ZTE Axon 30s Smartphone Review – The ZTE Axon series usually provides a decent set of features. But, they are mainly released in the chinses market exclusively. Recently, the smartphone makers unveiled the ZTE Axon 30s, which is supposed to be the upgraded version of the previous model of the ZTE Axon 30. Although you might not find any drastic change in the build quality and overall design layout as the changes take place only in the hardware and software section.
The company is trying to offer new perks to interested buyers with this phone. It was unveiled around September 2022 in china. But it’s not confirmed whether the company has any plans to release this device outside China for now. But still, there are a few remarkable things worth discussing. Let’s head toward the ZTE Axon 30s review to find out more details about this phone.
Table of Contents
ZTE Axon 30s Smartphone Review
Highlights
- It got a decent 6.92-inches tall aspect AMOLED panel and granted 1B color with a 120Hz refresh rate.
- Moving to the hardware department, the company provided Snapdragon 870 5G chipset inside the ZTE Axon 30s.
- As for the software layering, you are getting the new Android 12-based MyOS 12 custom interface.
- As for the camera module, a 64MP quad camera setup brings impressive results and offers a 16MP selfie lens.
- Aside from this, the device attains a Li-Po 4200 mAh battery that can refuel by a 55W charger.
Design and Display
You can compare the Axon 30 and Axon 30s side by side, and even then, you can’t find any particular difference in the design. Besides, they got a similar rectangular camera island with a quad lens configuration, which makes the phone unique from the competition. Aside from this, the company uses those old color variants that appear in the previous gen phones.
It includes the standard Blue and Black shade options. But the glossy design looks pretty impressive over the phone, while the area around the camera module has a strip-like texture that further enhances the overall appearance. Anyway, both color variants are pretty appealing and professional, so you can choose anyone that meets your requirements.
Although the phone has a plastic body, it doesn’t look inexpensive. Plus, due to the different textures on the back panel looks decent. Apart from this, you won’t find a notch hole on the 6.92-inches AMOLED panel since it got an under-display selfie camera. With this, the phone can utilize the whole screen without being bothered by a notch. The viewing experience with 1B color support and an advanced refresh rate is improved. However, the phone struggles a bit outdoors due to limited brightness support.
Memory and Internal
Under the hood, the ZTE Axon 30s smartphone equips the 7nm Qualcomm SM8250-AC Snapdragon 870 chipset, which is slightly older. But even then, it’s one of the flagship chips offered by Qualcomm for the last few years. Through this chipset, you won’t face any significant issues during gaming and heavy usage, while the Adreno 650 GPU boosts the visual aspect. All of these combine and provide robust performance.
On the other hand, lots of attractive privileges appear on the software end. With the latest Android 12 accompanied by MyOS 12, the users are not limited by the restriction and apply various customization to design their personalized user interface according to their wishes. Although, you will notice a few bloatware applications here and there in the interface.
But still, the phone is lacking proper cooling system, and due to that, you will notice heating issues when you are using the full potential of the ZTE Axon 30s. Aside from this, the Snapdragon 870 is a 5G chipset that will ensure good internet and call connectivity. Besides this, you can purchase this phone in two variants. It includes 128GB UFS 3.1 storage with 8GB RAM and 256GB/12GB RAM support with a shared SIM slot to expand storage.
Camera
It’s been a while since we have seen a quad-camera setup on any android smartphone. Usually, the 2MP depth and 2MP macro lens combo is just for show and doesn’t increase the overall impact on the camera quality. Aside from this, photos are clicked majority through 64MP primary and 8MP ultra-wide lenses. The daylight photos come out great with improved AI tech, and the colors are natural and lively.
The contrast and exposure are at the point you will notice fine details in each shot. However, the regular lowlight photos with native camera photos do feel dull, but once you have enabled the night mode, you won’t see as much noise as compared to the normal mode. Next, the ultra-wide lens gives an exceptional dynamic range in every shot without hassle. Furthermore, portrait and macro photos are also decent.
In terms of video recording, the camera app can go up to 4K resolution videos with good enough stabilization and 10-bit color support. Moreover, there are different video recording options present for the users. On the other hand, the 16MP (under display) selfie lens brings accurate colors with good exposure and acceptable details, while 1080p video recording is possible with the lens.
Battery and Others
The battery performance of the ZTE Axon 30s smartphone is average, as the company added a Li-Po 4200 mAh battery capacity. With this setup, you will only get a handful of hours of gameplay, while if you are using the phone for content streaming, you might even get more than 5+ hours of screen time. But if you use a refresh rate of 120Hz, it will use up more battery life because the battery optimization doesn’t look very good.
Anyway, you don’t face difficulties charging your phone with a 55W fast charger. It usually requires 44-minutes to refuel the battery from scratch using the original charger. As for security factors, the AMOLED panel provides a face ID and an under-display fingerprint scanner. The phone’s starting variant cost is around $236 (Rs. 19,390 in India), or approximately CNY 1,693 in China.
ZTE Axon 30s Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the ZTE Axon 30s smartphone.
| Specifications | ZTE Axon 30s |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | September 2022 |
| SIM | Hybrid Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.70 x 3.06 x 0.31 inches |
| Weight | 189 g |
| Size | 6.92 inches |
| Display | AMOLED 1B colors 120Hz ~400 PPI density |
| Protection/Others | Corning Gorilla Glass Always-on display |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2460 pixels |
| OS | Android 12, MyOS 12 |
| Chipset | 7nm – Qualcomm SM8250-AC Snapdragon 870 5G |
| CPU | Octa-core 1×3.2 GHz Kryo 585 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 585 4×1.80 GHz Kryo 585 |
| GPU | Adreno 650 |
| Card slot | microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot) |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB |
| Internal | 128GB, 256GB UFS 3.1 |
| Camera | 64 MP (wide), PDAF 8 MP (120Ëšultrawide) 5 MP (macro) 2 MP (depth) Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 4K@60fps,  gyro-EIS, HDR, 10‑bit video |
| Selfie | 16 MP (wide), under display HDR Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | No 24-bit/192kHz audio |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.1, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 3.0, USB On-The-Go |
| Sensors | Under-display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Battery | Li-Ion 4200 mAh Fast charging 55W USB Power Delivery Quick Charge 4+ |
| Colors | Black, Blue |
| Expected Price | $236 (Rs 19,390 in India) approx |
Conclusion
The ZTE Axon 30s does have good performance and the latest Android interface experience, with subtle 5G connectivity and beautiful camera results. Following this, the sound output looks quite clear and crisp, and the 10-Bit AMOLED panel gives an immersive user experience with better smooth refresh rate support.
But at the same time, it is undeniable that the phone has a lower battery capacity, which means it will reduce screen time to some extent. Besides this, this phone has been exclusive to the Chinese smartphone market for a while. So you can check out other alternative options, such as Samsung Galaxy A32 5G, as it brings all-rounder features and specs.
