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ZTE Launches Axon M, a Foldable, Dual-Screened Smartphone (theverge.com)

ZTE's new Axon M is a full-featured smartphone with a hinge that connects two full-size displays, making the Axon M a flip phone of sorts. "Its front screen is a 5.2-inch, 1080p panel, it has last year's Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 20-megapixel camera," reports The Verge. "But flip the phone over and there's an identical 5.2-inch display on the back, making the Axon M anything but run-of-the-mill." From the report: The M's hinge allows the rear screen to flip forward and slot right next to the main display, creating an almost tablet sized canvas. You can stretch the home screen and apps across the two displays for a larger working area, or you can run two different apps at the same time, one on each screen. You can also "tent" the phone, and mirror the displays so two people can see the same content at the same time. ZTE says that it is utilizing Android's default split-screen features to enable many of the dual-screen functions, and it has made sure the "top 100" Android apps work on the phone. In the "extended" mode, which stretches a single app across both screens, the tablet version of the app is presented (provided there is one, which isn't always a guarantee with Android apps). It's even possible to stream video on both screens at the same time and switch the audio between them on the fly, which might be useful if you want to watch a sports game and YouTube at the same time, I guess.

61 comments

  1. I wonder... by jenningsthecat · · Score: 2

    Can it be rooted? Can the baked-in spyware be shut down?

    --
    'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
    1. Re:I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I was looking into rooting several kinds of ZTE phones, and my findings were not good.
      What I found was some of the existing tools could give you temporary root, but after a reboot the locked down bootloader would undo it.
      I don't think this new Axon M will be any easier.

    2. Re: I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol can I get a phone with my phone?

    3. Re: I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I should say, I oncler if we really thneed this.

  2. Goddamnit! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I just want a hard keyboard!

    1. Re:Goddamnit! by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

      What , the Android and iOS keyboards aren’t hard enough?

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re:Goddamnit! by phalse+phace · · Score: 1

      Blackberry KEYone

    3. Re:Goddamnit! by squiggleslash · · Score: 1, Redundant

      Dunno about the GP, but I want a usable keyboard, which means landscape.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    4. Re:Goddamnit! by torkus · · Score: 1

      BB KeyOne, while a complete piece of crap, is an option. Anecdotally I couldn't get a single person on my support team to even try it out when I offered the demo unit we bought to them...it's that bad by reputation alone.

      Other than that, consider the detachable keyboards for Samsung. They flip on the back side of the case so you can use the full screen and otherwise provide a full, tactile keyboard very similar to the old BB Bold (which wasn't my favorite tactile KB...that being the Curve) and quite good. No battery. No cables.

      --
      You can get rich if you own a politician, but you have to be rich to buy one in the first place.
  3. More China? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Enough.

  4. Lying article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This phone hasn't been launched. Check the ZTE web site and you can't even buy it yet.

    1. Re: Lying article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am testing this phone and it actually useful. It can be super distracting too. Only thing is why didn't ate make it an bezel less street so there is black edge in the middle when folded. So stupid. I can't watch video in dual street mode with a black bar in the middle. Only good for is running two apps. Like email or navation or Facebook etc. Showing people photo using mirror mode. For thje price it's actually pretty good. Anyway this phone I think is for att only.

    2. Re: Lying article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Everyone is stupid but you, right?

  5. Innovative by jimprdx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not sure I'd want one, but at least they're making a decent effort to be innovative. For the last 10 years all phone companies have been doing is trying to make a "better iPhone" (as in the 2007 original).

    1. Re:Innovative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not sure I'd want one, but at least they're making a decent effort to be innovative

      I don't know about you, but I'd find a 6000 mAH battery more useful than a second small screen on my phone.

      There are a few crappy phones out there with huge batteries, but most won't run on US frequencies.

      I'll just keep waiting for that innovation I guess.

    2. Re:Innovative by chuckugly · · Score: 1

      Someone mod parent up.

