ZTE’s Axon lineup has been quite successful as these phones bring a lot of value for the price. Back in September of 2016, I was at IFA Berlin when the Axon 7 mini was launched but I managed to get the phone for the review just now. I think it’s a pretty solid phone for the price but if you want to learn more, check out our full review.

VIDEO REVIEW

UNBOXING

The phone ships with all the usual stuff and some extras include a soft TPU case and a pair of earphones.

DESIGN and DISPLAY

If you have ever held the ZTE Axon 7 in your hand, you will notice that the mini version looks almost exactly the same with just a few minor differences.

It has the same premium look and feel thanks to the all-metal design and tactile metal buttons. Also, the Axon 7 mini has dual front-facing speakers that are just fantastic and they are easily the best in this price range.

If you plug in the earphones, things get even better. The built-in Hi-Fi audio chip delivers a crisp, clear and rich sound, and there are no distortions at the highest volume settings, just like on the loudspeaker.

Obviously, the mini is a bit smaller than the Axon 7 due to its 5.2” 1080p Amoled display, which is sharp and vibrant both for indoor and outdoor use and it is covered with the Gorilla Glass 4.

Just above the display, we have an 8MP selfie shooter and a multi-color LED notification light.

On the bottom, you can find customizable on-screen navigation keys.

When it comes to optics, there is a 16MP camera with f/1.9 aperture and a single LED flash. The fingerprint scanner is fast, accurate and it unlocks the phone straight from the standby mode.

HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The ZTE Axon 7 mini is midrange phone as it has an octa-core Snapdragon 617 chip, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage.

These specs don’t look impressive at all but in reality, I have no complaints with the phone’s performance. It handles even the most demanding 3D games without any issues, with just a few skipped frames but I can’t really complain about that.

USER INTERFACE

When it comes to user interface, the phone runs on the MiFavor 4.0, which is built on top of Android 6.0.

As usual to the ZTE phones, there is no app tray and there are quite a few design touches. I mean the icons look kind of cartoonish to me. Also, you can customize the phone in a lot of different ways. Just to name a few, you can select from different themes, use the Mi Pop button or tweak the display settings.

You can also play with different motion and gesture controls or use the fingerprint scanner to open up apps or take pictures. Even though I’m not a huge fan of the redesigned icons and I don’t really use all those extra features, I have no complaints with the phone’s daily performance.

CAMERA

The built-in camera app allows you to take pictures quite fast. Also, you can select from a few shooting modes like a pro mode if you want to adjust the image settings manually.

IMAGE QUALITY

IT IS HIGHLY-RECOMMENDED TO DOWNLOAD FULL RESOLUTION CAMERA SAMPLES TO SEE THE ACTUAL IMAGE QUALITY. THE PICTURES UPLOADED ON THE WEBSITE ARE 50% SMALLER IN RESOLUTION.

I could only test the camera on the cloudy day and we may see a bit better results under better lighting conditions. In general, the image quality is decent but I expected to see a bit more detail and sharpness. Also, some shots came out underexposed, meaning that the auto dynamic range adjustment is mediocre.

The night images look okay but not really impressive. As usual, the level of detail is much lower and there is quite a bit of noise.

The 1080p video looks pretty good but there could be more detail and the auto-focus is jumping quite a lot.

The selfies could look a bit sharper but they will do the trick for social media.

Download full resolution camera samples

CONNECTIVITY

When it comes to connectivity, the phone supports 4G and it can take either 2 SIM cards or a combo of 1 SIM and the microSD card.

I’ve used the Axon 7 mini in various locations to thoroughly test all the connectivity options. The phone performed well all the time whether I needed to make a call or use the GPS to find my way home.

BATTERY LIFE

2705 mAh battery will usually get you through the day if you are a moderate user. I was able to get about 4-5 hours of SOT when using the phone mainly for social media, web browsing, a bit of gaming and taking some pictures.

The supplied charger can fully charge the phone in about 1h and 15 mins, thanks to the Quick Charge tech.

