The Axon 30 with Under Display Camera: Hands-on Mini-Review
by Andrei Frumusanu on September 3, 2021 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Smartphones
- ZTE
- Axon 30
Battery Life - A Horrible Downgrade
With a 4200mAh battery, the Axon 30 has around 8% less capacity than the Axon 30 Ultra. The Snapdragon 870 is more power efficient than the newer Snapdragon 888 in our testing, so what that leaves out in terms of unknowns is the display panel from Visionox.
Unfortunately, in our web test at 120Hz, the Axon 30 falls face flat with one of the worst results of any device we’ve tested recently. The reason for this is I suspect the display panel. At 120Hz, the phone has a baseline black screen power consumption of around 800mW, and at 60Hz it’s still an abysmal 695mW, far above the norm of any other phone.
I don’t have confirmation on which DDIC vendor ZTE and Visionox are using here, but the behaviour here reminds me of the horrible power consumption characteristics of LG and BOE screens of the past.
The more SoC and CPU bound PCMark tests allows the Axon 30 to narrow the gap a little more as the display plays a smaller percentage of power used, and while adequate, it’s still quite behind the Axon 30 Ultra and other competing devices.
Generally, the battery life here is very likely tied to the choice of display panel provider as we’ve seen this story repeated quite a lot over the years as third-party OLED vendors besides Samsung Display struggle to achieve power efficient panels and DDIC solutions.
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Spunjji - Monday, September 6, 2021 - link
I honestly think the compromise in picture quality from the UDC substantially outweighs the tiny functional - and questionable aesthetic - benefits of it being there in the first place. But then I'm one of those weirdos who things having a border at the top and bottom of the screen for speakers and a camera is an asset, not a flaw, and I've been outvoted by the masses. All hail the impending victory of our crappy unsharp-mask-reliant overlords! 😅Kangal - Tuesday, September 7, 2021 - link
Even funnier, you have the opposite thing when you look at the ASUS Zenfone 6/7 Pro/8 Flip.Here, you get to have the sharpest Selfie cam, and a bit of a bulge. But I like it.
I prefer the middle-ground set by the modern Sony 5.2, or the ASUS RoG 5. Other honourable mentions are the Pixel 2XL, ZTE Axon 7, Alcatel Idol 4s, Moto X Style.
Rant:
-I hate these notches and cut-outs. It's functionally bad, and an eyesore.
-And even worse are the curved screens. Why would I want to get content cut out weirdly, have the light glare back on my eyes, increase my accidental taps, and make the device fragile? Form and function should go hand in hand.
-Not to mention the weird 19:9 aspect ratio. They should stick to 16:9 for best compact, or even 17:9 is alright... anything else is just wasteful. At least Sony's 21:9 serves a purpose: very niche people who watch Ultrawide content like Hollywood Movies (not youtube) on their phone.
Tams80 - Tuesday, September 7, 2021 - link
I don't think we've been outvoted by the masses for support of bezels, but rather that most don't care if they are or aren't there (unless they are big) and just follow whatever is trendy.I'd settle for an under-display camera in the middle of the display. I'd still like at least one decent one in a bezel too though.
But hey, this AnandTech. Remember the spats over user-replaceable batteries and SD cards?
nandnandnand - Monday, September 6, 2021 - link
The phone on the phone should have been showing a phone showing a phone showing a phone...