    3. Re:Innovative by Powercntrl · · Score: 4, Insightful

      For the last 10 years all phone companies have been doing is trying to make a "better iPhone" (as in the 2007 original).

      I'm actually pretty disappointed in what passes for improvements on current-gen Android smartphones: Curved glass (because fuck perfect display geometry, I guess), rounded display edges (CRT nostalgia?), no headphone jack, on-screen navigation buttons (because some designer decided physical buttons are ugly), and all screen sizes below 5.2" are reserved for bargain-bin prepaid crap phones.

      My top-loader washing machine doesn't look much different from the ones sold back in the 70s. I probably wouldn't have bought it if it had all sorts of superfluous features and embellishments, from 4 decades of "innovation". My current laptop doesn't look significantly different from the nearly 11-year-old laptop it replaced. Perhaps one day the smartphone industry will stop trying to shoot for the moon with "innovative" new designs, and just stick to improving performance, camera quality, and battery life.

      --

      ---
      DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
    4. Re:Innovative by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      trying to make a "better iPhone" (as in the 2007 original).

      The one that couldn't do almost anything? That's not a terribly high bar, surely.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re:Innovative by thereitis · · Score: 1
      I wonder if there is any gap between the screens to allow for a screen protector on each?

      Will the screens 'slam' together when you close it, or do so gently?

      What if you have this phone in your pocket and something else in your pocket comes between the two screens (eg. a pen) - a little pressure to sandwich the foreign object and one/both of the screens could crack.

    6. Re: Innovative by SumDog · · Score: 1

      I prefer the on screen buttons actually. You get more screen real estate because the buttons disappear when you don't need then. I had to disable the physical buttons on my Samsung tablet cause I kept hitting back in portrait mode while reading comic books (that required some heavy modding too; something so basic shouldn't be so difficult!)

    7. Re:Innovative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Asus ZenPhone Max has 5000mAh battery and is quite decent. I wouldn't call it crappy. Also if battery life is what you are after it is better to have phone that conserves battery (e.g. has smaller, less resolution screen) than have a big battery on a power hungry phone...

    8. Re:Innovative by unrtst · · Score: 1

      RTFA much? Just go look at the picture. You'll have completely different questions afterwards.

    9. Re:Innovative by phayes · · Score: 1

      Then buy a phone with a battery case or just carry around an external battery to charge your phone.

      This, "I NEED someone to build a monstrous internal battery phone" that very few people will actually buy comes from people with rigid mentalities that refuse to adapt.

      Well when I was a youngster, we had phones with internal batteries that we could change. I could plug those internal batteries into a proprietary charger and thus by turning off my phone and swapping batteries I could have a fully charged phone in 30 seconds.

      Using proprietary battery chargers is dumb & those batteries are useless if you need to charge anything else. If you ABSOLUTELY need to have an all in one, use a battery case but I've never found that plugging in an external battery (to devices that use good connectors that don't need babying to connect) to be a hardship.

      --
      Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
    10. Re: Innovative by mobby_6kl · · Score: 1

      That's only true if there's no bottom bezel, which is usually not the case. Otherwise you just end up with the on-screen buttons taking up precious screen real estate, and then a blank strip of glass or plastic where physical or at least capacitive buttons could've been located.

    11. Re:Innovative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and all screen sizes below 5.2" are reserved for bargain-bin prepaid crap phones.

      I don't consider the price I paid for my Pixel to be "bargain-bin" level.

    12. Re:Innovative by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

      This, "I NEED someone to build a monstrous internal battery phone" that very few people will actually buy comes from people with rigid mentalities that refuse to adapt.

      He's not asking for a monstrous internal battery phone, he's asking for a battery life of longer than one day, which used to be standard and would be incredibly easy to implement.

      He doesn't have a way to "adapt" because your half baked "solution" isn't available for 99% of phones.

