The ZTE Axon 7 is the latest flagship smartphone on the market promising the biggest and best specs. Unlike many flagships, the Axon 7 also promises a pricetag that may be a bit easier for smartphone enthusiasts to swallow. The smartphone, which was announced Thursday, is now selling in China, while U.S. availability has not yet been revealed. However, the smartphone, which includes several of the latest top features in mobile technology, will sell for $450 unlocked when it becomes available.
Standard features on the ZTE Axon 7 include a 5.5-inch-QHD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, a 20-megapixel camera rear camera and 8-megapixel front camera, a 3,140mAh battery, a USB Type-C port, the Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system and Ion Gold and Quartz Grey color options. However, there will be other configurations of the smartphone, including one with a 5.2-inch display and one with a 6-inch display, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.
ZTE’s most premium version of the Axon 7, which will be available in China, will also exclusively feature a Force Touch mechanism, similar to the 3D Touch feature introduced on the iPhone 6s in 2015. The feature allows users to apply different levels of pressure to the touchscreen to perform different tasks. While features such as 6GB RAM may quickly attract power users including developers, the manufacturer strategically paired its high-capacity product with the Force Touch feature to bolster interest.
“It can’t be just storage,” ZTE VP Technology Planning and Partnerships, Jeff Yee told iDigitalTimes. “If we only did a higher configuration based on storage along with an expandable slot, people would say, ‘gosh I have to pay $50 more for 128 versus 64, when I can get a 128GB memory card for $20.’”
Devices with higher memory configurations, while admirable on paper, have struggled on the market, particularly for Android manufacturers. Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ in 32GB and 64GB modules , while bringing back expandable storage after the 128GB internal storage modules introduced on the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge failed to charm consumers. However, Yee expects, in addition to the Force Touch feature, many consumers may be attracted to the ability to expand their 128GB internal storage smartphone with a 128GB microSD card.
For now, there are no plans to bring the Force Touch model of the Axon 7 to the U.S., largely because technology has not yet caught up. Since use of Google services is limited in China, developers write unique SDKs for local Chinese app stores, making it easier for ZTE to introduce the Force Touch feature for that market, according to Yee. U.S. availability of the super premium Axon 7 will largely be dependent on Google’s plans for its upcoming Android N software.
“For Force Touch to reach the U.S. and other mainstream applications, Google needs to support Force Touch in Android N, which we’ve convinced them to do. But it’s coming as a maintenance release to N,” Yee told iDigi. “When the timing is right and there’s applications, we’ll be bringing that configuration to the U.S.”
Google confirmed, its plans to implement a pressure sensitive display mechanism into Android N to Mashable in April; however, the tech giant has not delved into much detail on exactly how the feature will work. So far, Google has only detailed that Android N will include a feature called Launcher shortcuts , which will allow users to access information from certain applications without opening the application. Tech blog Phandroid used a developer preview of Android N to demonstrate how the feature may work on a weather app. The users prompted a drop-down menu of the 5-day forecast by swiping down over the app icon in a home screen.
Android N recently became available for public Beta; however, the software likely won’t be available officially for several weeks or months. There is no telling when this Force Touch update to Android N will become available. While showcasing many Android N features at the Google I/O Keynote last week, there was no mention of a Force Touch feature.
