ZTE Axon Pro review: Ready and willing

Unboxing

The retail package of ZTE Axon Pro is as high-end as its aspirations. Inside the nicely textured white box, you will find the handset, a couple of booklets, a tool to eject the nano-SIM, and a pair of high-end in-ear headphones by JBL.

An impressive retail package

It is worth noting that few handsets in this price range come with a bundled pair of headphones out of the box, much less a premium one by JBL. ZTE surely deserves a hat tip for shipping the accessory alongside the Axon Pro.

Design and build quality

ZTE has already proven that it can churn out well-designed phones with the Nubia product range, so it is hardly a surprise that the Axon Pro is quite a looker in the flesh. Designed specifically with the US market in mind, the handset is available in three fashionable color schemes - Ion Gold, Chromium Silver, and the epically named Phthalo Blue found in our review unit.

The Axon Pro is quite a looker in the flesh

The body of the smartphone is dominated by premium textures, as well as a plethora of small details. The latter include fantastic looking small triangular elements throughout the earpiece, the speaker grille, and the camera of the Axon Pro.

Tiny design details add a lot of character

The blue variant also features nicely contrasting matte gold touches around its camera and side buttons. Overall, the attention to detail exhibited throughout the design of the Axon Pro is nothing short of impressive, especially considering the device's price range.

Build quality of the Axon Pro is excellent. The handset features metal body, polycarbonate speaker inserts in the front, and display covered by Corning Gorilla Glass 3, so it will certainly hold up well even in the hands of a power user.

The Axon Pro is built solid

To show how serious it is about attracting customers, ZTE offers the Axon Pro with an eye-popping two-year warranty that includes free shipping both ways, as well as advanced exchanges. Even more impressively, the Chinese manufacturer's coverage includes any damage to the phone, including cracked screen and water havoc.

Physical measures of the ZTE Axon Pro are 154 x 75 x 9.3 mm, while its weight tips the scale at a solid 175 grams. All in all, the handset is not for people who are looking for a compact smartphone.

ZTE Axon Pro sized up against LG G4

The Axon Pro is surely not the easiest 5.5" smartphone to handle. Its considerable measures and slippery metal body require a bit more attention than we wished for and two hands at almost all times.

Handling the Axon Pro

Display

ZTE Axon Pro features a 5.5" TFT LCD display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. The unit's pixel density a flagship smartphone-worthy 534ppi.

The screen is made by Sharp

Made by Sharp, the screen of the device features Continuous Grain Silicon tech. The latter reportedly allows faster electron rates when compared to conventional LCD panels, as well as fewer individual components.

A closer look at the display

The display of the smartphone boasts impressive brightness and viewing angles. Its contrast doesn't quite match that of an AMOLED unit, but is stellar nonetheless. Overall, the screen of the Axon Pro is arguably one of the best solutions you can find on a sub-$450 smartphone.