ZTE released the Axon 7s a few weeks ago but it doesn’t qualify as their flagship device for 2017. It’s not because it is powered by last year’s Snapdragon 821 but rather because it was released quietly, almost escaping our radar. So when we learnt a new ZTE phone was spotted on TENAA, we were excited but after taking a look at the specs of the ZTE A2018, we are left wondering what the company is playing at.

The ZTE A2018 (definitely not the final name) on first sight, looks a lot like the ZTE Axon 7s. They can even pass for the same device. The stereo speakers share have an identical design and the dual rear cameras and fingerprint scanner are positioned exactly the same.  Both phones also have the same 2K OLED display. Where the ZTE A2018 differs is in its internals.

The A2018 is powered by an unspecified 2.15GHz quad-core processor. Some say it is the Snapdragon 820 but while it is unusual for ZTE to under-clock their processors, we want to believe it is the Snapdragon 821. It just doesn’t make any sense to release a phone with a Snapdragon 820 phone in 2017. There is 4GB of RAM paired with 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB of  ROM with support for storage expansion.

READ MORE: ZTE’s Axon 7 Latest Update Brings Night Mode, 256GB Storage Support & Others

The dual rear cameras on the ZTE A2018 are the same 20MP + 12MP dual combination as the Axon 7s though they have a 1.5x optical zoom. The front facing camera is an 8MP sensor and there is a 3320mAh battery under the hood. The phone measures 151.7 × 75 × 7.7mm, weighs 170g and runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Since the ZTE A2018 has gotten its TENAA certification, the launch should not be far off. However, we think the phone is another variant of the Axon 7s and not necessarily a different phone entirely.

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