ZTE Axon 9 Pro hands-on review

Gorgeous AMOLED display

ZTE really went all out when it comes to the display on the Axon 9 Pro. It has a diameter of 6.21 inches and a rather odd 18.7:9 aspect ratio. Odd or not, 16:9 content seems to look and fit well on the panel.

Perhaps the sole potential weak point of the display is the FullHD+ resolution of 2248 x 1080 pixels. We'll be the first to admit that it doesn't look all to well amid all the other tricked-out hardware on the Axon 9 Pro's specs sheet. Still, the lower resolution does have its benefits towards battery life. Plus, we found it plenty sharp in person. Also FullHD+ might just have something to do with ZTE's proprietary Axon Vision technology, as a limitation, of sorts.

There are a few other goodies about the particular OLED panel that might just help you swallow FullHD+ easier. For instance, it is certified for HDR10 playback. Also, ZTE is boasting factory calibration for every unit, with advertised deltaE values of under 2. Sweet!

Axon Vision

And then there is Axon Vision. This has got to be the spotlight feature of the Axon 9 Pro. It might sound like some silly software optimizer, but its actually a hardware processing chip, equipped with MEMC technology (Motion Estimation, Motion Compensation). It is capable of processing up to 500 megapixels of visual data every second.

What it does, in practice, is interpolate video on a system-wide level. So, if you are playing back a video source at 24 fps or, let's say 30 fps, it will interpolate that up to 60fps "automagically". Now, to anybody that has used interpolation on a TV this might sound like a double-edged sword, since it can make things look very unnatural and artificial.

From the short time we spent with the Axon 9 Pro, we can say the interpolation works well enough. Still, the negative effects to motion are still there. Sometimes you just prefer that cinematic look instead. Hopefully, the feature can be toggled off, although this wasn't demoed at the event.

Another important part of the overall visual experience on the Axon 9 Pro is a dedicated RGB sensor. It is the thing taking up a lot of space in the display notch. Like its name suggests, it can constantly measure the surrounding light for both intensity and color, then adjust the image on screen accordingly. It promises sharper lines and better colors. Just like Axon Vision, it also works system-wide so video, browsing, games- they all can benefit from it.

Other hardware

Having a flagship Snapdragon 845 at the core of your device pretty much guarantees top-tier connectivity options as well. The Axon 9 Pro reaps all the benefits from the Qualcomm chip, including blazing fast LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi ac, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, etc. You know the drill so that we won't be getting into that.

Still, there are a few other parts of the setup that we can't exactly take for granted and deserve a mention. Like the huge 4,000 mAh battery. It should provide ample capacity to power the Axon 9 Pro, especially given the AMOLED panel. Plus, it can be charged quickly, thanks to Quick Charge 4+, as well as flexibly, thanks to Qi wireless charging support.

In the spirit of really crafting a complete flagship experience, ZTE left no stone unturned and paid special attention to the audio department as well. In addition to the Dolby Atmos speakers, the Axon 9 Pro also has two Smart power amplifiers and Pure Hi-Fi tech.