By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
ZTE’s Axon isn’t just a beast in budget sheep’s clothing, it is one of the truly delightful smartphones to come to market in Canada this year. The directive was simple, ‘build an affordable smartphone with flagship features,” and ZTE has delivered on this promise.
Best thing about the ZTE Axon is that it is its own device. There’s no trace of trying to be trendy or copping designs or even materials from more familiar and popular models. With the Axon, ZTE reminds me of when smartphone makers didn’t play it safe and really designed and built fun, powerful and innovative devices for the love of it. Could ZTE be the new Nokia?
The ZTE Axon, a Fido exclusive since November 6th, sports a 5.5-inch IPS LCD full-HD display with a pleasing 1920 x 1080 resolution and 401 pixel-per-inch density. It’s a bright, responsive and well balanced display that’s also got anti-microbial properties (ionic silver layer to keep the glass free of germs).
This feels good for a 5.5-inch device and can be easily held in one hand. This doesn’t at all feel cheap or hobbled and if it had a newer processor and more RAM, it would be truly a breakthrough device for this price range.
A Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor running at 2.3 GHz is more like last year’s flagship processor but it works just fine here backed with 2GB of RAM. Non expandable storage is locked in at 32GB and the Axon is running Android Lollipop. ZTE’s overlays are subtle, but they are there and while they don’t bother me, some users will need to reorient themselves with unfamiliar icons and apps.
The camera is quite good and can take great low-light shots. The ZTE Axon actually has dual-cameras with a main 13-megapixel shooter taking point and a 2-megapixel camera as its wingman. 2MP sensor is used to capture depth and allows users to refocus photos after they have been taken.
It’s a novel idea that’s pushed by the Axon having its very own ‘Bokeh’ setting. There are other notable settings worth playing with like multiple exposure, fisheye and various effects that really extend the range of photos you can take and share.
I found the camera to be easily my favourite feature of the Axon, it offers a lot of settings as well as some manual control which can yield some very good photos. The tradeoff, however, is that on auto mode, the pictures aren’t always clear or focused on the subject. This is easily overcome with practice.
The Axon can shoot a variety of modes including 4K video, which is rare for devices in the same pricing bracket.
The front facing camera is similarly respectable with an 8-megapixel sensor so selfie addicts can grab really high resolution snapshots so selfie addicts are well covered.
The ZTE Axon is styled conservatively and with blue aluminum with gold accents. The buttons and various other parts are metal, adding to the luxurious feel and look of the device. While ZTE employed a neat lattice design to cover speakers and the rear camera.
All that alone would make the ZTE Axon a terrific device, but ZTE has outdone itself by offering high-resolution audio playback (and recording), as well as a large 3000 mAh battery with Quick Charge 2.0. The battery is very good and can last over a day with heavy use and charging it using the supplied charger gets hours of use in under 40 minutes of charging.
ZTE Axon is exclusive to Fido customers for $0 on a two-year premium plan term (Fido’s Smart or Max Plans), $100 on a two-year standard plan term or $400 without a contract. ZTE spokespersons said the company is looking into making the device available through other means, but for now, Fido is the only carrier that has it.
Conclusion
I think the ZTE Axon is a great first flagship for ZTE and a smart model to introduce the brand to Canadians. If it were being sold unlocked and carrier free, it would likely become a popular pick. The good news is that this is actually a mid-range model and ZTE sells more powerful variants in other countries which they might consider to bring to Canada if demand is high enough.
Rating: 4 out of 5