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Update: The ZTE Axon 7 Mini now has Android 7.1.1.
It wasn’t that long ago that ZTE debuted the Axon 7, a handset that smartly married desirable hardware with an affordable $400 price point. It took on such smartphone juggernauts as Samsung, Apple, LG, and HTC — and against all odds, emerged successful beyond ZTE’s wildest estimations. The Axon 7 has been in and out of stock since June.
That’s helped cement the Beijing, China-based ZTE become a veritable player in the smartphone market. But the company has broader ambitions: It’s angling to rank among the world’s top three smartphone makers by 2020. And it thinks an even cheaper derivative of the Axon, appropriately dubbed the Axon 7 Mini, will hasten it toward that endgame.
ZTE’s is a common enough strategy: Sony has released smaller, midrange smartphones under its “Compact” brand that generally accompany its flagship devices. Samsung, too, has historically released miniaturized versions of its top-end Galaxy phones, as has Huawei. But typically, the “mini” label denotes compromise: Cheaper, smaller companion devices are generally less capable, at least on paper, than their larger counterparts.
In the Axon 7 Mini’s case, though, it’s quite the opposite, and you can read all about why at our full review.
The ZTE Axon 7 Mini is extremely similar to the original ZTE Axon 7, both in terms of looks and design, and when it comes to the specs under the hood. You’ll find the Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor, which is coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. It also has a MicroSD card slot, so you can expand upon the storage if you so choose.
On the back of the phone, you’ll find a 16MP rear-facing camera with an f/1.9 aperture and phase detection autofocus, while the selfie camera sits in at 8MP. The AMOLED display on the phone comes in at 5.2-inches, and has a resolution of 1920 x 1080. The battery capacity sits in at 2,700mAh.
On the software side, the phone has finally been updated to Android 7.1.1 — so users should update their phones, and if you’re thinking of buying this phone rest assured that you will be able to use Android 7.1.1.
The ZTE Axon 7 Mini can be purchased in the United States through ZTE’s own online store, where it costs $300 and is available in platinum gray. Amazon also sells the Axon 7 Mini for $300.
A gold version is exclusive to Best Buy during its first couple months of availability, where it’s normally priced at $300. However, between December 4 and December 10, Best Buy will sell the gold Axon 7 Mini for only $200, or the platinum grey version for $250. We’d call this an absolute steal, so if you’re already tempted by the Axon 7 Mini, don’t wait to pick one up.
In the United Kingdom, Carphone Warehouse carries the gold Axon 7 Mini exclusively, where it’s sold for 250 British pounds without a contract, or for free with a 24-month contract that starts at 17.50 British pounds per month.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.
Apple's first foldable phone is now on shelves, in short supply, but with an unreal amount of buzz around it. After all, it's the first foldable iPhone, and there's plenty that this phone gets right. But there's also a lot that is either broken or underwhelming. What's peculiar is the dialogue around this phone, and how it has completely overshadowed every other attempt at making a phone with a similar form factor.
I've spent some time with the iPhone Duo, and I've used the Galaxy Z Fold 8 for almost three months now. In my opinion, Samsung deserves more credit. When the Galaxy Z Fold 8 arrived earlier this year, it was celebrated in some circles and ridiculed in others for supposedly copying what Apple would eventually deliver with the iPhone Duo. The dialogue was pretty odd, for multiple reasons. Samsung has been making foldable phones for years, so claiming that it copied a product Apple hadn't even launched was simply absurd.