You're often faced with a trade-off between price and performance when shopping for a new phone. If you want high-end features, you need to be willing to pay high prices. The ZTE Axon 7 might be the first unlocked phone to truly flip the script. The Axon 7 ($399.99, 64GB) has the same hardware, build quality, and features as phones like the HTC 10 ($648.00 at Verizon Wireless) and the Samsung Galaxy S7 ($199.99 at Samsung) , but for nearly half the price. It's also one of the first official Google Daydream-ready phones. It isn't perfect, but the Axon 7 easily earns Editors' Choice honors for offering high-end features at a midrange price.

Editors' Note: When we first published this review on July 25, 2016, the ZTE Axon 7 worked on all four major US carriers. Due to a software update, the phone is no longer compatible with Sprint or Verizon Wireless. We've updated our review to reflect this change, but it does not affect our rating. We continue to recommend the phone for GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile.

Design, Features, and Display

A solid slab of metal, the Axon 7 measures 5.97 by 2.90 by 0.31 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.17 ounces. I tested the gold model, but it's also available in gray or silver. It's similar to the metal HTC 10 (5.74 by 2.83 by 0.35 inches, 5.68 ounces) in terms of overall design, though a bit taller and heavier. It feels good in the hand thanks to a slightly curved back, but it's a bit too wide to reach across the entire screen with your thumb, or down to the capacitive buttons. You can add software home or back buttons to the side of the screen to make control easier.

The front of the phone has a slim bezel, with three capacitive buttons at the bottom. Along the sides you'll find a volume rocker and power button on the right, and a SIM card/microSD card slot on the left that worked with a 200GB SanDisk card ($49.99 at Amazon) . If you don't need the extra storage, you can put a second SIM card into the microSD slot. A fast and responsive fingerprint scanner can be found on the back, and there's a USB-C charging port on the bottom.

Above and below the display are a set of booming 2.15V speakers that give the phone some serious audio power. Cranking the volume up to full blast drew the attention of several colleagues, and was easily audible through a good portion of our large test lab. The Axon 7 gets louder than the HTC 10 and the Alcatel Idol 4S ($434.18 at Amazon) , two of the better-sounding phones we've tested. Keep in mind these are phone speakers though, so while volume can get quite loud, it's still on the tinny side. Wired audio through the 3.5mm audio jack isn't nearly as thundering as it is through the HTC 10's 1V headphone amp.

The Axon 7's 5.5-inch, 2,560-by-1,440 AMOLED display is on par with the Quad HD panels you'll find on the HTC 10 and the Galaxy S7. This resolution is necessary for Daydream, Google's new VR platform. It works out to 538 pixels per inch (ppi), which is a lot sharper than the 1080p panel you'll find on the OnePlus 3 (401ppi). The 5.2-inch HTC 10 is a bit denser (565ppi) due to its smaller size. At maximum brightness, the Axon 7 is visible outdoors, but it doesn't get as bright as the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge ($407.59 at Amazon) . That's splitting hairs, though—the display looks fantastic.

Network Performance and Connectivity

The Axon 7 is an unlocked phone with bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/12/13/17/20/25/26/29/30/41 for use on GSM networks. While it initially worked on CDMA carriers as well, a recent software update rendered it incompatible with Sprint and Verizon. If you're looking for an unlocked phone with broader network support, check out the Motorola G4 Plus , the G4 ($299.00 at Amazon UK) , and the Apple iPhone SE ( at Amazon) .

I tested the Axon 7 on AT&T. Network performance in midtown Manhattan was in line with what I've seen on other recent AT&T devices. The phone also supports dual-band Wi-Fi and NFC.

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Call quality is solid. Voices come through the earpiece sounding clean and natural, and volume is loud enough to hear calls in a noisy environment. On the other end, transmissions are clear and noise cancellation is strong, able to blot out everything short of blaring car horns from nearby traffic.

Processor, Battery, and Camera

The Axon 7 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, and turned in some of the best performance results we've seen. It scored 141,989 on the AnTuTu benchmark, which measures overall system performance. That's faster than the Galaxy S7 Edge (121,906), and toe-to-toe with the OnePlus 3 (141,429), which has a lower-resolution display.

The phone has 4GB of RAM under the hood, which isn't as high as the 6GB you get with the OnePlus 3, but it's more than sufficient. Even with games and numerous apps open in the background, I wasn't able to get the phone to stutter.

Battery life is also solid. The phone lasted for 6 hours of LTE video streaming at maximum brightness. If you enable Smart Power mode or manage the individual battery policy for apps, you should be able to get even more run time out of it. There's also an Ultra Power Saving mode that disables mobile data, Bluetooth, GPS, and reduces screen brightness to eke out more battery life. The battery itself is sealed in, but it supports Quick Charge 3.0, which lets you charge to 50 percent in 30 minutes.

Camera performance is good, but it didn't blow me away. The 20-megapixel rear camera takes crisp, clear shots outdoors with lots of detail. Colors are accurate, though Auto HDR mode (which is on by default) tends to oversaturate things a bit. 4K video at 30fps is smooth and stable thanks to both optical and digital image stabilization. There are also manual controls that let you adjust everything from shutter speed to white balance, and the 8-megapixel front-facing camera is solid. So what's the problem? Low-light performance is merely OK. Autofocus becomes sluggish in low light, and images look soft and grainy. It's no S7 Edge, which takes some of the best low-light images we've seen, but then again, it doesn't cost $800.

Software

The Axon 7 comes running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and will eventually get an update to Android 7.0 Nougat. While that's a plus, it runs a rather heavy UI layer called MiFavor 4.0. This alters the lock screen, notification shade, app icons, and the settings menu. Animations and screen transitions can also be a bit slow, so you might want to consider using a third-party launcher; I used Nova Launcher.

The changes aren't just visual. There are a lot of software features packed into the phone, some of which are more useful than others. In addition to the battery modes I mentioned earlier, there's Mi-Pop, which lets you add buttons to the side of the screen, plus a variety of gesture and motion controls. Double tap to wake and three finger pinch to take a screenshot worked in testing, but shaking the phone twice to turn on the flashlight and flipping it over to mute proved to be more of a hassle than they are worth.

The least helpful feature is Voiceprint, which lets you unlock your phone by voice. Aside from the obvious security issues, this feature just didn't work for me no matter how many times I re-recorded the passphrase. My advice: Just use the fingerprint sensor instead.

There isn't much in the way of bloatware aside from a ZTE Rewards app, but the UI itself takes up a good bit of space. Out of a total 64GB of internal storage, you're left with 49.08GB. You can always throw in a microSD card and take advantage of Marshmallow's Adoptable Storage feature if you need more space.

Conclusions

The ZTE Axon 7 is a lot of phone for a lot less money than the competition. For $400 you get a premium metal design, a top-of-the-line processor, a Quad HD display, and support for all the major US carriers. There is no other phone on the market that brings together this array of features at this price. The OnePlus 3, for instance, has a lower resolution 1080p display, while the Idol 4S has a slower processor. The Moto G4 Plus also has a slower processor, not to mention a plastic build. If you're looking for something more affordable, the Blu Life One X gets you a good mix of features at a much lower price point. But if you want flagship-level features and performance in an unlocked phone at a midrange price, the Axon 7 is the one to get, and an Editors' Choice.

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