14 DAY TRIAL // You might remember that, while at a press event in China, device maker ZTE announced the Axon Lux Mini device. Back then we called it the first smartphone to arrive with Force Touch, because the iPhone 6s hadn’t been announced yet.
Today, we know the title has been snatched by the Huawei Mate S. Anyway, we are expecting to see ZTE make the “tiny” handset official this month, but while we are waiting on that, Mobile Dad has just leaked the first live images of the phone in question.
As you can see, the ZTE Axon Lux Mini follows the same design characteristics as all the other models in the Axon line, meaning the grills are located on top and pronounced, and the rounded corners are present as well. The phone’s rear cover features plastic that has been molded to look like stitched leather.
As for hardware specifications, the smartphone comes with a 5.2-inch AMOLED display, so it’s a bit confusing that ZTE has chosen to call this phone “mini.”
We would have expected to see a handset with a 4-inch / 4.3-inch display instead. Nevertheless, the Axon Lux Mini still features a smaller screen compared to other members of the Axon family.
The ZTE Axon Lux Mini will launch soon
Under the hood, the phone makes use of a Snapdragon 615 processor, clocked at 1.5GHz and working hand in hand with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD card slot up to 32GB).
Other specifications include 4G LTE, dual SIM support and Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box. It’s pretty mind-boggling why ZTE opted to embed a pressure-sensitive display on its mid-range ZTE Axon Lux Mini instead of its flagship smartphones Axon Lux or Axon Pro.
Force Touch technology is a system that comes embedded into the display and is capable of sensing the level of force extended on it in order to respond accordingly. By virtue of tiny electrodes, force touch can make the difference between taps and harder presses and then provide a specific action or specific controls, based on the force of the input.
The technology is available in the Apple Watch, where it helps deliver additional functionality, such as alternate controls in apps like Messages or Music.
