At that price, ZTE is hoping the Axon 7 can take on the likes of costlier rivals such as Samsung's Galaxy S7, HTC's 10 and LG's G5. It is armed with the same Snapdragon 820 CPU with 4GB of RAM and 2K screen resolution as those competitors.

However, the Axon's $400 price tag is the same as the OnePlus 3, which also sports a Snapdragon 820 chip, but comes with a whopping 6GB of RAM. The OnePlus 3's display is a less-sharp 1080p, though.

Its high-res AMOLED panel helps the Axon 7 achieve compatibility with Google's Daydream mobile VR platform, and the company says the device will be Daydream-ready by the fall.