ZTE Axon is a Flagship Aimed Directly at the United States

[dgstorm]

Up until now, ZTE has ben throwing mid-range devices into the US mobile ring to see how they fare. Today they announced a new flagship device for the North American shores called the ZTE Axon, and it is anything but a mid-range device. Here's the breakdown of specs for this new mobile gladiator:

• 5.5-inch 1440 x 2560 pixel CGS WQHD (534 ppi) with Gorilla Glass 3
• Octa-Core 2.0GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 810
• RAM 4GB
• Internal Storage 32GB
• Storage Expansion: None
• Camera Dual Lens (13MP + 2MP), BSI CMOS sensor + Dual LED Flash, 4K video at 30 fps
• Front-facing Camera 8-megapixel
• Battery 3000mAh non-removeable
• Metal/glass construction, dual-lens back-facing camera array
• Android 5.1 Lollipop
• "Hi-Fi AudioPlayback and Recording."

Probably the most surprising thing about this new device is that it will still be very affordable, relative to its hardware specs. The company plans to sell it for $449.98 USD off-contract through their website, Amazon, Newegg, or ZTE's store on eBay.

Obviously the main negative is that it doesn't have a microSD slot. Still, for those who don't need such things, this could be a bargain priced beast!

 

[dgstorm]

Here's a video of the ZTE Axon:

 

[cereal killer]

What a handset! $450 off-contract is unbelievable.

 

[mountainbikermark]

What carriers will it work on?

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[cybertec69]

What carriers will it work on?

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Not on Verizon, that's for sure. There is a reason they are called BIG RED, like the communist states, another reason they changed their boot up screen from all white and the red Verizon logo, to all red and a black Verizon logo, LOL.

 

[dgstorm]

@cybertec69 is correct. It will only work on GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mo.

 

[bkdodger]

Great to be with AT&T..

Z3+tapatalk

 

[pc747]

When this is all said and done at the end of the year we ought to see which budget smart phone ends up on top both in performance and sells.

Can we consider the One Plus Two as a budget device?

 

[johnomaz]

Was that front facing speakers I saw? That would be...nice. Good specs. Wonder what kind of UI skin they use.

 

[bkdodger]

Speakers on the bottom..

Hands-on with the ZTE Axon

Z3+tapatalk

 

[bkdodger]

When this is all said and done at the end of the year we ought to see which budget smart phone ends up on top both in performance and sells.

Can we consider the One Plus Two as a budget device?

I'd consider it budget since it's supposed to be priced at $449...

ZTE has only 32GB no SD card.. I'm sure we see 64GB on One+2

Z3+tapatalk

 

[Narsil]

About the only "feature" that interests me on a flagship after this VZW/ATT Note 4 debacle is whether it's rootable. Pretty much everything after that is negotiable.

 

[cybertec69]

It's Nexus for me or go home. I own a Nexus 6 and a Note 4, both have the same hardware, but the Nexus 6 runs circles around the lagfest that is called Note 4 TW, also how can Samsung's flagship device be on 5.0.1 which everyone including Google knows had nothing but issues, my Nexus 6 is on the latest version of 5.1.1 and runs buttery smooth, even on 5.0 it ran circles around the Note 4, my Nexus 7 2013 Tablet also is smoother than the Note 4, how can a device like the Note 4 with great hardware run like crap is beyond me. I know I went off topic, just venting.

 

[Androidforuman]

I think this is still a great budget phone, I love buying two year old flagship phones new for under $300 (canadian). They still work great, provide all the functions I need and then I'm off contract and don't have to worry about beating the crap out of them. I've managed to crack LCDs on every phone (about a dozen) I've ever owned once or twice, even with shockproof cases! Love the 4k video

 

[drexnerd]

I think this is still a great budget phone, I love buying two year old flagship phones new for under $300 (canadian). They still work great, provide all the functions I need and then I'm off contract and don't have to worry about beating the crap out of them. I've managed to crack LCDs on every phone (about a dozen) I've ever owned once or twice, even with shockproof cases! Love the 4k video

The Axon 7 is a year newer and still only $400