ZTE Shows Off The Axon Elite In The 2015 IFA Berlin

ZTE is known for being a provider of network solutions. From modems to mobile network equipment, they are Huawei’s direct competitor for this field.

In terms of mobile phones, though, ZTE’s minor fame seems to be restricted in Asia. The rest of the international arena has barely known of its presence. This is probably why ZTE sought to showcase its innovation prowess in the IFA Berlin 2015 with the ZTE Axon Elite, a heavy-spec’d phablet.

To quote Brian Heater of the Tech Times, the ZTE Axon Elite seems to be:

“[A] jack of all trades, master of none.”

He points out that the ZTE Axon Elite has features that:

“All adds up to a phone without a particular focus.”

And that this design sensibility is:

“A bit of an ADD approach with one or two interesting features that don't add up to a cohesive approach.”

With these notes, a prospective buyer may well be taken aback and may hesitate, in spite of the model’s features and good points. But how about letting the specs speak for themselves?

Processor/Chipset: Octa-core Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 made of one 2 GHz Quad-core A57 Cortex, and one 1.5 GHz Quad-core A53 Cortex

RAM: 3GB

GPU: Adreno 430

OS: Android 5.0 Lollipop

Internal Storage: 32GB

Connectivity: GSM, HSPA, LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n

Expandable Storage: MicroSD up to 128GB

Display: 5.5 inches with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels and a ~401 ppi pixel density

Cameras: Primary: 13MP + 2MP Dual Camera with an output of 4128 x 3096 pixels, dual-LED flash, and autofocus; Secondary: 8 MP with face detection and smile activation

Battery: Non-removable 3000mAh Li-Ion battery

Goodies: Smile activation for the front camera, fingerprint reader, voice unlocking, eye scanner

The ZTE Axon Elite brings interesting things to the table, such as over four ways to unlock the device: A fingerprint reader, an eye scanner, voice recognition, as well as the standard Android lock screen controls such as the dot pattern unlocking pad. It also comes with a smile-activated 8 megapixel front camera. A pretty interesting feature.

The unit itself comes in a definitely premium “Ion Gold” color scheme. It has stitch details on the back of the unit, and its speaker grills certainly make the unit look badass.

However, as Brian Heater notes, the phone fails to define itself as a specialist in one area. It’s a mix of high-powered and interesting features with no real focus.

On paper, the specs are definitely decent, and the features are interesting, to say the least, impressive, to be overarching.

A prospective buyer should just take the $450 ZTE Axon Elite for a spin and decide.