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ZTE Axon 30 Ultra Display test: Smooth browsing, hampered by color distractions

January 18, 2022
78
display
This device has been tested in the previous version of our protocol. Please note that the score and contents below refer to an older test protocol.
OTHER AVAILABLE TESTS FOR THIS DEVICE

The ZTE Axon 30 Ultra appeared on the market in April 2021 and comes chock-full of attractive features. Let’s see how well its display performed in our comprehensive array of tests.

Key display specifications:

  • 6.67-inch AMOLED display
  • Resolution: 1080 x 2400 (395 ppi)
  • Aspect ratio: 20:9
  • Maximum refresh rate: 144 Hz
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm)

About DXOMARK Display tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone and other display reviews, DXOMARK engineers perform a variety of objective and perceptual tests under controlled lab and real-life conditions. This article highlights the most important results of our testing. Note that we evaluate display attributes using only the device’s built-in display hardware and its still image (gallery) and video apps at their default settings. (For in-depth information about how we evaluate smartphone and other displays, check out our articles, “How DXOMARK tests display quality” and “A closer look at DXOMARK Display testing.”)

Test summary

ZTE Axon 30 Ultra
78
display
Readability
61

76

Color
70

92

Video
54

91

Motion
79

87

Touch
76

85

Artifacts
86

Best

DISPLAY
Position in Global Ranking
79th
1. Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
99
2. Apple iPhone 13 Pro
98
3. Honor Magic4 Ultimate
95
3. Oppo Find X5 Pro
95
5. Oppo Find X5
94
6. Apple iPhone 13
93
6. Huawei P50 Pro
93
6. Samsung Galaxy S22+ (Exynos)
93
6. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon)
93
6. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos)
93
11. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Snapdragon)
92
11. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos)
92
13. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Exynos)
91
13. Sony Xperia 5 IV
91
13. Vivo X70 Pro+
91
16. Apple iPhone 13 mini
90
16. Google Pixel 6 Pro
90
16. Honor Magic4 Pro
90
16. OnePlus 10 Pro
90
16. Realme GT 2 Pro
90
16. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon)
90
16. Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
90
23. OnePlus 9 Pro
89
23. OnePlus 8T
89
23. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
89
23. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G
89
23. Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Exynos)
89
23. TCL 20 Pro 5G
89
23. Vivo X60 Pro+
89
23. Xiaomi 11T
89
31. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
88
31. LG Wing
88
31. OnePlus 9
88
31. OnePlus 8 Pro
88
31. Oppo Find X3 Pro
88
31. Vivo X70 Pro (MediaTek)
88
31. Vivo X60 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
88
31. Vivo iQOO 9 Pro
88
39. Apple iPhone 12 Pro
87
39. Google Pixel 6a
87
39. Google Pixel 6
87
39. Oppo Reno8 5G
87
39. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G
87
39. Vivo X51 5G
87
39. Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
87
39. Xiaomi Mi 11
87
39. Xiaomi 11T Pro
87
48. Apple iPhone SE (2022)
86
48. Honor 70
86
48. Motorola Edge 30 Pro
86
48. Oppo Reno8 Pro 5G
86
48. Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
86
48. Sony Xperia 1 III
86
54. Apple iPhone 12
85
54. Huawei P40 Pro
85
54. Oppo Find X3 Neo
85
54. Xiaomi 12 Pro
85
58. Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
84
58. Realme GT 5G
84
60. Oppo Reno5 Pro+ 5G
83
60. TCL 10 Pro
83
60. Vivo iQOO 7 Legend
83
60. Xiaomi Mi 11i
83
60. Xiaomi 12
83
65. Asus ROG Phone 5
82
66. Asus Zenfone 8
81
66. Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
81
66. Realme GT Neo 2 5G
81
69. Motorola Edge 20 Pro
80
69. Oppo Reno6 5G
80
71. Lenovo Legion Y90
79
71. OnePlus Nord 2 5G
79
71. Oppo Find X5 Lite
79
71. Oppo Find X3 Lite
79
71. POCO F4 GT
79
71. Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
79
71. Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
79
71. Xiaomi Redmi K50 Gaming
79
79. Sony Xperia 5 II
78
79. ZTE Axon 30 Ultra
78
81. Nubia RedMagic 6 Pro
77
81. Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
77
83. Oppo Find X2 Pro
76
84. Sony Xperia 10 IV
75
85. Google Pixel 5
74
85. Microsoft Surface Duo
74
85. Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro
74
88. Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra
73
89. Black Shark 4S Pro
72
89. Black Shark 4 Pro
72
89. Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro 5G
72
92. Asus ROG Phone 3
70
93. Fairphone 4
69
94. Crosscall Action-X5
62
95. Xiaomi Black Shark 3 Pro
61
96. Nokia 8.3 5G
55
97. Lenovo Legion Phone 2 Pro
53
98. Realme C21
43
DISPLAY
Position in Premium Ranking
26th
1. Apple iPhone 13
93
2. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Snapdragon)
92
2. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos)
92
4. Apple iPhone 13 mini
90
4. Realme GT 2 Pro
90
4. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon)
90
7. OnePlus 9
88
7. Vivo X70 Pro (MediaTek)
88
7. Vivo X60 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
88
7. Vivo iQOO 9 Pro
88
11. Vivo X51 5G
87
11. Xiaomi Mi 11
87
11. Xiaomi 11T Pro
87
14. Motorola Edge 30 Pro
86
14. Oppo Reno8 Pro 5G
86
14. Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
86
17. Apple iPhone 12
85
17. Oppo Find X3 Neo
85
19. Oppo Reno5 Pro+ 5G
83
19. Xiaomi Mi 11i
83
19. Xiaomi 12
83
22. Asus ROG Phone 5
82
23. Asus Zenfone 8
81
24. Motorola Edge 20 Pro
80
25. Lenovo Legion Y90
79
26. ZTE Axon 30 Ultra
78
27. Nubia RedMagic 6 Pro
77
28. Google Pixel 5
74
28. Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro
74
30. Black Shark 4S Pro
72
30. Black Shark 4 Pro
72
32. Nokia 8.3 5G
55
33. Lenovo Legion Phone 2 Pro
53

