Rating with comments, features and price

We tested the second generation ZTE móvil inteligente with a camera under the screen. Here’s what you should know about the ZTE Axon 30.

Móvil inteligente manufacturers continue to strive for the day when the screen real estate of their devices no longer has to be “cropped” to accommodate the front camera. And if someone doesn’t have a better iniciativa, Cameras under the screen They appear to be the most compelling solution – still mostly branded – despite the high cost in terms of resources and effort required to develop and implement this type of system.

ZTE already thought about a an expert in this sense after the start two different generations a mobile phone with a camera under the screen. The last one is the Drivers for ZTE Axon 30a model that integrates improved camera technology under the screen to solve the problems of the first generation.

did you achieve it It depends what we are referring to: Yes, the front camera area is much better hidden, and it is practically not noticeable in everyday use. However, The estándar autofotos a few more steps below from those that cánido be captured with a “habitual” front camera.

with everything else the ZTE Axon 30 is a solvent móvilwith a technical section that places it in the mid-high range and a price that makes it fight in the same segment where models like the Rich GT 5G or the Xiaomi SMALL F3.

Test and review of the ZTE Axon 30

ZTE Axon 30 price and where to buy it

The ZTE Axon 30 is available in Spain from September 9thand cánido be purchased through the the company’s official en línea shop.

let a Starting price 499 euros for the model with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. The version with 12 gigas de memoria and 256 GB storage costs 100 euros more.

It is available in two different colors: black and blue.

Technical data sheet

Where is the ZTE Axon 30 located?

The Axon 30 is the second generation of ZTE teléfonos inteligentes after the Axon 20 with an under-screen camera.

Like the previous model, this device is not capable exhibit in the company’s catalogue; It is an intermediate model between the treble and midrange, with a lower price and slightly trimmed specs to the ZTE Axon 30 Ultra, the company’s current reference model.

In the market, this model competes with phones like that real > or the SMALL F3 from Xiaomi, two devices whose prices and technical specifications do not differ much from the ZTE model, but unlike this one, they made it clear Do you have what it takes to master the mid-range of phones.

Although yes it is axon 30 There is one special feature: it is the Móvil inteligente with a camera under the screen is the cheapest currently available that costs hundreds of euros less than models like the Xiaomi Mi MIX 4 or the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3.

The back of the ZTE Axon 30 is made of high-gloss plastic / Image: Christian Collado

design

The cuts that ZTE made in the Axon 30 Ultra are particularly evident on the design side.

Although the Ultra boasted one feature plus Aluminum and glass finish, with a pleasantly soft feel, This new model goes down a notch with a Chassis completely made of plastic, and a glossy back – also made of plastic – which doesn’t exactly stand out because of its quality. A matte finish felt much better which would add more plus.

The ZTE Axon 30 will not go down in history as the best-designed phone of recent years.

In general, it is one correct designthat doesn’t stray too far from current industry estándares. That is huge module on the back should hold the cameras in front of it reduced margins around a big screen, and curves on the sides on the back to improve grip.

The back of the ZTE Axon 30 has a different design than other models, but we wish the brand has opted for a more premium material / Image: Christian Collado

After all, ZTE has chosen to add a few differentiators to the device, for example some Lines that run and style the back of the phone or a Metallic Mini around the camera module, with a small top that the brand used to introduce the screenprint “Neovision Photography,” whatever that means.

He must not go down in history as that Cell phone with better design in the last few years, but maybe things will go the same way Móvil inteligente with the largest screen that we have seen for a long time. And that with her almost 7 inches diagonallyit is one of the teléfonos inteligentes more you have tried over the past few years.

yours was 17 centimeters high They are very impressive, while trying to operate the device with one hand is an almost impossible mission despite the device being a bit thinner than some of its direct competitors. In addition, omitted this advantage in case of a decision add a protective caseas both the thickness and size of the terminal will increase to some extent.

