We bring you an exclusive review of the Chinese flagship, ZTE Axon 40 Ultra. At first glance, it impresses especially with its beautiful display without a cutout or cut-out for the front camera, attractive design, three cameras and high performance
Since this is the Chinese version of the smartphone, in the review we will also look at the overall possibilities of use in our region, but we will not leave out the cameras and other features.
Note Editor's note: The latest system update fixed the possibility of optical stabilization even at a higher resolution, namely 4K Ultra HD 60 fps (originally it was only possible at 25 fps). We have corrected and adjusted the information in the review.
Where to buy ZTE Axon 40 Ultra?
One of our most reliable partners, Trading Shenzhen, has already stocked all versions of the brutal ZTE Axon 40 Ultra flagship. It is a Chinese warehouse, but with Global Priority shipping, you don't have to worry about any additional customs fees or taxes.
ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
You do not pay any extra fees for Global Priority shipping.
We recommend choosing Global Priority transport, for which you will not pay extra. Customs fees and any VAT will be arranged for you directly by the seller. Shipping can only be selected in the cart, after entering the delivery address. Delivery with Global Priority usually takes about 15 days, but may take longer.
You do not pay any extra fees for Global Priority shipping.
We recommend choosing Global Priority transport, for which you will not pay extra. Customs fees and any VAT will be arranged for you directly by the seller. Shipping can only be selected in the cart, after entering the delivery address. Delivery with Global Priority usually takes about 15 days, but may take longer.
You do not pay any extra fees for Global Priority shipping.
We recommend choosing Global Priority transport, for which you will not pay extra. Customs fees and any VAT will be arranged for you directly by the seller. Shipping can only be selected in the cart, after entering the delivery address. Delivery with Global Priority usually takes about 15 days, but may take longer.
Technical specifications
| Title model | ZTE Axon 40 Ultra |
|---|---|
| Model designation | A2023P |
| dimensions | 163.28x73.56x8.41mm |
| Weight | 204 g |
| processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC / 3.00 GHz Octa-Core |
| GPU | Adreno 730 |
| RAM | 12 GB |
| Internal storage | 512 GB UFS 3.1 |
| Display | 6.8" AMOLED (rounded) |
| 2480 x 1116 px resolution | |
| refresh rate 120 Hz | |
| brightness maximum 1500 rivets | |
| selfie camera under display | |
| Cameras | main 64 MPx – Sony IMX787 |
| wide-angle 64 MPx - Sony IMX787 | |
| telescopic 64 MPx – Omnivision OV64B | |
| selfie camera 16 MPx | |
| System | Android 12 with MyOS superstructure |
| Drums | 5000 mAh |
| charging | USB-C 65W |
| Dual SIM | yes (Nano + Nano) |
| reader fingerprints fingers | in the display |
| WiFi | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax (WiFi 6E) |
| Bluetooth | 5.2 |
| NFC | Yes |
| Positional systems | GPS (L1 + L5) / A-GPS / Beidou / Galileo / Glonass |
Content and quality of packaging
Since we are a smartphone ZTE Axon 40 Ultra ordered from our partner Trading Shenzhen, we could look forward to the traditional and already well-known packaging. It consists of a cardboard box, in which we find the smartphone wrapped in the original box and film together with a reduction for the EU and a reinforcement in the form of bubble film.
In this case, the smartphone box is black and its dimensions are 18.3 x 9.8 x 6.7 cm. Inside, the smartphone is placed in a plastic reinforcement and wrapped in foil, as well as a paper envelope with a translucent, silicone cover.
At the very bottom of the box there are two more small boxes that contain the charging adapter and the USB-C cable. The packaging is sufficient to protect the smartphone during its journey to us. We also praise the double packaging from the seller in the form of an additional, protective box.
Design and quality of workmanship
The ZTE Axon 40 Ultra is available in silver, but you can also buy a black variant. The smartphone has a metal construction, rounded display and rear edges, so it is very comfortable to hold in the hand.
Although the weight exceeds the imaginary limit of 200 g, we are already used to such smartphones, so we have no problem with it. Of course, this is not a small and compact smartphone, so it will definitely find its opponents due to its size and weight.
The bottom edge has a charging USB-C port, a slot for 2 SIM card, speaker and microphone. The opposite, top edge is home to a second speaker and one of the sensors. The left side of the smartphone is completely empty, and on the right side we find the buttons for volume control together with the button for turning on / off or lighting the display.
