In the last couple of years, the Chinese smartphone makers are all racing to achieve the same goal: Launch a premium, flagship phone at a fraction of the price of an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy.
ZTE is no exception. On paper, its new flagship Axon 7 passes the specs test with flying colors -- even surpassing most rivals in certain areas. In fact, its performance is high enough to be one of the first phones to claim support for Google Daydream -- the mobile VR platform Google just launched at its I/O developer conference.
The 5.5-inch device is powered by a Snapdragon 820 processor; it has a 2,560 x 1,440 AMOLED screen, a 20-megapixel rear camera (coupled with an 8-megapixel camera), a 3,250 mAh (milliamp-hour) battery, and either 64GB or 128GB of storage, expandable via microSD card.
The Axon 7's biggest claim to fame, however is RAM: The phone comes in two configurations, either with 4GB or a whopping 6GB of RAM, which is 2GB more than the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, or 4GB more than an iPhone 6S Plus.
Of course, it's not just how much RAM the phone has -- how the memory is handled makes far more difference in real-world performance. Still, more RAM probably can't hurt, and even the cheapest ZTE Axon 7 variant has plenty.
Other specs of note are a fingerprint scanner, dual stereo speakers (coupled with what ZTE calls a dual Hi-Fi chipset) and Force Touch tech (similar to Apple's 3D Touch display), which is only available in the most expensive variant.
This leaves us with the question of price. The Axon 7 is available in two versions: The Basic edition goes for 2,899 RMB (yuan) or $442. The Standard edition costs 3,299 RMB or $503, while the Force Touch-equipped Premium edition costs 4,099 RMB or $625.
The combination of extremely powerful specs and the pricing makes ZTE Axon 7 a pretty attractive option for anyone looking to buy an Android phone. Yes, it costs more than the Xiaomi Mi 5, or the OnePlus 2 but its specs are better. And it's cheaper than most other flagships, including the Huawei P9, the iPhone 6S Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S7, even though it beats all of them in terms of specifications.
On Thursday, ZTE has also launched the ZTE VR, a virtual reality headset with a 96-degree field of vision, and a built-in 9-axis gyro sensor. It's priced at 518 RMB or $79.
The prices are for China; there's no word on when the ZTE Axon 7 or its VR counterpart might reach U.S. shores.
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Topics Android