Pros

  • Smooth and accurate touch while gaming and when browsing the web
  • Great management of video frame drops and judder
  • Instant video playback after moving in the timeline

Cons

  • Poor color fidelity, with a strong pink cast on most still content and on HDR10 content
  • Lack of brightness indoors and outdoors, especially under sunlight
  • Visible steps during light transitions
  • Frequent frame drops when gaming

The ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G’s strongest points are its control of artifacts and its smoothness when gaming and browsing the web, but its overall display performance is hampered by poor color reproduction characterized by a very strong pink cast.

Brightness vs Contrast comparison (0 Lux)
Brightness vs Contrast comparison (30 000 Lux)
The ZTE device is well adapted to low-light conditions, but it otherwise lacks brightness both indoors and outdoors, and shows distinct steps when adapting to lower light levels.
Readability indoors, from left to right: ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G, OnePlus 9 Pro, Oppo Reno6 Pro, Apple iPhone 13
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)

Further, the Axon 30 Ultra does not use a sunlight adaptation algorithm, which means that content under sunlight is barely readable.

Readability under sunlight, left to right: ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G, OnePlus 9 Pro, Oppo Reno6 Pro, Apple iPhone 13
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)
A strong pink cast is visible on most contents in all tested conditions, especially on skin tones.
Color rendering outdoors in shade, left to right: ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G, OnePlus 9 Pro, Oppo Reno6 Pro, Apple iPhone 13
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)
The left-hand chart below shows the ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G’s color fidelity in the P3 color space. The center of each circle is the target color; the further the tip of the arrow is outside of the circle, the more users will notice the difference between the color on the display and the original color of the source material. In the scatter chart on the right, each dot represents a measurement taken at a discrete angle and distance from the device showing a full white pattern. The Axon 30 Ultra 5G shows a shift toward green on angle. 
ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G, color fidelity at 1000 lux in the P3 color space
ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G, scatter graph of white point on angle

The photo arrays below illustrate the color shift toward green measured in the scatter chart above.

Indoor color rendering on axis (top) and on angle (bottom), left to right: ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G, OnePlus 9 Pro, Oppo Reno6 Pro, Apple iPhone 13
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)

While the ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G’s video brightness is well suited for watching HDR10 content, mid-tone contrast lacks details and dark tones are hardly visible. The same strong pink cast is visible on HDR10 videos, including on skin tones, adversely affecting the overall experience.

Video color, clockwise from top left: left to right: ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G, Oppo Reno6 Pro, Apple iPhone 13, OnePlus 9 Pro
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)

The ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G shows no frame drops at 30 fps and just a few at 60 fps; however, it shows a lot of stutters when playing video games and motion blur is noticeable. A big plus is that video play resumes instantly after moving the slider forwards or backwards in the timeline. Another plus is that the device is quite smooth when browsing, when in the gallery app, and when gaming.

The ZTE device manages judder well, has smooth and accurate touch, and responds only rarely to ghost touches, but its measured touch-to-display response time at 103 ms, frequent stutters and visible aliasing make for an uncomfortable gaming experience overall.

ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G, closeup of aliasing
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)
ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G, closeup of aliasing
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)
ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G, closeup of aliasing
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)

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