My take on ZTE's Axon 7

[IrishFiction]

I'm not good at writing, but my purpose of writing this piece is: The Axon 7 is a great phone, not even considering its literally HALF (if not more) the price of many popular devices out there. Here's why I believe so:

 

(TL;DR is at the bottom)

 

These opinions are my own, and are likely biased because of my frustration with Samsung and the fact that this phone is only $400 USD.

 

As did Linus, I came to the Axon 7 from the Galaxy S7.

 

So far, the phone has performed very well after some tinkering*. While I do miss the S7's waterproof capabilities (I miss being able to toss it in the pool to watch friends and family members to freak out) I have been able to use my device while using in the rain, in the shower, and so on as I would with all of my other devices.

 

While other reviewers seem to undermine its camera capabilities, in real world use (ie not actively searching for flaws) I've yet to take any displeasing photos of any kind. Shutter speed is the fastest I've ever seen, almost like my old LG G4. The quality of photos taken with automatic settings are superb. This judgement comes from my experience with Android vs iOS camera use. My opinion always was: Android takes garbage slow-mo videos, unlike the Axon 7. While S7 pictures have always been superb in any lighting, its video quality was abysmal unless you had P E R F E C T lighting. Taking random videos of me walking through different lighting scenarios in my flat, or randomly tossing my pen around on my desk in slow-mo have so far been captured in amazing quality on my Axon 7. 

 

From my experience with the LG G4, I swore I'd never touch a 5.5" or higher sized device again. I bought this device on impulse, and the thought didn't even occur until I set my S7 and A7 side by side. 

 

The lack of wireless charging does not bother me whatsoever. To me, WC was a cute gimmick, but I use my phone enough that I'd lose the same amount of charge if I was bothered to set my S7 down directly on the charger. 

 

Personally, the fingerprint sensor works better than the S7.

 

The DOLBY ATMOS thing is obviously a gimmick as well, but I like it. The built in bluetooth module in my car always made audio lacking in sounds, but this software generously compensates for that.

 

The capacitive buttons are not backlit, and when I was initially using the device in the dark, I occasionally hit buttons I didn't mean to.  

 

The Axon 7, if you didn't know, is a USB Type-C device. This is my first USB-C device. Buying new cables was sort of an inconvenience at first, but it always boiled down to now or never in my mind. 

TL;DR: After using a plethora of devices ranging from the Note 7, S7, LG G5, Pixel, I simply mean to say the Axon 7 (and the 3T for that matter) performs just as well as any of the $600+ phones that saturate the mobile phone market. It only lacks a few features that the higher priced devices have (water resistance and wireless charging).

This is obviously not an in-depth review.

*: The Axon 7 supports the LTE bands that Verizon operates on, but I had to reset my phone after updating to Nougat, and the A7 rarely has a weird "switching from WiFi to LTE once I leave a building on campus or my flat" issue. This is easily fixed with a few quick key dances. (Going into sim settings and toggling the "LTE" setting a few times").

 

Thanks for reading! I also have an interesting piece I'd like to do on how I replaced my laptop with a Nexus 7 and a bluetooth keyboard if anyone's interested.

Edited February 16, 2017 by IrishFiction
Grammar and diction

[dizmo]

Nice review! Also appreciate the pictures that were added.

There is a sub forum specifically for member reviews, I'd suggest asking a mod to move it there

[IrishFiction]

2 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Nice review! Also appreciate the pictures that were added.

There is a sub forum specifically for member reviews, I'd suggest asking a mod to move it there

Thanks!

How would I go about doing so? Simply deleting this one and reposting it there? Or are there context menus to do it for me?

[dizmo]

Just go click the warning sign under your post and fill out the report, saying you'd like it moved to Member Reviews

I thought the Axon 7 was one of the most solid devices of 2016, and I really can't wait to see what they do with the Axon 8.

Definitely one of the front runners for my next phone.

[TheRandomness]

-Thread moved to Member Reviews.