Product Review – ZTE Axon Elite


[Tech & Gadgets]

 
After the launch of the ZTE Axon Elite in Malaysia on 28 September 2015 (which you can read here – https://timchew.net/2015/10/09/zte-launches-axon-elite-in-malaysia/), I managed to get my hands on a unit to see what’s so special about this smartphone which has not one (1) but two (2) rear cameras!
Now ZTE is not new to Malaysia and if you look at your modem or router you’d probably see that it’s made by ZTE. ZTE is one of the global leaders in the mobile handset manufacturing industry in the world, offering a complete range of mobile devices, including mobile phones, tablets, mobile broadband modems and hotspots and family desktop integration terminals.
A lot of the hardware supplied to the telcos are also from ZTE. However ZTE Mobile Devices has only just recently entered the Malaysian smartphone market proper and with it came the ZTE Axon Elite which is their flagship.
First thing I had to try out when I received the smartphone was the two (2) rear cameras – a 13-megapixel and a 2-megapixel camera. The 2MP camera improves the depth of field effect for bokeh photography, and comes with a large f/1.8 aperture that spans to f/1.0, with a max shutter speed of 1/90,000 of a second. This was really quite an astounding camera for a smartphone. After shooting in bokeh mode, you can even edit the photo to adjust the focus point, and the level of depth of field effect – from none which means the whole photo is in focus, to maximum which will blur out everything except the subject in focus.
At the front is a 8-megapixel camera which unfortunately does not have beauty mode so girls, you’ll need to download third-party beauty apps if you’re the type who relies on beauty mode for your selfies.
So here’s a look at some of the photos that I shot and uploaded to Instagram, starting off with the photos shot with bokeh mode.
 

 

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 Cocktails at SkyBar, Traders Hotel.  Photo shot with the ZTE Axon smartphone with its dual rear cameras for a beautiful bokeh/ background defocus effect without any editing.  #ZTE #zteaxon #nofilter #bokeh #tradershotelkl #cocktails
A post shared by  Tim Chew (@timchew1311) on Feb 13, 2016 at 8:35am PST

Ensure that the subject is near the smartphone and there’s a nice far background behind and you’ll end up with some shots like this one of some cocktails at SkyBar in Traders Hotel Kuala Lumpur.
 

 

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 Lunch with @stephiielim yesterday.  Photo shot with the #ZTE Axon using its dual rear cameras which allows beautiful bokeh/ background defocus photos without editing or applying any filter. #zteaxon #myhottestbloggers #bokeh
A post shared by  Tim Chew (@timchew1311) on Dec 30, 2015 at 2:41am PST

It works well for portraits too like this photo of MHB’s Stephanie Lim.
 

 

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 Delicious #cake for #dessert Photo shot with the #ZTE Axon using its dual rear cameras which allows beautiful bokeh/ background defocus photos without editing or applying any filter. #zteaxon
A post shared by  Tim Chew (@timchew1311) on Dec 19, 2015 at 12:37am PST

Great for that artsy feel without the need to edit the photo.
 

 

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 #oysters  Photo shot with the #ZTE Axon Elite smartphone with its dual rear cameras which give a #bokeh effect without the need for any editing. #zteaxonelite #nofilter #ztemalaysia
A post shared by  Tim Chew (@timchew1311) on Mar 1, 2016 at 7:00am PST

 

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 Plump and juicy grilled scallops!  Photo shot with the ZTE Axon Elite with its twin rear cameras which can shoot bokeh photos with no additional editing.  #scallops #ZTE #zteaxonelite #ztemalaysia #axonelite
A post shared by  Tim Chew (@timchew1311) on Feb 28, 2016 at 8:08am PST

 

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 Sweet Janet at the Maybank Championship 2016 at the Royal Selangor Golf Club yesterday.  Photo shot with the ZTE Axon Elite with bokeh mode.  #ZTE #zteaxonelite #nofilter #ztemalaysia @zte_malaysia
A post shared by  Tim Chew (@timchew1311) on Feb 21, 2016 at 10:46pm PST

 
Quite cool and very useful especially for someone like me who’s constantly attending events and taking photos. The manual mode is useful when it’s a difficult lighting situation such as poor/ dim lighting or a lot of backlight.
 