      He's also asking for something that huge numbers of people ask for, indicating that there is a market, it's just inertia from the mobile device manufacturers who refuse to believe anyone would want anything other than a thin phone. The fact that the first thing anyone does after getting a thin phone is to buy a fat case for it should tell the manufacturers that, actually, virtually nobody buys a phone because it's thin, but unfortunately you're taking about an entire industry that's disappeared up it's own rectum.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    13. Re:Innovative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      jimprdx Why the fuck is bad to improve on a revolutionary product? Ohh these stupid lame asses trying to make a "better LaserJet printer". How about those stupid companies trying to make "better TVs"... how lame! Like honestly man are you fucking retarded?!?! Clearly you just want to put down iPhone. Pathetic.

    14. Re: Innovative by Luthair · · Score: 1

      You're assuming that the physical buttons would be part of the bezel - they wouldn't, they'd be in addition.

    15. Re:Innovative by Luthair · · Score: 1

      Current laptops don't look much like those from 5-years ago, let alone 10. My laptop from even 5-years ago had a huge bezel and was very thick compared to what I have today, plus all the keyboard layout changes, large trackpads, etc.

      Curved screen corners annoyed me momentarily, then I realized that real estate was pretty irrelevant. If its needed for yields or manufacturing it seems fine /shrug

    16. Re:Innovative by Rob+Y. · · Score: 1

      I have no problem with ZTE trying to innovate - though this particular brick doesn't appeal much to me. My problem, though, is that ZTE doesn't seem to have the resources to adequately support the phones that they actually sell, and this is where they're focusing their attention?

      I have an Axon 7, which admittedly, is pretty up to date software wise (and has had many of its problems addressed). I bought it because, at the time, ZTE was making noises about unlocking the bootloader and working hand-in-hand with ROM developers to make sure that this device was well supported. But somewhere along the line, they got distracted (now, it seems this multi-screen thing was the big distraction), and went from providing a half-baked unlocking option (it still works, so there's that) to promising something better, to promising nothing (you'll find out what you're gonna get when you get it).

      So now, we have a device that may or may not get Oreo - or even the fix to the current Wi-Fi exploit. And may or may not even remain part of their lineup. But we get to see their 'vision' for a multi-screen device - which might be nice to see if my relationship with them weren't soured. And yeah, maybe next month they'll patch Android on the A7, and I'll feel foolish for bitching...

      --
      Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
    17. Re:Innovative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can already buy extended capacity batteries for many phones. 6000mAh? Pfft, you can get 10000mAh battery for your existing phone right now.

    18. Re:Innovative by phayes · · Score: 1

      Huge numbers of people? You and a few geeks repeating yourselves in an echo chamber != huge. If there was more than a laughably small market for huge battery phones, they would exist and sell in non negligible numbers.

      As huge battery phones _don't_ sell, one can only s_n_i_g_g_e_r (underscored because of slashdot's lameness filter) at the twits with their heads up their posteriors who think that _they_ know what is missing on the market.

      Slashdot, fix your lameness filter. That word is perfectly innocuous.

      --
      Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
    19. Re:Innovative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      has smaller, less resolution screen

      Those are as hard to find as phones with big batteries. Maybe even harder. Damn near everything has overkill resolution, now.

    20. Re: Innovative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mod up!

      The first iPhone was known to be crappy to make calls and write texts.
      Worst, for SMS there was no way to get a confirmation of reception.

      Oh wait, this may still be the case on iPhones...

      aRTee

  6. Here we go again by CrashBang · · Score: 1

    At work, it's mainframe-dumb terminal to thick client to cloud/browser to app to mobile page, and at home it's slab to clamshell to slab to clamshell. Fuck this, I'm moving to Thunder Bay to open a meadery.

  7. Ethics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Great! More Slashvertisement!

    This is the **same** ZTE that had deals with Iran and North Korea.

    Chinese tech firm ZTE has agreed to pay a $1.2 billion penalty for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran and North Korea.
    http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/0...

