#A Great Phone in Its Own Right – Review Geek

Good googly moogly, this phone is juicy! ZTE stuck some of the best available hardware in the Axon 30 Ultra, and it shows. Just look out for some of the quirks, like the lack of wireless charging.

Specs

• Display: 6.67-inch, FHD+ (2400×1080), 20:9 aspect ratio, 144Hz, AMOLED curved display
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G
• RAM: 8GB (Reviewed), 12GB
• Storage: 128GB (Reviewed), 256GB
• Rear Cameras: 64MP Wide Angle Lens (Sony IMX686/OIS/F1.6), 64MP Ultra Wide-Angle Lens (Samsung GW3/120° Wide/ Ultra-Low Distortion/F2.2), 64MP Portrait Lens (Samsung GW3/F1.9), 8MP Periscope Telephoto Lens (OIS/5x Optical Zoom/60x
  Hybrid Zoom)
• Front camera: 16MP Selfie Camera
• Ports: USB-C
• Headphone Jack: No
• Battery: 4,600mAh with 65-watt Fast Charge (Charger included)
• Wireless Charging: No
• Biometrics: In-display fingerprint reader, Face Unlock
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 4×4 MIMO; Bluetooth 5.2; NFC
• 5G Compatibility: 5G: n1/n3/n28/n41/n78 (Only works with T-Mobile’s 5G networks)
• Ingress Protection: None
• Android Version: Android 11 (MyOS 11)
• Colors: Black
• Price as Reviewed: $750 (Reviewed), $850

ZTE stuck with a subdued but modern design for the Axon 30 Ultra. It has a large display with slightly curved edges (very tasteful), a giant camera hump (not tasteful), and a glass backside. All in all, it looks and feels like a mellow version of the newest Samsung phones (as many Android flagships do).

Of course, because it’s piggybacking off of Samsung’s design, the Axon 30 Ultra’s camera hump keeps it from laying flat on a table if you don’t have a phone case. ZTE includes a clear, hard, plastic case in the box, and while it isn’t the most stylish thing, it gets the job done.

I spent a bit of time using the Axon 30 Ultra without its case and found that the phone can be difficult to use with one hand. Reaching across the 6.67-inch display is a challenge, and the phone’s slippy, glass backside doesn’t help. Of course, this is just part of using a large phone, and the glass back won’t be an issue if you use a case.

Why do Apple, Google, and Samsung dominate the mobile phone market? I’m sure there are a ton of reasons, but as a customer, I tend to stick with these brands because their camera technology is years ahead of the game. Even competitors that dump tons of resources into camera tech, like OnePlus and Sony, are always one step behind the big dogs.

It’s a crappy situation. Even if a manufacturer matches the processing power or display quality of big-name flagship phones, it still needs to sell a device with a great camera. Otherwise, many customers and critics won’t be happy with it, regardless of the price.

So, it’s hard to talk about the Axon 30 Ultra’s cameras. They take great photos—way better than any other ZTE phone. The camera selection and software are also impressive. The main, ultra-wide, and portrait cameras have 64-megapixel sensors, and you can shoot with all three lenses at once to improve your chances of getting a great shot. There are also a ton of built-in filters, a night mode, and 8K video support.

Images shot by the Axon 30 Ultra have a crisp, detailed look, which is what you’d expect from such high-megapixel sensors. The ultra-wide lens is a real winner and will definitely appeal to those who are sick of using the low-megapixel ultra-wide lenses found in most phones. I’m also a big fan of the portrait lens, which feels really wide, and the 8-megapixel telephoto lens offers OIS and 5x optical zoom.

But the Axon 30 Ultra has a habit of overprocessing images. Its night mode doesn’t live up to the big brands, and low-light performance is unreliable. There’s also a noticeable difference in color, saturation, sharpness, and contrast between each camera. And while I’m a fan of the portrait lens, it doesn’t have OIS, so it’s nearly useless in low-light environments, and the blurred background effects just don’t look good. (Funny enough, the best portrait mode photo I shot was the one of my cat shown above.)

In the below images, which don’t look very good, you can see two examples of the Axon 30 Ultra’s night mode and a pair of outrageously overprocessed pictures shot in the daytime. I found that the night mode is usable but often produces blurry shots, and that the Axon 30 Ultra has a lot of trouble processing vibrant subjects, like bright green grass and magenta flower petals, even in favorable lighting.

Top: Night mode; Bottom: an example of overprocessed shots in bright lighting.

If I were to describe the camera experience on this phone with one word, I would call it “inconsistent.” As shown in the above photos, the ZTE Axon 30 Ultra can take gorgeous pictures, even indoors if the lighting’s right. All of its lenses are useful and usable, providing more flexibility than the average camera phone. But for every good photo shot on the Axon 30 Ultra, there’s a handful of pictures that look like they were overedited in Lightroom by a high school photography student.

Oh, one more thing. The camera has a shutter sound that you can’t turn off. Hopefully ZTE fixes this problem with a future update because it’s one of the most annoying things that I’ve ever seen in a phone. I also dislike how the Axon 30 Ultra adds a watermark to all photos, though it’s easy to disable.

The Gist: Buy It for Its Merits, Not Its Price Tag

To that end, I think that the Axon 30 Ultra might be a hard sell for some people. It’s a killer phone with one of the most flexible camera selections I’ve ever seen (even if photo quality is inconsistent), but it isn’t the best phone ever and really isn’t that much cheaper than the competition.

So if you buy the Axon 30 Ultra, I suggest doing it for the phone’s merits, not its price tag. Maybe you’re looking for a more usable ultra-wide lens, or a 144Hz display, or a flagship Android phone that comes from anyone other than Samsung. The Axon 30 Ultra is a fantastic phone in its own right—just don’t ignore its flaws or let its price cloud your judgment.