Chinese mobile device maker ZTE announced that its Axon Mini and Axon Watch will join its flagship lineup, with plans to release the smartphone device in various countries.
ZTE first announced that the Axon Mini would be the first smartphone to be equipped with Force Touch technology, something Apple and Huawei have since beaten it to in launching their own versions. Like Apple's iPhone 6s devices, the Axon Mini has a pressure-sensitive touch screen that can differentiate between light and heavy touches on the display for an enhanced experience with features like taking a selfie, entering a password and gaming.
Axon Mini is a sleek and thin smartphone with its body made from Boeing 787 aircraft-grade aluminum-titanium alloy, and it is just 3.5-mm thick. The smartphone has a 5.2-inch Super AMOLED FHD 2.5D curved-edge screen to complete its premium look.
The Mini has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 octa-core processor, Adreno 405 GPU, 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB ROM—with support for up to 128-GB SD card expansion—and a 2,800 mAh battery. The smartphone features a 13 megapixel back-facing camera with phase detection autofocus (PDAF) that will put the image in focus in just 0.1 seconds so you never take a blurry photo on your phone again. It also has an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with a 5P aspherical sense. The smartphone has duo microphones that are supported by a AKM4961 Hi-Fi audio chipset to deliver 32 bit high-fidelity (Hi-Fi) sound.
And besides Force Touch, ZTE's Axon Mini is packed with other cool features like real-time voice translation that supports English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean and voice messaging and chat functionality.
The device will be available in three colors: Ion Gold, Chromium Silver and Rose Gold. ZTE is offering both a regular and Premium version of the device, although it's not clear what exactly the main differences between the two will be. The Premium Axon Mini will cost $439, the regular Axon Mini $379, or $399 for the Rose Gold option.
The flagship device will be available to purchase in China online and in major retail stores "in the coming months." The Axon Mini will also be available in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Russia, India, Australia, France, Germany, Turkey, Spain and Italy.
"Devices in our ZTE Axon product lines are designed entirely with consumers in mind and to be the nerve center of everything they do," Adam Zeng, CEO of ZTE Mobile Devices said in a press release. "Our high-end flagship strategy is now in full swing and we believe we have all of the ingredients to become a leading consumer electronics brand globally."
ZTE is also adding its Axon Watch, with a 1.4-inch Gorilla Glass screen with sapphire coating, to its flagship lineup. The smartwatch runs on a Tencent OS, comes with a 300 mAh battery, and has 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of storage. The Axon Watch supports Bluetooth 4.1, voice and gesture control, and can be used for health tracking and for messaging using apps like WeChat. The wearable is IP67 certified for water protection, which means it can submerged up to 3.3 feet for up to 30 minutes.
ZTE's Axon Watch will be available on Oct. 27 in China.
ZTE also reveled the Axon Max, which has a larger-screen and bigger battery than the Mini.
Via: ZTE
