like I said, maybe it's a marketing promise lie.
 
Flossy "No I'm not really a phone reviewer, I'm a phone user..." Carter posted his thoughts on the Axon 7 in an unboxing/preview video:



The usual stuff to watch out for I suppose. Personally when he fired up the speakers I was disappointed but given he's using a YouTube video (with compressed audio that itself was compressed already and then probably compressed yet again by YouTube for the video itself) - what did amaze me was how good the Alcatel Idol 4S he compares it against sounds and the reason that matters to me is I'm considering getting the BlackBerry DTEK50 which is a slightly modified Idol 4 (not 4S, the 4S is a QHD AMOLED powered 5.5" model, the Idol 4 is the 5.2" 1080 LCD display model). Even in the video the difference in the sound quality between the Axon 7 and the Idol 4 is so wide I have to wonder whats going on with the Axon 7 itself but whatever. The Idol 4 vs the 4S shouldn't all that different considering it's just the display tech that differentiates those two devices.

If you skip to the 10 minute 38 second mark that's where he compares the speakers of the two devices. And he does like the Axon 7, quite a bit, but admits the Idol 4's speakers are just better, period, not even a contest really. As noted he called this just a preview and will do a proper full review soon (even though he says he's not a phone reviewer, go figure). :p
 
Yep, there's an option in the settings for gestures to enable what's commonly referred to as double tap to wake/sleep (DT2W/DT2S) or what LG called when they created it years ago with the G2, KnockOn/Off. Also has others as well like shake to enable the "flashlight" too.
 
The main reason why I haven't gotten this phone already are the dual sim rumors of the next Nexus and iPhone 7. They are just a month away from being announced. I could wait.

Currently temporarily using an international note 3 with a broken screen (cost me nothing) - unfortunately it cannot do LTE here.
 
CHANG3D said:
The main reason why I haven't gotten this phone already are the dual sim rumors of the next Nexus and iPhone 7. They are just a month away from being announced. I could wait.

Currently temporarily using an international note 3 with a broken screen (cost me nothing) - unfortunately it cannot do LTE here.
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What happened to your iPhone?
 
CHANG3D said:
They are just a month away from being announced. I could wait.
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... for several months, of course since the actual introduction of such devices doesn't mean immediate or even close to immediate availability. While new iPhones have been available typically within a month or so after introduction, Nexus phones usually take a bit longer to actually come to market so, don't hold your breath. ;)
 
Tiberian said:
... for several months, of course since the actual introduction of such devices doesn't mean immediate or even close to immediate availability. While new iPhones have been available typically within a month or so after introduction, Nexus phones usually take a bit longer to actually come to market so, don't hold your breath. ;)
Click to expand...

It will also be a little more expensive. Probably in line with the 6P at announcement.
 
I can't decide if I want this phone or not. I know it would be the grey one if I did buy it, which means it won't be available until September...
 
Have a friend (yes, the same one mentioned earlier or in another thread related to the Axon 7) that wanted the Axon 7, got that $77 off coupon for it, decided he just didn't want to wait for the pre-order date to happen, gave me the coupon (which I gave to someone here that used it), then ordered a Moto X Pure (don't ask), had that for 2 weeks (had 15 days to return it, returned it on the 14th day), ordered the Axon 7 finally at the full price (no coupon), saw some reviews of it on YouTube, then saw that Flossy Carter "preview" of the Axon7 vs the Alcatel Idol 4S and immediately cancelled the Axon 7 order and grabbed an Idol 4S because it has better speaker output.

I swear, the guy is just unbelievably unsatisfied with smartphones he owns, seriously. :)
 
Tiberian said:
Have a friend (yes, the same one mentioned earlier or in another thread related to the Axon 7) that wanted the Axon 7, got that $77 off coupon for it, decided he just didn't want to wait for the pre-order date to happen, gave me the coupon (which I gave to someone here that used it), then ordered a Moto X Pure (don't ask), had that for 2 weeks (had 15 days to return it, returned it on the 14th day), ordered the Axon 7 finally at the full price (no coupon), saw some reviews of it on YouTube, then saw that Flossy Carter "preview" of the Axon7 vs the Alcatel Idol 4S and immediately cancelled the Axon 7 order and grabbed an Idol 4S because it has better speaker output.

I swear, the guy is just unbelievably unsatisfied with smartphones he owns, seriously. :)
Click to expand...

I had a similar friend, except he would jump carriers constantly just to get the phones on a new contract, forcing his wife to do the same thing too. Sometimes they cut him deals to switch, but usually he was on the hook for the ETF.. was crazy.
 
T4rd said:
I had a similar friend, except he would jump carriers constantly just to get the phones on a new contract, forcing his wife to do the same thing too. Sometimes they cut him deals to switch, but usually he was on the hook for the ETF.. was crazy.
Click to expand...
are y'all talking about Zorachus?
 
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