 

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 #sushi Photo shot with the #ZTE Axon Elite smartphone. #zteaxonelite #ztemalaysia
A post shared by  Tim Chew (@timchew1311) on Mar 5, 2016 at 9:39pm PST

Fancy some sushi?
 

 

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 Mini #salmon don Photo shot with the ZTE Axon smartphone.  #zte #ztemalaysia #zteaxon
A post shared by  Tim Chew (@timchew1311) on Jan 11, 2016 at 8:01pm PST

Or how about a salmon don?
  

 

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 Shot @jiayeen with the ZTE Axon Elite smartphone using full manual mode in the camera app. #ZTE #zteaxon #zteaxonelite #ztemalaysia
A post shared by  Tim Chew (@timchew1311) on Jan 11, 2016 at 3:48am PST

The backlight was really bright so I went full manual and snapped this pic of MHB’s Jiayeen during an outing.
 

And Jiayeen took a selfie with the 8MP front camera.
 
tomcat says – The Axon Elite’s 3,000mAh battery is enough to keep me powered throughout the day on a single charge. The dual front facing speakers provide crisp and clear sound and really why would any brand still keep putting speakers at the back of the phone? The camera is really wonderful in good lighting and in poorer lighting, I have the option of going full manual to adjust the settings to get a better shot. The fingerprint sensor was so convenient that I didn’t even bother with the eye-scan, while the 32GB internal storage is adequate although at the highest setting photos shot with the camera does have quite large files. To address the space issue, I ensure that my phone is always sync-ed to Google Photos that automatically backs up my photos and allows access across devices.
 

Technical Specs

Network
GSM 850/900/1800/1900,
EVDO BC0
WCDMA: Band 1/2/5/8;
TD-LTE: Band 38/40/41;
FDD-LTE: Band 1/3/7/8/12/17/20

Platform
Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor with Adreno™ 430 GPU

OS
MiFavor 3.2 (Android  OS 5.0.2)

Dimensions
154mm x 77mm x 9.8mm

Colors
Ion Gold

Screen
5.5″ CGS (Continuous Grain Silicon) TFT LCD, 2.5D curved display.
LCD Resolution: 1920 x 1080 FHD, PPI 401
Corning Antimicrobial Gorilla Glass

Camera
Rear-Facing Camera: Dual lens 13MP, 2MP, dual LED Flash, 4K HD resolution
Front-Facing Camera: 8MP, 84 degree wide-angle, 1080p HD resolution
Video Capture: 4K HD resolution at 30 FPS

Audio
Hi-Fi Audio Chipset: AKM 4961
Microphone: 2- mic noise suppression

Security
Fingerprint scanner (five finger records), Visit Mode, TrustZone, EyePrint ID™, Voice Unlocking

Battery
3000mAh, Quick Charge™

Memory
3GB  LP DDR4  RAM + 32GB eMMC ROM, supports 128GB TF card

Interface
3.5mm Earphone port, supports quick charge 5pin Micro USB,
Dual-SIM 4FF, SD card

Features
GPS/Beidu /Glonass/BT 4.0/WIFI  2.4G & 5G, 802.11 a/b/g/n /ac   WIFI Direct
Accelerometer/Proximity/Light/ Electronic compass / Hall sensors, driver assistant

 
The ZTE Axon Elite is available in Malaysia priced at RM1,999.00 ZTE authorised retailers as well as on online marketplaces.
For more information, head over to www.ztedevices.com.my
Consumers can purchase the ZTE Axon Elite online at these eBay links:
France: http://www.ebay.fr/itm/301725125012
Italy: http://www.ebay.it/itm/291550442188
Spain: http://www.ebay.es/itm/221866281521
United Kingdom: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331639864316
Global: http://www.ebay.com/itm/271969968508 (not including the U.S. and Canada)