ZTE Axon 40 release date, price and specifications

ZTE has released its latest flagship phones ZTE Axon 40 Pro and ZTE Axon 40 Ultra. Surprisingly, no regular Axon 40 has been announced.

The two phones look very similar to each other with huge curved displays, but it’s the Ultra that’s most notable thanks to its triple cameras and a fully hidden selfie camera below the display on the front for a notch-free screen.

The Ultra has the third generation of this technology under the display from ZTE, and the way it works feels far more advanced than the horribly primitive technology of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3.

Here’s everything you need to know about the ZTE Axon 40 Pro and Axon 40 Ultra.

When will ZTE Axon 40 Pro and Ultra be released?

ZTE says Axon 40 Pro and Axon 40 Ultra are already available for pre-sale in China and will go on sale May 13, 2022.

The Axon 40 Pro and Axon 40 Ultra went on sale in China on May 13, and luckily for the rest of the world, there is an official global version of the more expensive Ultra that went on sale in June.

In the UK, the Axon 40 Ultra costs £709 for the 8GB RAM/128GB model and £809 for the 12GB/256GB model. You can buy directly from ZTE.

This is a very competitive price for a 2022 spec phone. ZTE’s UK website also states that shipping is available to the following countries:

Austria, Belgium, Latvia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Croatia, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Malta, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Portugal, Finland, Romania, Slovakia, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Hungary, Sweden, Ireland, USA, Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Macau SAR China, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Ukraine, Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Italy, Spain, Poland, South Africa, France and Australia.

How much will the ZTE Axon 40 Pro and Ultra cost?

ZTE revealed full Chinese prices for both phones at the launch event, and they are very similar to the previous generation.

Several versions are available with different RAM and storage configurations. We’ve listed USD and GBP for direct conversion next to the price so you can get an idea of ​​how much the phones will cost you if you want to import them.

• ZTE Axon 40 Pro (8GB + 256GB) – 2998 yen / $445 / £360
• ZTE Axon 40 Pro (12GB + 256GB) – 3298 yen / $490 / £400
• ZTE Axon 40 Pro (12GB + 512GB) – 3,798 yen / $565 / £460
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra (8GB + 256GB) – 4,998 yen / $745 / £605
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra (12GB + 256GB) – 5298 yen / $790 / £640
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra (12GB + 512GB) – 5,798 yen / $860 / £700
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra (16GB + 1TB) – 7298 yen / $1085 / £880

Check out this crazy version with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage! At £880, that’s a lot less than the £1,449 Apple is asking for a 1TB iPhone 13 Pro for spec-watchers.

Here’s how the previous generation Axon was rated at launch:

• ZTE Axon 30 5G (8GB + 128GB) – £429 / $499
• ZTE Axon 30 5G (12GB + 256GB) – £519 / $599
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra (8GB + 128GB) – £649 / $749
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra (12GB + 256GB) – £739 / $849

What about the specs and features of the ZTE Axon 40 Pro and Ultra?

Lacking a regular model, the Axon 40 series immediately gets “Pro” status. The Axon 40 Pro is no fool, with a quad-camera array with a 108MP primary sensor. The selfie camera with a selfie hole is located in the center.

It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 chipset with 6.7-inch AMOLED 1080p screen, up to 144Hz refresh rate and fast 360Hz touch screen sampling rate.

But ZTE reserved the best specs for the Axon 40 Ultra, which has a great under-display selfie camera.

The phone is equipped with a top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, a 6.8-inch AMOLED display with 1116p resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It keeps going with a large 5000mAh battery and 65W fast wired charging.

On the back, there are triple 64-megapixel cameras, the main and ultra wide-angle, both with Sony IMX787 lenses, and the third is a periscope telephoto lens with optical image stabilization (OIS).

Both phones run MyOS 12, ZTE’s variant of Android 12.

The Axon 40 line will also support the new Snapdragon Sound technology that we have already seen in Redmi K50, Xiaomi 12 and Vivo iQOO 9 Pro Legend. This will be joined by dtsX Ultra audio, so the speakers should be able to produce very decent sound.

We won’t have to wait long to see if the phones live up to the hype, and Tech Advisor Ultra is in their labs right now for a full review. In the meantime, you can check out our guides to the best phones of 2022 and the best Chinese phones.