CONCLUSIONS

The ZTE Axon 7 mini may not be the most powerful smartphone for the price of about $300 if you only care about the sheer specs but it is a pretty solid midrange smartphone nevertheless.

It is definitely a looker thanks to the excellent all-metal build, the Amoled display is really sharp and vibrant and the Hi-Fi audio quality is one of the best you can find on any phone. Also, the front-facing speakers simply blow any other phone out of the water in this price category.

Even though the specs may not impress you, the phone performs well when it comes to daily performance and even gaming.

However, the camera can definitely take good pictures for the price of the phone but I would love to see more detail in some of the shots. Also, there is no 4k video recording. Finally, the MiFavor UI may not be for everyone’s taste due to a bit cartoonish look.

Other than that, the ZTE Axon 7 mini is a pretty solid mid-ranger. Even though it is not the most powerful phone on paper (if you are a specshead), it performs great in real life and most importantly, it has Hi-Fi audio setup that is not only the best in class but also one of the best on any phone.

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The post ZTE Axon 7 mini Review – Premium Hi-Fi Midranger! appeared first on Gizmochina.

ZTE is definitely one of the most respectable Chinese smartphone makers since our reviews have already proven that the company is capable of producing some high-quality products. The ZTE Axon mini was released more than a year ago and it used to cost $300. Now you can grab it for just $150 but you can find a $10 off coupon code at the end of the article. Find out if the ZTE Axon mini is still a decent phone for the price in our full review.

Thanks to Gearbest for sending ZTE Axon Mini for a review.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: VIDEO

ZTE Axon Mini: UNBOXING

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The ZTE Axon Mini comes in a premium looking packaging where all the items are packed neatly. Inside of it you can find the charging plug, USB cable, a pair of earphones, which actually sound pretty good; SIM ejector PIN, some documentation and a hard plastic case.

ZTE Axon Mini: SPECS

ZTE Axon Mini: DESIGN

As far as the design, we are looking at a really premium and well-crafted handset. It is made almost entirely of metal except for those top and bottom parts on the back, which are made of plastic.

The front top and bottom parts may give you an impression that the Axon Mini sports a dual stereo speakers setup. However, the top part is dedicated only for the earpiece, a usual set of sensors, notification LED light and 8MP selfie snapper. The bottom is the place where you can find a front firing speaker along with the main mic. The speaker quality is really good considering the price of the phone.

It may look that the Axon mini has a dual camera setup but it actually has just a one 13MP shooter with dual-LED flash.

Underneath the camera, there is a fingerprint scanner, which is easy to setup, accurate and it unlocks the phone straight from the standby mode.

On the top, there is a headset jack and on the bottom – a regular micro USB charging port. On the right, we have a power key and a dual SIM card and the microSD card slot for storage expansion. On the left, there is a just a volume rocker.

Overall, the build quality is top-notch and I love an all-metal design of the phone. The Axon mini definitely feels great in the hand and I really appreciate the fact that it is easily manageable with one hand due to its 5.2″ display.

ZTE Axon Mini: DISPLAY

As far as display, we have a 5.2” 1080p Amoled panel, which is just gorgeous to look at. Honestly, it almost looks like an LCD display as it has all the good aspects like colour accuracy, brightness of liquid crystal displays but adds a little bit of punchiness and saturation, which is typical to Amoled panels.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: UI

The Axon mini comes with the MiFlavor UI, which is built on top of the outdated Android 5.1. It is a bit frustrating that the ZTE didn’t update this phone to Android 6.0.

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As usual to the Chinese skins, the MiFlavor has quite a few customisation options, gesture controls and a lot of little tweaks and extra features, which work pretty well but it depends on your habits if you will actually use them.

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For example, the Axon mini has the iris scanner but I’m not sure if this feature is actually needed since it uses the front-facing camera to scan your eyes, not the dedicated sensor. That means that this feature works well in daylight but not so great in lower-lit situations.

