ZTE's next flagship to be unveiled on the 26th of May, will not be called Axon 2

The ZTE Axon is an interesting line of phones. Last year, we saw the launch of its first two representatives – the Axon and Axon Pro, which were both well-priced smartphones with great specs and a snappy, almost vanilla-like Android experience, which we really liked. Then, the company launched an Axon Mini, which one would think is the same smartphone, but in a smaller package. It turned out, however, that the Mini brought along its own, heavy UI and Force Touch capabilities. Larger models, such as the Axon Lux, Axon Elite, and Axon Max followed suit.

The original Axon is approaching its 12-month refresh cycle, and we've known for a while now that ZTE plans to launch a new phone from the line very soon. However, it turns out it's not going to be called the Axon 2, but ZTE Axon 7. We suppose that's because it's technically the 7th smartphone in the line, but the choice of numbering may also reveal that ZTE isn't planning to return to the vanilla Android ways of the original Axon. Instead, if it's really viewing the line as a progression, the new flagship may don a new version of ZTE's fairly heavy and clunky user interface.

The phone's name is revealed in an invitation for its launch event. Apparently, the Axon 7 will be under the limelights on May the 26th. Thus far, thanks to a TENAA certification listing, we know that the device will have a 5.5-inch, QHD (1440 x 2560 pixels) display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of expandable storage, a 20 MP main and 8 MP selfie snapper, a 3,140 mAh juicebox, and Android 6.0.1. Additionally – drum roll, please – the Axon 7 will not have screws on its bottom! Apparently, that's a solution to an existing problem.

Whether it will be offered in the US is still up in the air, but if it's a true successor to the ZTE Axon Pro, it should be.