ZTE Axon Pro review: Ready and willing

Introduction

The Axon Pro is ZTE's ambitious entry into the fiercely competitive market for high-end smartphones in the United States. Before the newcomer's arrival, the Chinese manufacturer has been moving mostly low-end and mid-range handsets across the Atlantic.

As the first member of the brand new flagship family, the Axon Pro aims to make a splash by combining premium design and build quality, high-end specs. They include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC, 4GB of RAM, 13MP main camera with dual sensor, and 5.5" QHD display, tucked into a metal body.

ZTE has topped the high-end specs of the Axon Pro up with an attractive off-contract price tag and unprecedented for the segment two-year warranty. Check out the device's key features, followed by some of its main disadvantages below.

Key features

• 5.5" CGS TFT LCD display by Sharp with QHD resolution (2560 x 1440 pixels); 534ppi; Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset; 2GHz octa-core CPU; Adreno 430 GPU; 4GB of RAM
• 13MP main camera with dual-LED flash; 2MP secondary sensor; dedicated camera button
• 4K video capture at 30fps; 1080p video capture at 30fps; 720p video capture at 120fps
• 8MP front-facing camera
• Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with light custom UI
• 32GB of built-in storage
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE; UMTS/HSPA+; 4G LTE connectivity
• Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.0; NFC; FM radio; microUSB port; GPS with A-GPS
• Dual-microphone active noise canceling
• Attractive off-contract price tag and unprecedented two-year warranty
• A duo of dedicated audio chipsets (ADC and DAC)
• Bundled premium in-ear headphones by JBL
• 3,000mAh non-removable battery

Main disadvantages

• No fingerprint sensor (the Chinese variant of the smartphone has one)
• Only 32GB of built-in memory available; no microSD card slot
• Battery is not user-replaceable
• No stereo speakers

A quick glance at the key features of the Axon Pro reveals that ZTE has really focused on making the smartphone a multimedia powerhouse. The device's audio hardware and the bundled premium handset all but promise to keep it head and shoulders above its competitors in this department.

As controversial as it has been, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 chipset promises that the Axon Pro will be anything but a slouch in terms of performance, especially when coupled with 4GB of RAM.

The light UI on top of Android 5.1.1 looks quite promising too. The same goes for the secondary camera sensor above the 13MP main camera.

Lack of expandable memory is a big question mark in the device's spec sheet. The same goes for the sole option of 32GB of built-in memory.

ZTE Axon Pro official photos

As always, we will kick our review off with unboxing of the smartphone, followed by our take on its design and build quality. Head over to the next page for a closer look at the ZTE Axon Pro!