The edges of the smartphone remind us very much of other Chinese models that we had the opportunity to test, specifically nubia Z40 Pro a IQOO 9 PRO. In our case, the back of the new flagship is all silver, including a relatively large module with three main cameras.
A beautiful display without overshoot
One of the biggest attractions of the new ZTE flagship is its large, 6.8″ AMOLED display. The icing on the cake is the fact that there is no punch-hole or cut-out for the selfie camera. It is located under the display, similar to the case of the Xiaomi MIX 4.
The display has FHD+ resolution, namely 2480 x 1116 px and a high refresh rate of 120 Hz. The default is the automatic refresh rate, when the smartphone itself adjusts the frequency value based on current needs. You can also choose 60 or 120 Hz manually, but the automatic setting is clearly the best choice, also in terms of battery saving.
You will also be pleased with the high brightness, which can reach a maximum value of 1500 nits, so the display is beautifully readable even in direct sunlight outdoors. The sampling rate is represented by 360 Hz and the pixel density is 400 ppi.
The colors of the display are very pleasant and natural thanks to the 100 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut. At the same time, the manufacturer also boasts a new UDC chip, thanks to which each pixel is controlled independently, which increases the quality of the image.
Selfie camera under the display
As we mentioned above, the interesting feature of this smartphone is the selfie camera, which is not visible at first glance. It is hidden under the display. We only know its location thanks to the circular cutout on the foil that is stuck on the display.
It is very difficult to notice the camera under the display, and only with a black background of the display and sufficient ambient lighting. The selfie camera has a resolution 16 MPx and the output quality is quite poor, mainly due to its location. If you often use the front camera to take pictures, this one will not please you too much. On the contrary, if you don't use it often, you'll definitely appreciate that it's hidden under the display and won't get in the way.
High performance is a matter of course
Like several other flagship models, the new ZTE Axon 40 Ultra is equipped with a processor from Qualcomm, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. It is an 8-core processor made with 4 nm technology.
It consists of 1 x Cortex-X2 3.0 GHz, 3 x Cortex-A710 2.5 GHz and 4 x Cortex-A510 1.8 GHz cores. This is followed by LPDDR5 type RAM with fast UFS 3.1 storage. We have at our disposal a version with 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage, which are above average decent values. However, there is also a brutal version with a huge 16 GB RAM memory and a huge internal storage of up to 1 TB. Its price tag is around €1 at the time of writing this review.
So we don't have to talk about the performance at all, since the smartphone is one of the best in terms of hardware that you can find on the market at the moment. You can play any game and you don't have to worry about lack of performance at all.
You will also be pleased with the good cooling, which consists of nine layers, including active cooling with the help of a cooling liquid. It doesn't really heat up excessively during gaming, so the manufacturer was able to dissipate the heat effectively.
We also installed the popular AnTuTu benchmark in the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra, in which it scored up to 972 points, placing it in sixth place. In front of it is the Vivo X064 Pro in the fifth place and behind it, the seventh POCO F80 GT.
A trio of 64 MPx cameras
Mobile photography enthusiasts will certainly be pleased with the three rear cameras, each of which has a resolution of 64 MPx. In the table below you can see more detailed specifications of individual cameras:
| The main | 64 MPx | Sony IMX787 sensor | focal length equivalent of 35 mm | aperture ƒ/ 1.6 | OIS |
| Ultra-wide | 64 MPx | Sony IMX787 sensor | focal length equivalent of 16 mm | aperture ƒ/ 2.3 | OIS |
| Periscope | 64 MPx | Omnivision OV64B sensor | 3.5x zoom | aperture ƒ/ 3.5 | OIS |
The parameters look great, now let's look at the real photos.
Main camera
The main, 64 MPx camera is located in the middle among the three rear cameras, and its angle of view is equivalent to a focal length of 35 mm, which is a kind of boundary between a wide-angle and a classic lens. The advantage is optical image stabilization.
Photos taken in good light during the day are excellent. They have beautiful and natural colors, high sharpness and also good dyenamirange. Color rendition is very good indeed, including skin tone when shooting portraits.