The black color of the Axon 30 has a slight blue cast and its back is covered with silver lines / Image: Christian Collado

It should also be borne in mind that the device It has no certification guaranteeing its resistance to water or dust.

Screen

with Diagonal 6.92 inches, it is clear that the Axon 30 screen is the clear protagonist of this model. It emplees AMOLED technology and has a Full HD+ resolution. Likewise, choose the brand that 120 Hertz refresh rate.

He is renewal rate Perro automatically switch and switch between them based on the content displayed on the screen 60 and 120 Hertz if the corresponding option is activated in the system settings. But there isn’t one LTPO type screenThe frequency change is less effective and there is no way to switch between intermediate levels between 60 and 120 hertz.

At least that’s what I kept throughout my probationary period on the phone Optionally 120 hertz, even knowing that independence would suffer to some degree. He is fluidity and suppleness what you bring with you is worth more than a few plus minutes of screen time at the end of the day in my opinion.

Otherwise, The Axon 30’s screen is good. The backlight is more than sufficient for this without problems see the screen outside, The color reproduction in “Estándar” mode is good, there is an option for that change color temperature manually vía the system settings.

At 6.92 inches, the ZTE Axon 30’s screen is one of the largest in its segment / Photo: Christian Collado

the screen is hidden the camera for autofotos through a sophisticated mechanism consisting of the integration of 16 megapixel sensor after a series of series made by Materials with high transparencyallowing light through the sensor to hit the sensor protocol between the pixels on the screen. The pixel matrix covering the sensor is density slightly lower than the rest of the panel, but still twice the number of pixels per inch compared to last year’s Axon 20, up to 400 hp.

In addition, they are developed separate algorithms cánido be adjusted in real time brightness and chromaticity of the camera area so that the displayed image is as consistent as possible with the rest of the screen.

In most cases, this field is practically indetectable unless you specifically look for it and look at the device from a different angle than usual. As a matter of fact, it’s more noticeable when the screen is off or an application emplees a completely black background. Without doubt, The hidden camera is much better than models like the Galaxy Z Fold3 by Samsung.

In general, the mechanism is convincing. And more importantly it doesn’t take points away from a very good screen as this axon has 30. Whether it is worth resorting to this system instead of a classic cutout to keep the front camera is another question that will be addressed in the dedicated section.

Also under the hidden screen fingerprint reader. Like many other companies ZTE has opted for an optical sensorlocated at the bottom of the screen.

However, the experiences with this sensor are not so good afín to other devices with afín fingerprint readers. At Axon30 often fail in fingerprint identification, and in most cases it is faster to use PIN, password, or pattern or die Unlock face recognition –the second is faster but less secure than the previous ones–.

hardware and performance

He is Snapdragon 870 controlador that this ZTE Axon 30 is one of the best performing processors of the last year and it is therefore not surprising that Performance is one of the strengths of the device.

It is a processor that has already convinced us in models such as the POCO F3 and which on this occasion once again espectáculos the performance of its seven nanometers and its eight cores, showing In most cases, the jump to Snapdragon 888 is unnecessary.

In fact, I came across one during these weeks of use Excellent performance In most cases, and unlike the Snapdragon 888, It does not come to such a pronounced overheating as it happens in the models that equip them chipsets Qualcomm’s strongest.

The ZTE Axon 30 is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor, 7 nanometers and 8 cores / Image: Christian Collado

The only problems with it are related lack of optimization in the programa which equips the phone and is transferred to a pretty bad RAM managementwhich causes background applications to close for no apparent reason and too often, especially considering that the terminal is equipped 8 or 12GB of RAM should be more than enough to avoid such situations depending on the chosen configuration.

In general, the device it offers a good experience in terms of performance, and there are no problems at all when it comes to that play, not even the heaviest titles or those that require the greatest possible graphics load. Everything works quickly and smoothly, as you would expect from a móvil in this price range.

battery and charging

In order to keep everything running, he is responsible for a Battery capacity 4,200 miliamperio-hora. While it’s far from the biggest battery in its segment, the reality is like that there is a correct resultcánido get through the day of use without any problems, they think five hours or five and a half hours of screen time.

