ZTE Axon 7: A Six-Month Review

So, 2017 is finally upon us, and one of my New Year’s Resolutions remains giving credit where credit is due.  Because of this resolution, it is time to give credit to the folks at ZTE for engineering a magnificent device, full of the pillars that make a smartphone great.  As I have been using this as my daily driver regularly for four of those six months, I felt it was my duty in helping you decide if this is the phone for you.

Sporting the now one-generation old Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, an Adreno 530 GPU, and 4GB of RAM, calling this a buttery smooth experience might be an understatement.  Even after the six months of installing and removing apps, playing games, tweaking the camera, making phone calls, and customizing the user interface (UI), this thing still hums along like a newborn.  Mixed with the proper amount of inertia dampening, flying through all home screens, streaming through your app drawer, or breezing through website on your browser of choice will be silky smooth.  In comparison to the current Snapdragon 821, you will find negligible slowing, as the 820 still proves as a powerhouse among processors.  In everyday usage, playing intensive games such as Marvel Legends with no problems was a constant.  I also attribute this to the fact ZTE clocked the processor in at a higher 2.15Ghz, as opposed to OEMs such as Samsung who generally clock their devices at the lower 1.8Ghz, thus minimizing power output on a similar chip. Also, this is a hybrid phone with dual-sim capabilities, or one sim and SD card.

The MiFavor and Android Marshmallow (6.0.1) software provides several welcomed features speeding up an already fast user experience, such as modified setting toggles, most used quick settings menu feature, and message alerts from the lockscreen, this will be a fun phone for daily driving.  And battery life should not be a daily concern, as the Axon 7 has a 3,250 mAh, which got me an average of 5 hours 32 minutes of screen-on time throughout the six-months of testing.  Don’t forget on those days you need to top off, quick charge 3.0 is present, and re-charging from 0 to 100% was done in 44 minutes, 48 minutes and 46 minutes, during my review.  Very sharp!

As for gaming, this is not just a fast device, things just look astounding on the 5.5″ Quad-HD AMOLED display, with a pixel count of 538, and the word “glorious” comes to mind when describing the picture quality.  Text and pictures are both sharp and very crisp, with just the right amount of saturation, and should be enjoyable for all types of viewers.  Additionally, the video playback was extremely pleasant, again, as the preset saturation levels provide lively color reproduction without sacrificing that true-to-life feeling.  Accompanied with the Dolby Atmos audio enhancement and a beastly high-quality dac, sound reproduction from the earpiece or stereo speakers in a word was phenomenal.  I was always a huge fan of the HTC boom-sound experience, and this phone not only reproduces those old feelings, but gives a one-up with the simply sublime audio output full of great pitch, punchy bass and moderate mid levels.  If listening to music, radio or watching your favorite shows is your thing, prepare to be dazzled by this mamma-jamma.  Related to the audio output, call quality was fantastic, and became utterly amazing when the voice over LTE (VoLTE) was initiated from the setting menu.  Using this on the T-Mobile network, callers sounded extremely crisp and clear, with them saying I sounded like I was in the next room.  Nice job, ZTE!

A fast processor, great display, and fantastic audio quality, what else would you need?  Well, how about a stunning and sleek looking phone along with those other features.  Phones today are seemingly bland with every manufacturer seeking the “premium” look, usually composed of glass or metal.  Well, ZTE does the same, but the Axon 7 sets itself apart with its unibody aluminum frame full of smooth, blended curves and near-bezzless front.  Coordinated with nice rich and darker color options, this device may look like others, but when I went sans cases, many of my friends would marvel “…man, that looks really nice…” or “What phone is that?”.  So if style is something you look for when you spend your money, I think you will be quite pleased.

Accompanied by a 20MP back camera with f1.8 aperture and 8MP front selfie-shooter with f2.2 aperture, your quest in being the next Marinka Masseus may hit a snag, as the cameras provide a respectable experience.  As with any cellphone camera, in great lighting, the Axon 7 captures near flawless photos full of deep colors, but not so much in low lighting.  The tendency for overexposure or blowing out any available highlights most certainly is present, but more than acceptable for posting on social media.  HDR definitely negates most of these deficiencies, and I would also advise keeping this turned on most times.  The manual mode offers additional settings and features for those demanding more controls for that “perfect” shot, but being someone who was satisfied with the HDR representations, I did not find myself using this feature much.  Optical Image Stabilization and Dual-Tone LED flash are present and add greatly needed features for getting the best action photos or offsetting contrast ambient lighting.  Additionally, video quality taken on the rear camera was great, with my only complaint being for a device with OIS, I still observed some jittery frames at times, but nothing that would be a deal breaker.

Hitting nearly every pillar of a great smartphone, there is little objection from me for anyone wanting to buy this phone.  Oh, did I mention the $399.00 price tag?  Yeah…all this for under $400.00, easily making this an easy recommend for anyone, especially for audiophiles.