ZTE Axon 7 review: The brightest sound

Performance

The ZTE Axon 7 is powered by a Snapdragon 820 chipset, which is pretty much as good as a mobile chipset for Android gets these days and to find it in a device in this price range is rather amazing. As a result, the Axon 7 is capable of stepping up to the ring of the big 2016 flagships.

It only seems natural to pit the Axon 7 against the likes of the OnePlus 3, Huawei Honor 8 and even the big dogs from Samsung, LG and HTC.

We kick things off with GeekBench 4 and AnTuTu, which is a compound benchmark. Sadly for ZTE, it turns out that the Axon 7 isn't as feisty as the rest of the Snapdragon 820 crop. The gap in the results isn't worrying though, and we are inclined to think that poor software optimization is to blame.

In the CPU-based GeekBench tests, especially the multi-core one, the Axon 7 is left in the dust of the Galaxy S7 and the Kirin chip found in the Huawei Honor 8.

GeekBench 4 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Huawei Honor 8
  5447
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  5245
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  4456
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  4130
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
  4128
• OnePlus 3
  4045
• ZTE Axon 7
  3990
• LG V20
  3890
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  3885

GeekBench 4 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S7
  1854
• Huawei Honor 8
  1720
• OnePlus 3
  1719
• ZTE Axon 7
  1702
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
  1696
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  1694
• LG V20
  1590
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  1551
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  1546

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• HTC 10
  154031
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  151619
• OnePlus 3
  141764
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
  132849
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  132084
• ZTE Axon 7
  129926
• LG V20
  101167
• Huawei Honor 8
  94892
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  85162
• Alcatel IDOL 4S
  82744
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  77442
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
  35134

Moving on to graphics, the Adreno 530 inside the Snapdragon 820 is a definite powerhouse by current standards. The QHD resolution of the Axon 7's 5.5" panel doesn't seem to be much of a hurdle for the GPU. Sadly, the slight, but notable, performance handicap we saw in the CPU department is present in GPU tests as well.

Our review unit didn't exhibit any signs of overheating during the tests, so the culprit is definitely not thermal throttling.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  32
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
  32
• ZTE Axon 7
  31
• HTC 10
  31
• OnePlus 3
  31
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  28
• Huawei Honor 8
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  9.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  9.5
• Alcatel IDOL 4S
  9.3
• Huawei Mate S
  3

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 3
  30
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  18
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
  16
• ZTE Axon 7
  15
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  15
• HTC 10
  15
• Huawei Honor 8
  11
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  9.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  9.4
• Alcatel IDOL 4S
  5.1
• Huawei Mate S
  3.4

GFX 3.1 Car scene (offscreen)

Higher is better

• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  19
• OnePlus 3
  18
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
  18
• HTC 10
  18
• ZTE Axon 7
  15
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  15
• Huawei Honor 8
  6.3
• Alcatel IDOL 4S
  5.6
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  5.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  5.4

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 3
  18
• ZTE Axon 7
  16
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  12
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
  10
• HTC 10
  9.9
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  7.9
• Huawei Honor 8
  6.9
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  5.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  5.4
• Alcatel IDOL 4S
  3.4

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  2698
• OnePlus 3
  2677
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
  2045
• Huawei Honor 8
  2029
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  2004
• HTC 10
  1965
• ZTE Axon 7
  1889
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  1648
• Alcatel IDOL 4S
  1575
• Huawei Mate S
  981

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  36322
• OnePlus 3
  32715
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  32345
• ZTE Axon 7
  32243
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
  32160
• HTC 10
  28882
• Huawei Honor 8
  16592
• Alcatel IDOL 4S
  14651
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  13666
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  12190
• Huawei Mate S
  5368
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
  5210

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  2690
• OnePlus 3
  2365
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
  2352
• ZTE Axon 7
  2346
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  2128
• Huawei Honor 8
  2099
• HTC 10
  1839
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  1728
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  1696
• Alcatel IDOL 4S
  1647
• Huawei Mate S
  914

Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S7
  732
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  648
• OnePlus 3
  625
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
  624
• ZTE Axon 7
  606
• Huawei Honor 8
  345
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  287
• Alcatel IDOL 4S
  244

All in all, the performance offered by the Axon 7's hardware is spectacular, although not trailblazing. It's a well spec'd phone, which is let down by poor utilization of its resources. On a positive note, it's still plenty fast and responsive. You won't have any troubles or hiccups using the Axon 7, even under heavy loads.