And if you have to go through the charger, 55W load that the Axon 30 supports, you cánido fully charge the battery in just over 40 minutes. It is a pity that the brand missed the opportunity to integrate itself on this occasion Qi wireless charging.

programa and experience

MyOS 11 is the version of the programa that run through the circuits of the ZTE Axon 30. It is the latest edition of the custom layer developed by ZTE and based on Android, in this case with Android 11 as a base platform.

And I have to say that the chap it exceeded my expectations to the point that not only I don’t think it’s bad programabut it is one of the more coherent that you have seen in a terminal of Chinese origin in recent months.

The interfaz, although committed to a A style clearly inspired by iOS, aimed at the tastes and preferences of the community Chinesekeeps a good cómputo between simplicity and usefulnessby not introducing much of it bloatware no unnecessary features and limit yourself to your own in the form of custom options and really useful features. Of course: as usual with the brand’s models, it’s easy to find some bad translations or incomplete.

as interesting We must highlight the additions Integration of Google plus Home device controls in the shutdown menu or in the phone’s settings menu, which is clean and well organized. We must add to all of this fast operation and smooth animation, resulting in a premium usuario experience.

Although all is not well when it comes to the mobile experience: The ZTE Policy regarding security and operating system updates that are not entirely clear and it is unknown how many years will the Axon 30 stay updated to the latest versionand how often you receive security patches.

Likewise, from time to time we see each other with an important cut, as in the case of the Mobile phone vibration motor, even low-end cell phone; or the single speaker which the device is in its lower part, capable of a weak sound compared to other similarly priced models.

This last aspect is particularly timeless, mainly because if we look back a few years we will remember that the ZTE Axon 7 and 8 stood out, one of which is the the most powerful and highest quality stereo sound systems in their class. An inexplicable step backwards that deducts points from the device’s multimedia department.

cameras

It is clear that the front camera The big protagonist is the Axon 30, but that Primary photographic system also deserve our attention.

It is about a Four camera systemwhich is not very different from what we perro find in other mid-range phones or in upper mid-range phones.

There is a Main sensor 64 megapixel resolution and aperture f/1.8. A woman appears on the screen next to him. 8 megapixel camera Ultra wide angle and finally two supplementary sensors for macro shots and portraits 5 or 2 megapixels.

The ZTE Axon 30’s camera aplicación is the same as other models of the brand / Image: Christian Collado

The experience with the camera is…right. No longer. cánido Take good photos with the Axon 30’s main camera in most cases, and I’m afraid the kind of audience this usuario is targeting will be happy with the camera, especially when you perro ignore details like that Soften facial features in portraitsor the crowd artificial details which the programa responsible for processing the recordings adds to the images.

For the rest it is good camerathanks to the size of the sensor and its solution Capture a good amount of data with good dynamic range and performance in low-light environments. And despite the tendency to soften faces, the truth is the truth Portraits have a sharp edge and a convincing background blur effect.

The feeler ultra wide angle It meets the expectations in this device category. the level of detail that this camera perro capture it is very low on the largest sensor, and the colors are something else “from”. Also the camera suffer significantly when the ambient light does not accompany it.

Unfortunately, there is not much to say about the front camera: the Technology used by ZTE to “hide” the sensor under the screen. it is admirable. However, the A disappointing photo experience with this sensor, since it is practically impossible to take a decent photo with this sensor; Sharpness is conspicuously absent – despite the excessive amount of artificial detail the programa adds to the images – and colors are too far removed from reality. Taking advantage of the fact that it’s “invisible,” it’s better to pretend it doesn’t exist..

Photo and vídeo gallery with the ZTE Axon 30

Something else is happening with the section of the vídeo. Well, surprisingly, the Axon 30 stands out with one Great color handling when recording vídeos with the main camerathrough the realistic representation of sounds and their combination with the good dynamic range of which he spoke before, and with a system of stabilization he does his job well.