ZTE Axon 7 to receive Oreo by April 2018

Chinese OEM ZTE produces a few of the best smartphones on the market by way of its Axon brand and the stylishly-designed Nubia line. The Axon 7 was a surprising contender for device of the year in 2016, with the smartphone shipping with top-of-the-line features and an enticing US$400 price tag. The company looks set to continue its good work with that phone, as the device-makers have confirmed that it will receive Android Oreo.

The Axon 7 was released in July 2016 in the US, and received the Android Nougat update when that version of the OS was launched, so a potential Oreo update would be the second major update the device gets. According to the source, users of the global version of the phone are billed to receive the Oreo update by April 2018. That is, of course, disappointing, as April would be eight months after Oreo was released. Better late than never, some would argue, and there's truth to that.

The source goes on to say that the Oreo update will have a new, redesigned UI called Stock+ UI. Quite a tacky name, we would say. But then again, the previous Axon skin was called MiFavor UI, so this looks like a step forward.

Meanwhile, the company, a few weeks ago, confirmed that there's an Axon 7 successor in the works. Details and launch dates are unknown but if the Axon 7 was any indication, we may be set to get another bang-for-buck ZTE device.