ZTE Overtakes Samsung, Announces First Phone With Snapdragon 865

Chinese smartphone maker ZTE beat Samsung to the punch and announced the first smartphone to feature Qualcomm's latest SoC.

ZTE has officially announced the Axon 10S Pro, the first handset in the world to feature the Snapdragon 865 chipset, Android Central reported. This handset might look similar to the company's previous flagship, but it boasts of new and improved specs that will make it appealing to power-hungry users. Here's a quick look at its specs.

First off, the new Axon 10S Pro has the aforementioned chipset powering it, backed by an Adreno 650 GPU. This handset is also the first to use the new LPDDR5 RAM (minimum 6GB, up to 12GB). The device also offers a minimum of 128GB to a maximum 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage.

Next, the chipset allows the handset to use a triple-camera setup at the back, comprised of a 48MP main shooter, a 20MP 125-degree Ultrawide-angle sensor, and an 8MP telephoto camera. It also has a 20MP selfie camera nestled inside the waterdrop notch at the top of the screen.

Speaking of screen, the Axon 10S Pro has a 6.47-inch AMOLED flexible curved water drop screen. This FHD+ screen boasts of 92 percent screen-to-body ratio, 19.5:9 aspect ratio and 2,340 x 1,080 pixel resolution. There's an optical in-display fingerprint sensor for security.

The new handset is sleek and measures 159.2mm × 73.4mm × 7.9mm. It comes with ZTE's MiFavor 10 skin layered on top of Android 10. It features support for 5G and Wi-Fi 6.

The official Axon 10S Pro website reveals that it features a sizeable 4,000 mAh battery that can be topped up fairly quickly thanks to Qualcomm's QuickCharge 4+ technology. The device also has stereo ultra-linear dual speakers and DTS:X Ultra for an immersive audio experience. It doesn't have a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, however.

ZTE hasn't announced an official release date for the Axon 10S Pro. Pricing details haven't been announced as well. Because of this, although ZTE was the first to announce a Snapdragon 865-powered handset, it might not be the first to release one, The Verge noted.

Samsung is expected to unveil its upcoming handsets on Feb.11 during an Unpacked event. All of these are powered by the 865, and might fill store shelves before the Axon 10S Pro arrives. Should the Korean giant's devices arrive before the Chinese company's offering does, it will be the first to release handsets that are powered by Qualcomm's latest chipset.