The ZTE Axon 9 Pro runs stock Android, boasts stereo speakers and a large battery

After skipping a year, ZTE’s budget-friendly flagship is back – check out the Axon 9 Pro. It runs stock Android now (8.1 Oreo) on Qualcomm’s top Snapdragon while sipping power from a large 4,000mAh battery.

Starting with the screen, it’s still an AMOLED panel but that’s where similarities end. It’s bigger, 6.21”, it has a notch and it has 1080p+ resolution (down from QHD on the Axon 7). The good news is that the screen is HDR10-capable and it has an RGB sensor for accurate white balance.

Even better – Axon’s powerful stereo speakers are still on board. They are Dolby Atmos-enabled to boot. Unfortunately, the 3.5mm headphone jack is gone.

ZTE Axon 9 Pro

The dual camera has gained OIS. It’s a 12+20MP setup where the secondary sensor has a 130° wide-angle lens. The 12MP camera uses a Sony IMX363 sensor with an f/1.75 aperture and relatively large 1.4µm pixels.

Going back to the notch for a second, there’s a 20MP selfie camera in there (with a fixed focus f/2.0 lens). This camera is also responsible for Face recognition. There’s a fingerprint reader on the back.

As expected, the Axon 9 Pro is powered by a Snapdragon 845 chipset. It has 6GB of RAM (LPDDR4X) and 128GB of built-in storage (UFS 2.1). Unlike the OnePlus, the Axon is a dual-SIM phone that offers a microSD slot.

The ZTE Axon 9 Pro is waterproof • It has Dolby Atmos-enabled stereo speakers

You can rely on QuickCharge 4.0 to quickly charge up the 4,000mAh battery over USB-C. Or you could use the Qi wireless charging. So, the back is made of glass (scratch-resistant, of course). And did we mention that it’s waterproof (IP68)? Because it is.

The ZTE Axon 9 Pro will cost €650 at launch. There are no dates yet, but Germany will be among the first markets to get it and then availability will expand to more European markets and in Asia. No, it’s not coming to the US.