In direct and strong sunlight, slight burns can be seen in bright places where the sun is reflected, but it is nothing terrible. On the other hand, the images in poor light are slightly darker than we would imagine and noise appears on them and the sharpness decreases.
In the interior, for example in a shopping center, where there is only artificial lighting, it will do very well. Photos are sharp with very good dynamiwide range and without unnecessary underexposed areas, as is usual with many smartphones.
Ultra-wide camera
Second in order, but physically first from the top in the rear camera module is the ultra-wide-angle camera, which has the same sensor as the main camera, the Sony IMX787, including optical stabilization. Its focal length is equivalent to a 16 mm lens.
At first glance, the output from this camera is darker compared to the main camera. Dynamithe range is somewhat weaker and underexposed areas appear in shadowy areas, which are almost completely black with disappearing details.
The overall output is very decent, despite the minor flaws, you can take beautiful photos with this camera. Color rendition tends more towards warm tones, whether outdoors or indoors, and sharpness is worse compared to the main camera. Here too, the main camera is the best, despite the same sensors and resolution.
Periscopic lens and macro
The third is a periscopic or telephoto lens with a 3.5x zoom. It also does not lack image stabilization, but it is difficult to identify whether it is optical stabilization. The manufacturer does not provide this information and different sources differ in this information.
Here we have to admit that the quality of the output photos is excellent. Photos have natural colors, high sharpness and are full of details. Thanks to the high resolution of 64 MPx, you can additionally zoom in such close-up photos even in the post-process and still get beautiful sharp cuts.
The macro mode has automatic focus, which makes it very easy to take pictures in this mode, unlike smartphones with fixed focus, where you have to estimate the correct distance from the object.
Night mode
The smartphone also has a night mode with automatic switching on, and the quality of the output is among the best. It visibly brightens the photos, but sometimes too much, which makes the shots look unnatural. Of course, the sharpness is weaker and there is also noise, but the result is still at a good level.
The ultra-wide-angle camera offers warmer colors in night mode, and can cope with strong backlight from banners or street lighting a little worse. On the contrary, the periscopic lens has significantly cooler colors and its overall output is the weakest among the three cameras.
Below you can see a few more shots taken using the night mode.
Honestly, the cameras are very decent, but based on the presentation materials from ZTE, we expected a little more from them.
Video quality and stabilization (editor's correction)
Editorial correction: Without the latest system update, optical stabilization was only accessible at a resolution labeled 4K Ultra HD, which only has 25 frames per second. A new system patch made stabilization available for 4K Ultra HD 60 fps.
The maximum resolution in which the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra can record video is 8K, but this is essentially unusable due to low fps and lack of stabilization. Optical stabilization in combination with electronic is available at 4K quality with a maximum of 60 fps, of course, it also works with Full HD resolution.
The resulting video is very high quality and the stabilization does a very good job.
Endurance and charging
ZTE Axon 40 Ultra received a 5000 mAh battery and an 80 W charging adapter, which you can find directly in the package together with the USB-C cable. Of course, durability depends mainly on the style of use, but don't expect any miracles. In this regard, it is a standard, approximately one-day duration.
The smartphone only supports a maximum of 65 W charging, although the included adapter has a power of 80 W. This is not great for a flagship, as even 120 W charging is nothing new these days, but the new model from ZTE charges quite quickly. Unfortunately, wireless charging is missing.
The charging process looks like this:
| battery capacity | time |
|---|---|
| 20 - 50% | 9 minutes and 40 seconds |
| 75% | 20 minutes and 32 minutes |
| 90% | 27 minutes and 45 seconds |
| 100% | 38 minutes and 41 seconds |
Android 12 and MyOs 12 superstructure
Similar to the partner brand nubia, ZTE also uses the latest Android 12 with the MyOS 12 graphic superstructure in its models, which we tried for the first time when testing the nubia z40 Pro. First of all, we must highlight the overall design of the environment, which is very pleasant, clear and intuitive.
However, if you're switching from a build like MIUI, it will take a while to get used to where to look for some settings. In principle, however, the logical distribution of individual elements is similar. As an example, we can give the same access to the notification bar and the control center, both of which are accessible by swiping from top to bottom. The only difference is the place in which you perform this gesture - on the left or right side.
Overall, the environment is fluid and certainly belongs to the better managed, modern and innovative ones. In addition, it offers a really huge number of different customizations such as font style, always-on display, application grid in the menu and more. In this respect, the environment clearly stands out and everyone can adapt it to their own taste.
