LIVE FROM IFA 2018, BERLIN: ZTE claimed to have bounced back with the launch of its latest flagship Axon 9 Pro smartphone, its first since the Chinese vendor was hit with a US import ban which crippled its business.

“I can’t think of a better way [to restore confidence] than launch a flagship product,” ZTE Mobile Devices’ VP of product marketing and strategy, Jeff Yee (pictured), told a press conference this afternoon (30 August). Yee also reiterated management comments from earlier this week that “ZTE Mobile Devices has fully resumed operations.”

In terms of specs, the Axon 9 Pro is powered by a Snapdragon 845 processor and runs Android 8.1 Oreo (the newer Android Pie is in the works). It features a 6.21-inch screen with full HD+ capability. A 4000mAh battery is complemented by 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It is the latest smartphone to feature a notch.

As for cameras, there’s 12MP and 20MP modules in the back, with a 20MP unit on the front for selfies.

It’s water resistant, but the feature comes at the expense of a headphone jack (Bluetooth therefore required).

ZTE is making a big splash about its Axon Vision technology introduced on the device. This is a suite of various technologies for the 2248×1080 display. The most prominent feature is “motion video optimisation,” which boosts video content to 60fps, inserting extra frames into content with a lower frame rate.

And, like many other manufacturers, ZTE is also touting artificial intelligence (AI)-based enhancements for its cameras, in this case meaning “intelligent motion and facial recognition” capabilities.

Axon 9 Pro will retail for around €649 and will be available in select European and Asian markets in September.

5G devices
Yee also announced plans to support 5G devices, and how it aims to design the phones to account for antenna placement, additional power consumption and new hardware.

No specific details were announced, but Yee said the devices would be available in 2019 to coincide with global 5G network launches.