All in all, the UI runs fast and fluid but again, you have to live with the Android 5.1 for now but the good news is that the phone should receive the update to the Android 6.0 pretty soon.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: BENCHMARKS

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ZTE Axon Mini Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

ZTE Axon Mini comes with an octa-core Snapdragon 616 chip with the maximum clock speeds of 1.5GHz, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage. The chipset may be showing its age but it can still handle a lot of stuff.

The 3D games work well but you have to make sure that any power saving features are off. The graphics look nice although not that spectacular like on flagship phones. I encountered with just a few skipped frames but nothing major. Finally, the phone doesn’t have any overheating issues.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: MULTIMEDIA

As far as multimedia consumption goes, the Axon mini is just fantastic. The front firing speaker is loud and it has quite a lot of depth in its sound. Also, listening to music via earphones is just a blast. The integrated Hi-Fi audio chips really make a difference if you love high-quality sound with lots of depth and rich tones.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: CAMERA

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As far as the camera app, it is fast, responsive and easy to use. It has a few shooting modes to select but the settings menu works only in the portrait mode for some reason.

The 13MP camera can produce some nice and sharp looking images but it is inconsistent.

The positive side is that you will usually get a good looking image, which has accurate colours, decent dynamic range and contrast. If you are not lucky, you may take some daylight images with softer focus and not that impressive level of detail.

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When it comes to the low light shots, some of them are pretty good but again, the camera is inconsistent as some of the images have a huge amount of noise and the level of detail is pretty low.

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8MP selfie shooter is pretty good and it will definitely do the trick for social media needs.

The phone can shoot videos at the max. resolution of 1080p. The most impressive thing is… the quality of sound recording. Other than that, the level of detail is decent but the auto-exposure is too aggressive as it is jumping like crazy. Also, the footage looks shaky despite the fact that I tried to hold my hands as steady as possible. See a video review for the video sample.

All in all, the Axon mini has a good camera but it has some shortcomings like most of the cheap phones.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: CONNECTIVITY

The signal reception has been excellent and the call quality of the Axon phone is good. Also, other connectivity options like Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS work absolutely fine.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: BATTERY LIFE

The 2800mAh non-removable battery performs very well both in terms of active usage and standby. I could constantly get over 4.5 hours of screen-on time using max. auto-brightness setting, browsing the web, checking emails and social media, taking pictures and so on.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: CONCLUSIONS

So, there you have, the ZTE Axon Mini after 1 year. I have to tell you that there is a lot to love about this phone for the price of just $140. A great design and all-aluminum body makes it look like an expensive handset.

Also, the Axon mini is very compact considering today’s standards as it has 5.2” display, which is just brilliant to look at.

Also, the phone has a great battery life, a microSD card slot, good performance, fast and accurate fingerprint scanner and a high-quality sound.

While the camera can take some nice-looking pictures, it is not always reliable, especially when it comes to the low-light photography or video recording.

The biggest frustration is that the phone still runs on the Android 5.1 but there are some news that the Andoid 6.0 update is just around the corner, which is a great move by the ZTE, considering the fact that the phone is more than 1 year old.

At the end of the day, the ZTE Axon mini may not be the most powerful device even in this price range and it has a few shortcomings you have to consider but it is still quite a solid offering for such a low price.

The Gizmochina readers get a special discount with the Coupon: AXGB that lets you buy the ZTE Axon mini for $139.99 (limited 150 Pieces for this price!  Valid to Dec 31)

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The post ZTE Axon Mini Review 1 Year Later – A Great Option for just $140? appeared first on Gizmochina.

ZTE announced the ZTE Axon 7 Mini smartphone at IFA Berlin and we were present at the event to bring the latest coverage to our readers. The Axon 7 Mini looks almost identical to the Axon 7, which is a good thing since we loved the new Axon’s design. So, you have an all metal body that looks premium in gold.

