ZTE Axon30 Review
This evening, the ZTE Axon 30 under-screen version was officially unveiled. At the beginning of the launch, ZTE Vice President Zhang Lei reviewed the Axon 20, ZTE’s previous generation under-screen camera phone. The phone was released in September 2020, Zhang Lei said, more than 300 days have passed, ZTE Axon 20 is still the industry’s only mass-production commercial under-screen camera phone, friendly business during this period to show the relevant technology PPT program, and ZTE is at the forefront of this technology.
From the official announcement of the real machine appearance, ZTE Axon 30 based on the previous generation of models, again to improve the front screen ratio effect, the narrower bezel around, with a perfectly hidden under-screen front camera to achieve an extremely stunning frontal visual effect.
At the same time, ZTE terminal Axon product general manager Zhang Lei said, ZTE not only last year in the industry’s first mass production of the under-screen front camera phone, but this year also again debuted a new generation of under-screen camera technology, bringing a better screen and front camera experience.
In terms of display, the ZTE Axon 30 adds two new intelligent display controls: first, intelligent pixel enhancement control and intelligent optimized display control, with a more powerful boost to the display of the under-screen camera area.
The second is the multi-drive ACE circuit arrangement, which makes the transition of the under-screen camera area more natural, with a 7-layer screen structure, special OLED and a more transparent cathode, high-transmission array, creating better conditions for under-screen cameras with up to 400ppi display and double the pixels.
In terms of shooting, ZTE Axon 30 selected large pixel front camera, single-pixel size can reach 1.12um, relying on tens of thousands of groups of data, through AI deep learning for model training, and finally achieved a transformative upgrade of the front camera new algorithm.
With the new technology, users can use AI image quality enhancement technology to significantly improve the resolution of images even in scenes with relatively dark ambient light, thus improving the problem of underexposure and noticeable noise when shooting by hand.
ZTE Axon30 Under-screen Camera Edition Price
- 6GB + 128GB = 2198 Yuan
- 8GB + 128GB = 2498 Yuan
- 8GB + 258GB = 2798 Yuan
- 12GB + 256GB = 2998 Yuan
Display
First, the ZTE Axon 30 Under Screen Edition features a 6.92-inch 2460 x 1080p resolution AMOLED display that supports up to 120Hz refresh rate and up to 360Hz touch sampling rate. The entire screen covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and supports 10bit color depth and DC dimming. Officially, this screen has received triple certification from TUV Rheinland, SGS Switzerland, and UL USA for eye protection.
The screen has been tested and is arranged with delta pixels, the overall look, and feel of the screen have improved significantly compared to its predecessor, the color shift in large angle squinting has been further improved. 120Hz has been introduced and the silky smooth feeling of information flowing through the fingertips can be perceived, the experience is very comfortable.
Front Camera
Of course, the biggest highlight of the ZTE Axon 30 under-screen version is the debut of a new generation of under-screen camera, which has a new built-in UDC Pro screen display chip that will record the time and temperature of each pixel and build a computational model to control the consistency of the brightness and chromaticity of the under-screen front camera area and the screen as a whole in real-time.
It also enhances and optimizes the display of each pixel, making the display of the under-screen camera area more detailed and the edge transition more natural, which in turn gives the under-screen front camera area a high score of up to 400 PPI, with little difference on the main screen. At the same time, the light transmission rate is maintained at around 20% as in the previous generation.
As you can see from the actual photo, it is difficult to distinguish the area of the under-screen front camera of the Axon 30 under the front view, and it is only when you look at it at a great angle, which is not the normal usage scenario, that you can observe this area more obviously. (Left Axon 20, right Axon 30 under-screen version).
As we all know, the under-screen front camera is a trade-off between display and transparency, and it’s very difficult to improve the imaging and hard to match the punch-out front camera.
