Gadgetory

not at all what we were expecting from ZTE this year instead of a follow-up to the well-reviewed axon 7 we have an interesting exercise in novelty the axon M delivering dual screens on a hinge potentially addressing a pain point for some consumers a pocketable device went on the go more screen real estate when you need it the idea certainly has merit large screen phones have surged in popularity for their capability and multimedia features an expandable foam should prove even handier but the actual execution of this idea isn't as simple as just slapping a sometimes used second screen on a regular phone starting off with the hardware ZTE has done an excellent job of addressing the problems of dual screen devices where do you put a camera where does the fingerprint sensor live how do we simplify and minimize the hinge you lose tremendous gadget real estate when the back of the phone is an active display even a concept as simple as holding the thing requires examination curved glass near bezel assange are invoked but flipping the second screen out means most people can't hold the device from the sides bezels serve a practical purpose here where they look somewhat old-fashioned in normal phone mode delivering dual displays but avoiding a brand breaking price tag meant dropping to last year's specs you won't be paying for top-tier performance against cheaper mid-range errs you're paying for the raw capability of more screen last year's chipset isn't really a problem in daily use in the Qualcomm 821 has aged gracefully but we might be concerned for the upgrade potential of year old hardware as the market moves towards more aggressive software and services looking at the software on this phone we see the next round of issues in executing this concept Android and Android apps are not as flexible as ZTE s Hardware suddenly doubling screen resolution many apps aren't able to cope with the change ZTE solution is the best possible fit a manufacturer could likely arrive at this M button on your control bar hides options four single screen dual apps screen mirroring and for the apps that support it full screen view for my use dual apps was a refreshing way to multitask properly expanding on the split-screen multitasking natively baked into Android by contrast I found almost no use for screen mirroring sharing a video with a friend just felt awkward as if the phone were a barrier between us compared to just standing closer to share one screen I was most disappointed by the fullscreen view the option I wanted the most even for the scene between the screens there would have been significant benefits to working on one project with more space ultimately this reminded me of the early days of LG's split window view that you could only use it with a handful of apps and we were all doubtful that list would ever grow the compromises of this phone feel noticeable after revisiting the axon 7 audio for instance there's a poorer speaker built-in and while headphone quality is on par with the 7 it lacks that amazing amp to really drive your headphones mounted to the front face is a competent if underwhelming camera saving space for internals by only using one higher quality camera instead of bolting on an additional video chat selfie shooter moving from normal photography - selfie shooting is as simple as flipping the phone around though I was annoyed by some of the small interface changes like different flash options why have a different selfie flash setting it's ultimately not the phone strong suit anyway respectable performance in very good light but quickly falling apart in shade in indoor lighting conditions and with two screens the notion of protecting the phone becomes more difficult I'm not the biggest fan of glass pack phones but a bumper case takes some of the edge off daily abuse on the EMM cracking the back glass means damaging another display the ZTE offers this skeletal lingerie is one solution but it doesn't inspire much confidence to keep the phone dimensions manageable the battery onboard is adequate for a normal phone this size the axon m's older chipset post slower than average members in our limited benchmarks and using both screens unsurprisingly drains the battery almost twice as fast between app compatibility and the battery drain that makes the whole design of this device a sometimes feature like those people who rarely use the S Pen on a Galaxy Note a few folks who pick up an axe on em might prefer using it expanded almost all the time but I get the feeling that significantly more people will likely use it as a normal phone only occasionally flipping the second screen out the cost is high and the compromises many for a feature that can't quite reach main line use we all want to celebrate ambitious moves there are numerous foldable phone rumors floating to the surface for 2018 and ZTE beat them all to market this is a real option people can buy today it offers something truly unique in the smartphone landscape and delivers it in the best possible package for its time what we're left with though are questions we can't quite answer yet what do consumers find lacking about their current phone is this really the next phase of smartphone and mobile computing is there a killer app I just can't see here terrific execution some solid potential but I'm not quite sure the dual screen phone era has truly arrived as always thanks so much for watching be sure to subscribe to this channel for more reviews like these and help us out with a share on your favorite social networks for pocket now I'm Juan Carlos bag now some gadget guy on Twitter and Instagram and I will catch you all on the next review