ZTE Axon 7

[jamezr]

It is now on display and available at my local BB and all I can say is WOW! Fast, great feel in hand and the display really really impressed me.

Go take a peek, I did not walk out with one but I have a feeling I will be back tomorrow for it. I liked the grey one better than the gold but we'll see.

ah....see what you did now .....I'm gonna have to go check it out.....

 

[jamezr]

Well I couldn't resist. I'll set it up and let you give some feedback. But so far it is very nice phone. The sound and front facing speakers reminds of the HTC M8. They are that good. Great feel in the hand. Very well built...feel very premium and balanced.

 

[AppleRobert]

ah....see what you did now .....I'm gonna have to go check it out.....

Not sure why I didn't walk out with one, anxious for your feedback but I think it is really nice for the money spent and it will take lots to hold me back from grabbing one.

 

[Sensamic]

Well I couldn't resist. I'll set it up and let you give some feedback. But so far it is very nice phone. The sound and front facing speakers reminds of the HTC M8. They are that good. Great feel in the hand. Very well built...feel very premium and balanced.

Very interested in this phone! Tell us more as soon as you can.

Does it feel too big to hold (like say a OnePlus 3, iPhone 6S Plus, etc)?

Camera seems like the weakest point for most reviewers. How's the battery life and 4K video recording? Those are two key points for me. Oh, and how bright does the screen get (inside and outside)?

I hope it gets released soon in Europe so I can check it out too.

 

[AppleRobert]

Very interested in this phone! Tell us more as soon as you can.

Does it feel too big to hold (like say a OnePlus 3, iPhone 6S Plus, etc)?

Camera seems like the weakest point for most reviewers. How's the battery life and 4K video recording? Those are two key points for me. Oh, and how bright does the screen get (inside and outside)?

I hope it gets released soon in Europe so I can check it out too.

I have the Axon Pro and while large it isn't as hard to handle as the Nexus 6.

I am not a heavy user so most smartphones are fine with me for battery life so I really don't measure. Nor do I use the camera on smartphones for snaps and video.

What may end up stopping me is I already own the Pro and the 7 on Verizon is shaky with 4g LTE which I would use instead of T-mobile which I use for my HTC 10. I just use the Pro with wifi now.

Music playback already for Spotify is stellar with earphones and the same for YT with music and video so I doubt I'd gain much at all for that with the 7.

 

[kasakka]

I feel this phone nails so many of the things I want in a big screen phone. The physical dimensions are really good, the fingerprint reader is in the back where it should be on anything above 5" and overall the hardware seems pretty good.

It's the software where things get a iffy. It seems they've messed with the notifications not appearing on the lock screen without hitting some stupid bell icon and the notification drawer quick toggles cannot be edited reasonably. Unlocking the bootloader will also void your warranty, which is just ******** as that has no bearing on if your phone physically breaks like a button no longer works even on stock ROM etc. In EU this probably doesn't fly as you should have a 2 year compulsory warranty.

I might consider the phone again when a Cyanogenmod ROM for it becomes available.

 

[Wildo6882]

It's the software where things get a iffy. It seems they've messed with the notifications not appearing on the lock screen without hitting some stupid bell icon...

I would have bought one already if it wasn't for this. There is NO REASON at all to change this. If they fix it in another update, I'd be all over it.

 

[jamezr]

So i have spent the last 24 hours using the Axon 7 as my daily driver. I must say this is a very nice phone.
These few things stand out for me so far

Battery life: I got 6 hours SOT today.

Sound: The front facing speakers are awesome. The sound is great and clear. It reminds me of the HTC m7 and M8 in that fashion. The sounds was great using BT headphones today during my workout.

The build quality and craftsmanship also reminds my on the HTC M7 & M8. Very nice feel in the nad and balanced.
The FP scanner is on the back. The FP scanner is very fast and very accurate. It always gets it right...always.

The display is very nice and well no issues with clarity or viewing angles.

Software: The ZTE Android skin is called MiFavor UI. The skins is a little different. Not a fan of the skin myself.

Last but not least. Camera.....I am really disappointed in the camera. This is the Axon 7s achilles heel.
It is not a horrible camera mind you it is just not up to par with the phones in this price range like the OPO3.

Hope this helps anyone thinking of getting the Axon 7

I really like this phone. i checks a lot of the boxes i want in a phone. Not sure the camera will let me keep it though.

Here are the specs at GSMarena

http://www.gsmarena.com/zte_axon_7-8067.php

 

[mclld]

The problem for me with these $400 dollar phones is that you can usually get a used previous gen flagship for that price, probably cheaper. I have even seen galaxy S7's this price used on swappa/ebay etc

 

[jamezr]

Here is a camera sample from my Axon 7 and Note 7

 

[Sensamic]

The problem for me with these $400 dollar phones is that you can usually get a used previous gen flagship for that price, probably cheaper. I have even seen galaxy S7's this price used on swappa/ebay etc

Very true, but last year's flagships are not that great. LG G4 has a serious sudden death issue, plus no fingerprint scanner. S6 has terrible battery life and no microSD. HTC One M9 was a failure. Nexus 6P at that price is only 32GB.

 

[kasakka]

The problem for me with these $400 dollar phones is that you can usually get a used previous gen flagship for that price, probably cheaper. I have even seen galaxy S7's this price used on swappa/ebay etc

No go for me as I can't stand front fingerprint scanners and the S7 is a tad too small for me after getting used to my Oneplus One screen size. Previous gen phones at 5.5" were mostly physically large too.

 

[Sensamic]

Here is a camera sample from my Axon 7 and Note 7

Wow what a difference!! The ZTE picture is so much much worse!! Terrible compared to the Note. I really want and need a good camera, so I guess I'm out unless it improves dramatically with updates (something I really really doubt. Doubt see ZTE taking the time and effort to fix this).

 

[Achillias]

Well I couldn't resist. I'll set it up and let you give some feedback. But so far it is very nice phone. The sound and front facing speakers reminds of the HTC M8. They are that good. Great feel in the hand. Very well built...feel very premium and balanced.

ZTE and Nubia are both great with their smartphones for this year. But I stil prefer the Nubia Z11 and I just ordered one. Almost the same except those stereo speakers on the front. But the design of the Nubia Z11 is better in my opinion.

 

[cuzo]

that picture is very bad, i have a 5x I want to get rid off too but the zte camera is horrible, hooks htc m9 type bad.

 

[mclld]

I came across one of these today for 225, I couldnt pass it up. It is very nice, now to decide if I want to keep this or my ZTE Blade V8 Pro. I would bet I will go with the pro since the battery life will be way better, in the brief time I used this 7 today it doesnt seem good. That could be because I am just setting it up while using it.

 

[mclld]

I have use dit since yesterday afternoon, the battery has stabilized and I have been off the charger since 8am or so and it is 4:43 pm now and I am sitting at 71% with 1h 48m sot. Pretty good considering, I really like this phone

 

[Tarzanman]

I have an Axon 7. I highly recommend using Nova Launcher instead of Mi-Pop. I also downloaded the stock android contacts app. Makes daily use a much better experience, IMO

 

[cuzo]

I had one and I want it back. Last year I had the 5x htc 10 and 6s and axon 7.

I realize I need least a 5.5 inch screen and great battery life.

The hrc10 was too small and didn't really have any features I like the axon is decent outside the camera and the lack on on screen buttons. I still think about picking up a axon 7 again.

Honestly I can't get anyone to buy this iPhone 6s lol.