GPU Performance

As with many devices nowadays where long-term gaming performance isn’t necessarily dictated by the SoC, but also by the thermal dissipation and temperature thresholds that a vendor configures their devices to reach. We haven’t really had the experience of a ZTE flagship in a few years here so it’ll be interesting to see how they handle things:

Basemark GPU 1.2 - Medium 1440p - Off-Screen / Blit

Starting off with Basemark GPU, the Axon 30 Ultra actually fares quite well in relation to other Snapdragon 888 devices, reaching long term sustained figures that are above the norm in regards to performance.

GFXBench Aztec Ruins - High - Vulkan/Metal - Off-screen GFXBench Aztec Ruins - Normal - Vulkan/Metal - Off-screen GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 Off-screen GFXBench T-Rex 2.7 Off-screen

The increased performance of the Axon 30 Ultra is generally represented across the board, where the sustained performance is above that of other devices in the market. The explanation here is simply that ZTE allows the phone to reach higher thermal levels as other devices, reaching peak skin temperatures of around 45-46°C. The SoC still naturally has to throttle from its unsustainable +9W peak performance states and thus there’s a 25-30% degradation depending on workloads, but the phone remains one of the more aggressive in the market right now.

Generally, you should expect a good gaming experience from the Axon 30 Ultra.

System Performance Display Measurement
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  • warisz00r - Friday, July 30, 2021 - link

    "somewhat particular device"
  • coburn_c - Saturday, July 31, 2021 - link

    From across the specific ocean.
  • dotjaz - Friday, July 30, 2021 - link

    "Surprisingly Different"

    And unsurprisingly lacking on software support.

    Seriously, it probably cost an extra $100000 to offer one more update and one extra year of security. That's maybe $1 per phone. Just charge the extra dollar or five.
  • sabot00 - Friday, July 30, 2021 - link

    No way. An extra year of support is easily 5-10 million USD. Even if dev work was free, the cost of carrier certification is huge.
  • linuxgeex - Friday, July 30, 2021 - link

    Except that with project treble all the components which are involved in carrier certification do not change with security updates. Carrier re-certification revolves around the baseband, which rarely changed even before project treble.
  • jvl - Saturday, July 31, 2021 - link

    So charge 5 USD more. Or 10 USD more. Which is exactly what OP proposed.. (Nonwithstanding below's comment)
  • Samus - Sunday, August 1, 2021 - link

    Agreed. If PR honestly pitched these things with guaranteed software support for 3-4 years I don't think an extra $5-$10 would phase anybody, especially since nobody (other than Apple I suppose) does that.
  • Silver5urfer - Friday, July 30, 2021 - link

    Why should anyone buy this device which has literally same lack of feature set from HW perspective = no 3.5mm jack, no SD card slot, questionable servicing support and OS support. For that cash I'd get a Sony Xperia 5 Mark III. Which has everything this phone lacks and even better Front display due to no hole or such.
  • neothe0ne - Friday, July 30, 2021 - link

    Agreed. Xperia 5 III is also likely to end up being supported on AT&T's network from February 2022 onward. I don't see any ZTE Axon on the list so far.

    https://www.att.com/idpassets/images/support/wirel...
  • drajitshnew - Friday, July 30, 2021 - link

    @silversurfer I absolutely agree about microSD cards and 3.5mm Jack. I bought my currently phone because it had a flagship-eque chipset and 3.5mm Jack support.
    I thought that 256GB flash would alleviate the need for micro SD. As I described above though it required a factor reset and 2 (two) complete re-imaging. And I think it be would have been a LOT less painful if it had a microSD. At the same time I guess we as consumers have to accept

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