    1. Re:Ethics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds good, Iran does a good job at fighting terrorism. US tried to pass Al Qaeda off as "legitimate Syrian opposition" (including the made up "White Helmets") or "good terrorists", but failed and is pissed off that the terrorists are losing.
      So, good ethics with the ZTE deals with Iran.
      The North Koreans? That's more fishy, but the US has backed out from negotiations and threatened to kill them all for the last 15 years, so they're building nukes because they have to, even though they would perhaps like to do less rogue things like buying a few dozens conventional jet fighters or send satellites into space to help improve their communications, agriculture and forestry. Ethics : neutral.

      See, you don't let them buy high tech things like network gear or Mig 29 spare parts and new Mig 29s, they have to resort to building low tech things like thermonuclear warheards and single engined first stages (plus the four steerable smaller engines) with inertial guidance.

  8. Brick by SomeoneFromBelgium · · Score: 1

    The article goes on and on about the two screens. Wow. And a big battery (of course). Yes!
    But guess what is hidden at the end of the article?
    Yep. Weight and size: 12mm thick and 230 grams. It's a total brick. So much of innovation.

    1. Re: Brick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The article goes on and on about the two screens. Wow. And a big battery (of course). Yes!
      But guess what is hidden at the end of the article?
      Yep. Weight and size: 12mm thick and 230 grams. It's a total brick. So much of innovation.

      â"â"â"â"â"â"

      I donâ(TM)t give a fuck. He said I can watch YouTube videos AND READ THE COMMENTS AT THE SAME TIME. Iâ(TM)m fucking buying one..

    2. Re: Brick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My watch is 12 mm thick and weights (with a bracelet) nearly 200 glass.

      I don't care about the second screen but making the phone thicker and heavier to accommodate 3-4x larger battery seems like a great idea.

  9. 5.2" is already a phablet ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    5.2" means you can choose between an enormous phone and an even-enormouser one.

    When will manufactuerers realise there are millions of peoplw who want a small, thick, 4" phone ?!

    If it folded out to an 8" screen, that might be nice, but let's start with a plain old 4" phone - AND WE DON'T CARE HOW BLOODY THIN IT IS !

    1. Re:5.2" is already a phablet ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      4" is annoying, it's a crapshoot if I'll hit the character or digit on the keyboard I intended to. I would much like around 4.7" I think. Perhaps something like 4.2" 16:10

  10. Re: washing machine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My top-loader washing machine doesn't look much different from the ones sold back in the 70s. I probably wouldn't have bought it if it had all sorts of superfluous features and embellishments, from 4 decades of "innovation".

    You should really get a side-loader washing machine (aka ~30 year old technology). They're way more efficient (use less water and less soap), and they're gentler on your clothes. Win-win.

  11. Re: washing machine by reboot246 · · Score: 1

    I think you mean a front-loading washing machine. They do use less water and you HAVE to use a low-sudsing detergent. They are harder to maintain and a bitch to repair.

  12. This is very cool by sad_ · · Score: 1

    and i like it very much, depending on the price it might be my next phone. this is true innovation, if you ask me. What i also like is that the phone is not a fragile small device, because it has two screens it is a thicker.
    the only downside i see right now is that the camera is hidden behind the second screen, so if you want to take a picture, you need to 'unfold' it.

    --
    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
  13. Dual screen phones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    NEC Medias W N-05E Kyocera Echo

  14. An answer to a question nobody asked by DrXym · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The screen is the biggest battery sapper in a phone. And now you've got two of them. And twice the breakable surfaces and a fragile hinge. And more component expense. And few apps (if any) which split nicely across the two displays. And a CPU burdened with running two foreground apps at once. And a compromised design that makes the bezel freakishly large at the top and bottom edges.

    What was the point again?

  15. Meh by otomoton · · Score: 1

    That has got to be the "meh"est thing thing that has ever meh'd.

  16. DONT GET A ZTE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You wont get updates! They install apps by default you cant remove.

    NO ROOT!

