ZTE Axon 30 Ultra announced (Update: US, Europe, UK pre-order info)

Update May 13, 2021 (10:50 AM ET): When ZTE announced its latest phones in the Axon 30 series, it didn’t have pricing for the one model that would land in North America. Now, we finally have pricing for this phone as well as pre-order availability in North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe.

The ZTE Axon 30 Ultra will set you back a pretty reasonable $749 / £649 / €749 for the version with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The prices jump up to $849 / £739 / €849 for the 12GB/256GB variant.

Pre-orders for the device open on May 27 and come with a free pair of ZTE Livebuds, a set of true wireless earbuds. General sales open on June 4. You can visit the ZTE store for your region to place your order!

Original article, April 15, 2021 (07:00 AM ET): We’ve seen a major trend in 2020 and 2021 for smartphones to offer ultra high resolution cameras on both the main and ultra-wide rear cameras. But it looks like ZTE is hoping to go one better by offering a phone with three super-high resolution rear cameras.

The Chinese company has just announced the Axon 30 Ultra, and its selling point is the quad rear camera setup. We’ve got a 64MP main camera (IMX686, f/1.6, OIS), a 64MP ultra-wide snapper (120 degree field of view), a 64MP “superhuman” camera (35mm focal length, f/1.9), and an 8MP 5X periscope shooter (OIS, 10X hybrid zoom). It’s unclear what exactly ZTE is doing with the so-called “superhuman” camera, as you’d expect a 2X or 3X telephoto lens with a setup like this, but we’ll update the article as soon as we find out.

Other camera details worth knowing include 8K/30fps recording, super night and super moon modes, and a 16MP selfie camera in a center-mounted punch-hole cutout.

The rest of the Axon 30 Ultra is definitely flagship-level, offering a Snapdragon 888 SoC, a 6.67-inch curved OLED screen with a 144Hz refresh rate (FHD+, HDR10+), and a 4,600mAh battery with 66W wired charging. Don’t expect wireless charging here.

What else did ZTE offer?

The veteran manufacturer also had another phone up its sleeve, as it announced the ZTE Axon 30 Pro too. This device has several features in common with the Ultra model, such as a Snapdragon 888 processor, and a similar 6.67-inch OLED screen. But there are a few cutbacks in order to reach a lower price point.

We see a drop down to a 120Hz refresh rate instead of 144Hz (albeit with a flat screen), a smaller battery and slightly slower fast charging (4,200mAh and 55W), and a far less impressive camera setup. We’ve still got a 64MP main camera (IMX682) and 64MP ultra-wide sensor, but ZTE’s cheaper device also serves up a 5MP macro camera and 2MP depth sensor. So expect zoom quality to suffer compared to the Ultra device.

ZTE Axon 30 series pricing and availability

The Axon 30 Ultra will be available in China at 4,698 yuan (~$720) for the 8GB/256GB variant, 4,998 yuan (~$766) for the 12GB/256GB option, and 6,666 yuan (~$1,021) for the 12GB/1TB variant.

There’s good news for North American smartphone fans wanting an alternative flagship, as ZTE revealed that the Axon 30 Ultra is indeed coming to the US and Canada via online channels. There’s no word on North American pricing as of writing, although 8GB/128GB and 12GB/256GB options will be available here. The Ultra is available in black and white colorways.

Unfortunately the Axon 30 Pro won’t be coming to North America. Nevertheless, Chinese consumers can expect to pay 2,998 yuan (~$459) for the 6GB/128GB variant, 3,298 yuan (~$505) for the 8GB/128GB model, and 3,598 yuan (~$551) for the 8GB/256GB option. What do you think of the Axon 30 Ultra in particular? Let us know by taking the poll below.