ZTE is pulling a OnePlus. The company is releasing a slightly improved variant of its 5-month-old Axon 7 smartphone, but unlike the OnePlus 3, you’ll still be able to purchase the older model.
The new Axon 7 adds two more gigabytes of RAM, bringing it up to six. That’s the same amount of RAM as the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T, smartphones that sit in a similar price category. The newer model also comes with 128GB of internal storage, up from the standard 64GB available right now.
ZTE also says this newer Axon 7 features “Force Touch technology,” meaning it has a pressure-sensitive screen. Android doesn’t support this type of display yet, but it’s a feature that shouldn’t be too far off. A ZTE spokesperson tells Digital Trends that “long-pressing on an app will have shortcuts, and it allows for other capabilities that Android provides.” The representative couldn’t offer any more information.
This Axon 7 model isn’t exactly new — it has been available in China for quite some time, and it looks like ZTE is just releasing it now in the U.S. Apart from the improvements to RAM and storage, the device features the same specs as the regular Axon 7. It sports a 5.5-inch Quad HD display and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor. It features a 3,250mAh battery, USB Type-C port, 20-megapixel rear camera, and an 8-megapixel front one.
It also features dual stereo speakers, and has two audio chips that support 32-bit 192kHz audio.
OnePlus just announced a slightly improved variant to the OnePlus 3 — the OnePlus 3T, which features improvements to the front-facing camera, battery, and processor. Unfortunately, OnePlus will soon stop selling the OnePlus 3 so you’ll be forced to opt for the newer version, which to be fair is priced almost the same as the original at $439.
With ZTE, the bump in RAM and internal storage comes at a higher cost — a $100 jump from the $400 Axon 7. If the boost in storage and RAM is worth $500 to you, you can grab the device on ZTE’s website.
