The ZTE Axon 7 has officially been launched and there is no doubt that this phone is targeting to end the reign of household names in Android such as Samsung, HTC, and LG.
The phone packs a lot of flagship features and not surprising at all, it comes with a price tag that will make you want to buy it immediately (no pun intended). Ever since Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S7, the story has been a success all through. But does the new ZTE Axon 7 have what it takes to topple the Korean giant from the top of the table with respect to this year’s flagship? Let’s take a look at how the two – Samsung Galaxy and ZTE Axon 7 – compare against each other with respect to design and build quality, display, performance as well as pricing, among other aspects.
Design and display quality
Right from the design looks, these two phones are worlds apart. The newly launched ZTE Axon 7 comes in with a full metal unibody that gives it a nice touch, much better than what the company offered in 2015.
With Samsung Galaxy S7 aiming to be the topmost phone in the flagship space, the Korean company did not disappoint in terms of design, coming in with a fine mixture of glass and metal that gives the phone a nice feel and look. Something worth noting is that you won’t find many flagship handsets out there equipped with an IP68 certification like Samsung Galaxy S7, something that might pull you towards this direction, but it will depend on your lifestyle.
As for the display, you will find a similarity in the fact that both units have AMOLED panels, but the ZTE Axon 7 packs a larger 5.5-inch panel as compared to the 5.1-inch available on the Galaxy S7. Still, both units have QHD resolution and in fact, you will find nothing much different between the two, especially that Samsung is the maker of both phones’ display panels.
While there is no always on display on the Axon 7, you will benefit from the fact that it has a pressure-sensitive display like that of Apple’s iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. However, this feature has only been baked into the 128GB/6GB RAM variant.
Performance, and camera and pricing
A look at performances of the two phones will first lead us to the software part. This area will depend on your preferences as none of the two comes with stock Android on board. Each has a skin running on top of the stock OS, however, you might be impressed with what ZTE Axon 7 has to offer in its clean UI that is also sharp and with few customizations as compared to the TouchWiz used on the S7.
Under the hood of the Axon 7, you will find a familiar hardware configuration that includes a Snapdragon 820 SoC, an Adreno 530 graphics unit and a RAM of 4GB. If you think these are impressive specs, you will be surprised to learn that they are only offered on the standard model. As far as the premium version is concerned, you get a massive RAM of 6GB. As for Samsung Galaxy S7, you get what is available on the standard variant of the ZTE Axon 7, but this is only for the U.S. variant. There is another Galaxy S7 variant that packs an Exynos 8890 SoC and a similar RAM of 4GB.
The new ZTE phone gets an upper hand when it comes to storage options as it offers a 128GB (6GB RAM) variant while the smallest option is 64GB (4GB RAM). The latter is the top-end version of the Galaxy S7, but it is not available in the U.S., as a result, you only get 32GB. The good side of the story is that both units support expandable storage, but the S7 has an upper hand with its support for up to 200GB as opposed to the Axon 7’s 128GB.
Given that the two phones are flagships, you get a fingerprint sensor on both, but their locations vary. The ZTE Axon 7 has it on the back while the S7 has it on the front. You will not be disappointed by the batteries being offered on both handsets, with the latter having 3000mAh as compared to the former’s 3140mAh. Fast charging is supported on both handsets.
It will be hard to take away the 2016 camera crown from the Galaxy S7. The rear has a 12MP DualPixel camera with f/1.7 aperture that promises the best photos even in poor lighting conditions. On the front is a 5MP selfie wide-angle sensor with the same aperture, promising great video calls as well as detailed group selfies. On the other hand, ZTE Axon 7 packs a 20MP main camera with f/1.8 aperture and has the same features as the S7.
With the new ZTE Axon 7 yet to go on official sale, there are no details of the price. However, we expect the phone to cost much lower than the current $670 being asked for a new Samsung Galaxy S7. Since it will sell as an unlocked version, there won’t be any problem regarding the supported U.S. carriers.