OnePlus 3 Killer? ZTE Axon 7 Unboxing & First Impressions
Today we're going to unbox and get my first impressions of the all new ZTE Axon 7.
I loved last years ZTE Axon Pro and this year's Axon 7 is the anticipated follow-up to that device. So without wasting anytime, let's jump into the box and see what we get with the Axon 7 and then get some of my first impressions of this phone.
The Axon 7 comes in this fancy all white box and aside from the phone itself, you do get a few additional accessories included in the box.
Inside you will find your quick charge wall adapter, a USB-C cable and a pair of headphones that match the white and gold color scheme found throughout. You also get some information guides, an additonal screen protector, a clear case, a SIM card ejection tool, and a Micro USB to USB-C adapter.
For those of you who might not know, this phone is $399 off contract and goes right up against the OnePlus 3 in both price and specs.
The Axon 7 has:
- 5.5” QHD display
- A Snapdragon 820 chipset
- 64GB of internal storage or 128gb
- 4GB of RAM or 6GB of RAM
- 20MP rear facing camera
- 3250mah battery
Unfortunately this version here is not the 6GB of RAM model BUT it is the one at the introductory price of $399 and if you are interested in a compariosn to the OnePlus 3, please leave a comment below letting me know.
Build quality is certainly at a premium here and definitely one of the best for a phone of this price range, or any price range for that matter. The Axon 7 comes fully equipped with stereo speakers, capacitive navigation buttons, and a rear fingerprint sensor, all encompassed by this gold aluminum body. The device feels great in the hand and all of the buttons and ports are placed in pretty much standard and acceptable places.
I have only had this phone for roughly 24hrs and so far I have been a bit dissapointed with the software. Last year, the thing I loved most about the Axon Pro was the fact that it ran a very clean and minimal version of Android. This year, although it's not a super heavy skin, it is a bit different and I am not quite sure if I like it or not.
The lockscreen is something that I really do not like and that's mostly the way it handles notifications. So, essentially the notifications are always hidden until you click on this bell in the upper left corner. If there is a red dot, then you have a new notification. Click it again, and your notifications are hidden. I would have at least liked to control whether or not I want this feature but I have not found any settings for this quite yet. Again, I have only had this phone for 24hrs, so I might have missed a few things when diving around the Settings menu.
We will go through all of the settings and additonal features in my full review but software aside, the phone works flawlessly and is super snappy and responsive. Again, most phones with these specs usually have no issue with the hardware and software playing nicely together but it's reassuring to know that your phone will be super quick in performance. Best part about Android, of course, is customizing and changing the things you don't like to something you do and I have been slowly getting around to doing that with this device.
I have not had a chance to take many pictures with the Axon 7 but I really do like the quality of the images that I have taken so far. Here are a few sample images from the Axon 7. As you can see, this 20mp sensor will be more than good enough for your everyday smartphone photographers.
Finally, the last thing I would like to point out is the sound quality that comes from this phone in both the stereo speakers and when using wired headphones. One of the Axon 7’s main draws is it's sound quality and so far this guy has yet to dissapoint. The speakers sound amazing and are super loud, with great attention to detail. When you plug in headphones, the Dolby Atmos equalizer app is quite good at helping you bolster your quality.
We will get into more of all of this in the full review but please let me know what you would like to see and which phones you would like me to compare the Axon 7.
If you are interested in picking up the ZTE Axon 7, please check out the following link: Amazon - ZTE Axon 7 unlocked smartphone, 64GB Ion Gold