ZTE Axon 40 Ultra review

introduction

When did we decide that the focal length of 24-26mm was the “default” for the “main” smartphone cameras? And with the proliferation of ultrawide cameras and a few other trends often getting very close to the ultrawide and the “main” camera, the “default” isn’t a bit wasteful, when you can have a slightly longer native focal length, for perspective. different, between your ultrawide and your telephoto lens? Something like this must have been on the mind of the team behind the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra we have here.

The Axon 40 Ultra calls its main camera “Humanity”, which could be a misuse of English, given how it should be used to take pictures of people. To better serve this purpose, it comes with a 35mm lens, a classic focal length revered by many (and vocally hated by others, but it doesn’t make sense). To be fair, the previous generation already had a 35mm camera (a different one, more on that later), but it didn’t have to take responsibility for being the main unit – there was a 26mm camera for that. Well, the 35mil is the protagonist of the Axon 40 Ultra story.

Then there is the ultrawide camera. It uses the same sensor as the main one, paired only with a 16mm equivalent lens – perhaps ZTE has realized that with the longer main camera, a less extreme ultrawide is a safer bet. Or it wasn’t that easy to design a larger lens around that large 64MP sensor.

A third 64MP sensor, albeit smaller, joins a periscope lens to function as the Axon’s telephoto lens. This gives you 3.5x zoom power, if you’re counting from an average 26mm main cam, which the Axon itself doesn’t have – in slightly more “absolute” terms, it’s a 91mm equivalent. So this year’s Axon Ultra offers a triple camera like no other.

This could be said of the selfie camera, even if we ourselves are not so enthusiastic about it. It’s an under-display display, so it’s clean – this last iteration is pretty much invisible too, so you get a crop-free display. We just don’t expect great selfies from it.

Camera system aside, the Axon 40 Ultra is packing more or less standard 2022 flagship hardware. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is at the helm, the OLED display can reach a refresh rate of 120Hz, the 5,000mAh battery charges up to 65W.

The specifications of the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra at a glance:

• Body: 163.2×73.5×8.4 mm, 204 g; aluminum structure, glass back.
• Screen: 6.80 “AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10, 1116x2480px resolution, 20: 9 aspect ratio, 400ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 and 3×2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 and 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 730.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• Operating system / software: Android 12, MyOS 12.
• Rear camera: Standard (main): 64 MP, f / 1.6, 35mm, 1 / 1.7 “, PDAF, laser AF, OIS; Telephoto lens: 64 MP, f / 3.5, 91mm, 1/2 “, PDAF, OIS, 3.5x optical zoom (vs 26mm cam); Ultra wide angle: 64 MP, f / 2.4, 16 mm, 1 / 1.7 “, PDAF.
• Front Camera: 16 MP, f / 2.0, 26 mm (wide angle), 1 / 2.8 “, 1.22µm, below the display.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K at 30fps, 4K at 30/60/120 fps, 1080p at 30/60 fps, gyro-EIS, HDR10, 10-bit video; Front camera: 1080p @ 30fps.
• Battery: 5000 mAh; Quick Charge 65W, Quick Charge 4+, USB Power Delivery 3.0 with PPS.
• Various: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC.

ZTE Axon 40 Ultra unboxing

Our Axon 40 Ultra arrived in a matte black cardboard box with a huge “40” on the lid and much smaller “ZTE” and “Axon” badges.

The relatively rich sales package includes a 65W adapter and USB-C cable to go with it, as well as a basic clear protective case. A USB-C to 3.5mm headphone dongle is also provided, an increasingly rare sight.