One of the highlights of the Axon 7 Mini is its audio quality. Despite being named as a “Mini” handset, the phone comes with the same Dolby Atmos magic and stereo speakers as the Axon 7, along with a dedicated audio chip. The AMOLED screen is of 5.2-inches with 1080p resolution. Inside, you get the mid-range Snapdragon 617 chip with 3GB / 4GB and 32GB / 64GB options. At the back, the phone comes with a 16MP f/1.9 aperture camera. Unfortunately, there’s no OIS and the max video resolution is 1080p.

The Axon 7 Mini will go on sale in September for €300 in Germany, Spain, Poland and Russia. It will also be available in other regions such as USA, India, Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia, but pricing in these regions is yet to be revealed.

Check out our hands-on and first impressions from the video below.

The post ZTE Axon 7 Mini Hands On At IFA Berlin 2016 (Video) appeared first on Gizmochina.

ZTE announced the Axon 7 flagship smartphone sometime in May this year and the smartphone became available in store shelves in June. What looks like a toned down version of the Axon 7, going by the moniker Axon 7 Mini has been released by the Chinese smartphone manufacturer.

Recall also that the ZTE Axon 7 Mini’s specs was leaked last month, showing us what to expect from ZTE and indeed there is no difference from the leaked specs. The Axon 7 Mini design is very much similar to that of the Axon 7 flagship, although both sport different sizes with the Axon 7 having a 5.5-inch display. The Axon 7 Mini also comes with an all-metal body design, 5.2-inch display with 1080p resolution and 2.5D glass cover. The beautiful dual speaker grills on the Axon 7 is also present here.

The device is powered by a Snapdragon 617 chipset, which is the only thing differentiating the Axon 7 Mini from the Axon Mini released last year. The processor is backed by 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal memory which can be expanded up to 128GB.

Related: ZTE Axon 7 Review – A Killer $400 Phone

On the camera aspect, the ZTE Axon 7 Mini sports a 13MP rear camera sensor with LED flash and up front, there is an 8MP front facing camera. Also, the Axon 7 Mini boots Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS out-of-the-box and also has a fingerprint sensor at the back.

Coming to the price tag, the ZTE Axon 7 Mini is available in gold and silver color variants and is priced at 299 Euros in Europe, which is about 2,200 Yuan ($330).

The post ZTE Axon 7 Mini with Snapdragon 617 SoC Released for 2200 Yuan ($330) appeared first on Gizmochina.

The specifications of what may be ZTE’s toned down version of the Axon 7 has been leaked online. The phone, said to be named Axon 7 Mini, looks like a miniature version of the Axon 7 flagship device which was announced on May 26 in China and became available in Europe about a month later.

The leaked specification is also noticeably similar to the Axon Mini which was released last year with Force touch display. The ZTE Axon Mini featured a 5.2-inch 1080p Full HD OLED display with Pressure Screen technology, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 1.5GHz octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 2800mAh battery, a 13-megapixel rear camera, an 8-megapixel front-facing camera, and boots Android 5.1 Lollipop.

Quite surprisingly, according to the leaked features, the Axon 7 Mini packs a 1.5GHz Snapdragon 617 processor and that happens to be the only thing differentiating it from the Axon Mini. The Axon 7 Mini is rumored to also sport a 5.2-inch 1080p display with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of built-in storage which is expandable up to 128GB. Going on, the Axon 7 Mini is said to feature a 13MP main camera at the back, and an 8MP front-facing camera, NFC support, dual-SIM and dual standby.

Read More: First Hands On With ZTE Axon Mini With Force Touch

Presently, the Axon Mini sells for 999 yuan ($150), so it is not clear if ZTE would make the price tag on the Axon 7 Mini to be at par with its predecessor or would ramp up the price. But then it’s all still rumors, and even though there might be a mini version of the Axon 7, it may likely sport different specs from the ones leaked.

The post ZTE Axon 7 Mini specs Leaked: features Snapdragon 617 SoC & 3GB RAM appeared first on Gizmochina.