So this time the ZTE Axon 30 Under Screen Edition’s under-screen front camera uses an OV16E1Q sensor with an effective 16-megapixel’s and a native unit pixel of 1.12μm, which can output 2.24μm large pixel photos in four, and the hard parameters are still a big improvement over the previous generation. Coupled with the Spiritual Transparency Algorithm 2.0, there will be about one second of algorithmic optimization after imaging into the album, and imaging in well-lit scenes is still possible. The following are the selfie samples from the ZTE terminal brand manager.
Touch and Body
The ZTE Axon 30 under-screen version is made of 3D composite bright molecule material, which is commonly known as plastic. Thanks to the non-mechanical design of the under-screen camera, the phone has a slim 7.8mm body, while the large 6.92-inch body also disperses the weight of 189g to some extent, and the whole machine still feels relatively light to hold.
The design of the body, “AXON” logo area made a similar carbon fiber look and feel of the nano-level light texture design, the rest of the bright surface treatment, stitching is still very design sense.
Rear Camera
Probably because the under-screen front camera will affect the internal stacking, ZTE Axon 30 under-screen version does not use a multi-primary camera scheme. The image specifications are 64MP IMX682 main lens + 8MP Hi846 120° ultra-wide-angle lens + 5MP GC5035 3cm macro lens + 2MP GC02 depth of field lens.
Among them, IMX682 we are more familiar with, it is considered the last two years in the end product more application of the main camera, with 1/1.73 inch bottom, support four in one output 16 megapixels 1.6-micron photos, most of the environment is still acceptable performance, and then considering the price point is also acceptable. The following is a set of real-life sample photos.
Performance
The ZTE Axon 30 under-screen version uses the Snapdragon 870 processor, one of Qualcomm’s flagship processors launched this year, based on TSMC’s 7nm process, with a 1+3+4 triple-cluster CPU architecture, increasing the mega-core frequency from 2.84GHz to 3.2GHz. equipped with a large area of VC liquid cooling even thermal plate + high power thermal gel + graphene copper-based composite material composed of triple ice VC liquid cooling In addition to the cooling system, the machine also supports up to 12GB + 8GB memory fusion technology. First is a set of theoretical performance tests, the overall results are in line with expectations.
In the popular hand game “King of Glory” test, as the ZTE Axon 30 under-screen version is not yet adapted to 90 fps ultra-high frame rate mode, so the test here is the extreme picture quality 60 fps mode, the running smoothness is still quite good, basically can run at full frame, no obvious performance fluctuations.
In the popular hand game “Peace Elite” test, the smooth picture quality 90 maps anti-aliasing mode, ZTE Axon 30 off-screen version of the average frame rate at about 89.6fps, from the fluctuations in the performance curve can be seen that the overall operation is still very smooth, there is only a slight performance fluctuation when driving vehicles quickly switch scenes.
The average frame rate of the ZTE Axon 30 under-screen version is 80.3fps, and there are obvious frame drops in scenes such as parachuting, driving through houses, and engaging in battles, which is still quite hard to run.
But after all, this is the summer of high ambient temperature, even Qualcomm’s current theoretical performance of the strongest Snapdragon 888 will inevitably appear frame drop phenomenon, Snapdragon 870 so performance is not bad. Of course, if you want to play with high quality and high frame rate, it is recommended to use the cooling back clip.
The ZTE Axon 30 Under Screen Edition has a built-in 4200mAh battery, supports up to 55W Super Fast Charging, supports QC4+ and PD fast charging protocols, and is very compatible with third-party charging heads. After testing, it can be charged from 0% to 37% in 10 minutes, 63% in 20 minutes, and 43 minutes to 100%.
ZTE Axon30 Review: Summary
ZTE Axon 30 under-screen version once again led the smartphone to the road of all-screen, and this time the under-screen front camera also based on the previous generation will be comparable to the display effect and imaging experience of traditional cell phones, can be said to be significant.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor + 120Hz high brush screen + 64MP quad-camera + 55W fast charging, 2198 yuan starting price can be said to be full of sincerity so that more people have the opportunity to experience the industry’s latest cutting-edge technology is probably one of the original intentions of the ZTE definition of this product.