Lots of bloatware and a few complications
Since we are testing the Chinese version of the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra, we have at our disposal only Chinese and English language. If English is not a problem for you, you can function completely normally and fully with a smartphone. Recently, even a global, European version intended for our market was also introduced. Therefore, this version should also appear on sale soon, although its price will certainly be higher.
As usual, the Chinese version comes with a few complications besides the language itself. The first thing that has no effect on the functionality is the number of unnecessary applications that are pre-installed on the smartphone. It also includes the Chinese App Center and several apps with Chinese names.
However, we can easily and quickly uninstall the last-mentioned applications that have Chinese names. Unfortunately, we cannot do the same with several applications from the manufacturer such as Z-Voice, Z-Assistant, Z-Backup or ZTE Cares.
The second and much more unpleasant problem are notifications from apps, which sometimes do not run reliably. These are mainly chat applications such as Messenger, Viber or WhatsApp, where you have to play with the settings, lock them between running applications, enable autostart, turn off the battery manager, which limits applications with high energy consumption.
Despite all these settings, most of the time the smartphone display just lights up after receiving a message. Sometimes the application icon appears on the always-on display, sometimes not, which is a great shame. If it weren't for these issues, this would be a great system.
Support for mobile networks and NFC
Concerns about the Chinese version stem from many potential buyers, mainly in the fear of the absence of our most used 4G LTE band B20 with a frequency of 800 MHz. In this case, you can already notice on the website of the seller Trading Shenzhen in the so-called compatibility assistant that band B20 is among the supported, so you don't have to worry about anything.
We tested the new ZTE brand most of the time in the city (Košice), where we SIM cards from Telekom and 4 were mostly connected to bands B7 (1800 MHz) and B3 (2600 MHz). The smartphone used these networks because they had a better signal in our location, but sometimes it also connected to the B20 band.
Another problem is NFC with Chinese versions of smartphones, but as we have seen for ourselves also with smartphones nubia z40 Pro, which has the same superstructure, you can pay in stores with this smartphone without any problems. Just install it Google Pay and set this app as your default for payments.
Fingerprint reader in the display and stereo speakers
Like other flagship models from various brands, the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra no longer has a simple fingerprint reader in the unlock button. It found its place in the display, specifically in the lower third.
Its speed and accuracy are good, but not perfect. Occasional hesitations are no exception, but they don't happen so often that it really bothers us. But the reader is not one of the best on the market.
The stereo speakers are a disappointment for us. They completely lack bass, the maximum volume is not very high and overall they play very average.
ZTE Axon 40 Ultra: Final evaluation
The new flagship model from the Chinese brand ZTE, which is not so popular in our country, bears the model designation Z40 Ultra. The smartphone caught our attention especially with its beautiful 6.8″ AMOLED display without any cut-out or cutout for the selfie camera. In this case, it is hidden under the display.
You will also be pleased with the high performance, smooth system with a modern design and many different customizations, and three cameras, each of which has a resolution of 64 MPx. Although they are not top-notch cameras in all respects, they are among the better ones.
ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
You do not pay any extra fees for Global Priority shipping.
We recommend choosing Global Priority transport, for which you will not pay extra. Customs fees and any VAT will be arranged for you directly by the seller. Shipping can only be selected in the cart, after entering the delivery address. Delivery with Global Priority usually takes about 15 days, but may take longer.
You do not pay any extra fees for Global Priority shipping.
We recommend choosing Global Priority transport, for which you will not pay extra. Customs fees and any VAT will be arranged for you directly by the seller. Shipping can only be selected in the cart, after entering the delivery address. Delivery with Global Priority usually takes about 15 days, but may take longer.
You do not pay any extra fees for Global Priority shipping.
We recommend choosing Global Priority transport, for which you will not pay extra. Customs fees and any VAT will be arranged for you directly by the seller. Shipping can only be selected in the cart, after entering the delivery address. Delivery with Global Priority usually takes about 15 days, but may take longer.
Among the negatives, we include the weak output of the selfie camera, problems with displaying notifications and, for today, only average, 65 W charging. If it weren't for the problems with notifications, overall it would be an excellent smartphone that we could imagine as our "daily driver". However, problematic notifications slightly spoil the overall impression.