  17. e ink? by gatzke · · Score: 1

    I want a second screen to be touchscreen e ink so I can see it outdoors...

  18. Re: washing machine by Pascoea · · Score: 1

    I'm with GP, I love my front load. Less water, generally less noise, don't have to stop it mid-spin-cycle to redistribute the one god-damned towel or pair of jeans throwing the balance off causing it to dance around the laundry room. But the maintenance you suggest (keeping all of the water sealing parts clean) IS an inconvenience, and if ignored causes a pretty foul odor. And when the bearing goes, you're pretty much writing off the appliance and buying a new one. So definitely not without disadvantages, but overall I won't be going back to top-load.

  19. I could find something like this useful by wjcofkc · · Score: 1

    If they manage to make this concept successful, I might be interested after a few years of advancement. As it stands, Gorilla Glass 5 does not strike me as sufficient for having two outward facing screens. The screens themselves don't look like they belong together. Both screens need to be bezelless on the connecting sides, engineered so for the purpose of making it seem at least almost seamless. A litmus test would be the ability to draw an image with a stylus across both sides, where the experience would not be jarring. Also, the battery would be okay for a single screen, but your going to have to push it up to 4,000 mA for this to be a feature that can be used frequently. Engineering a solid case would be a challenge.

    --
    Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
  20. INNOVATIVE idea, DOA with at&t by p51d007 · · Score: 1

    May not be the best idea, but at least it is SOMETHING outside of the box! Every smartphone since 2007, has been nothing more than a rectangular slab of metal, plastic & glass. It's a novel idea, but, being tied to at&t "only" means it WON'T be promoted by at&t, and, it will be stuck in the corner, in the shadows, of most at&t stores. Heck, walk into any at&t store and you think you had walked into an Apple/Samsung store. I remember in 2010 when I read about the Dell Streak 5 (at the time all smartphones had 3.5" screens) was announced with a "MASSIVE" FIVE INCH screen. I bought one direct from Dell, came with an at&t logo. Great phone, loved it. But, if you went into an at&t store, you never saw one, they had no idea what it was. At&t didn't promote it and Dell didn't promote it. Same will happen probably with this phone. Interesting idea, but tying it to at&t, will mean unless you know about it, no one will know about it. The "true" folding phones, I don't see coming for a few years yet.

  21. ZTE? No. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I still have that FirefoxOS paperweight around that was deprecated by Mozilla just 2 months after i bought it. Probably not ZTEs fault, but no more ZTE and Mozilla for me.

    1. Re:ZTE? No. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can use it to make a desktop access a wifi network (tethering. probably works with 3G as well, I never tried)
      Well, too bad.
      Smartphone? No.

  22. Oblig XKCD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://xkcd.com/1372/

  23. Re: washing machine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The best of both worlds is top loading horizontal drum, all the benefits of front loaders without having to rely on seals, having to lean down or have stuff accidentally touch the ground, plus the drum has bearings on both sides reducing the stress on them (unless they're garbage that fails after warranty ends like on whirlpools).

  24. Can't touch type on a touch screen by tepples · · Score: 1

    What , the Android and iOS keyboards aren’t hard enough?

    It's not that they're hard as much as that they're flat.

    "Touch typing", or typing while focusing on the document instead of the input device, requires feeling the edges of the keys in order to line up the fingers over each desired key, as opposed to adjacent keys or adjacent space without keys (a "whiff"). The flat sheet of glass in front of an on-screen keyboard fails to give this sort of tactile positioning feedback.

  25. Re: washing machine by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Why would a front loaded machine use less water?
    And water usage hardly is an issue in the civilized world, as it costs next to nothing. Oh, I forgot about California ...
    Plenty if my friends are complaining that the washing stepp where only clear water is used to remove the soap uses not enough water ... hence rests of soap are in the cloth.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  26. Re: washing machine by Pascoea · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I've heard of those/saw them online, but I don't recall seeing them as an option in the states.