If you were walking through an AT&T store in late 2017, you probably missed it. Tucked away between the sleek, curved glass of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the industrial perfection of the iPhone X sat a chunky, black slab of a phone that looked like it belonged in a 1990s sci-fi flick.
That was the ZTE Axon M.
It didn't have a flexible screen. It didn't have a fancy "Infinity" display. What it did have was a massive, clunky hinge and a second screen that flipped out like a Nintendo DS on steroids. At the time, critics mostly laughed. They called it a gimmick. They pointed at the "bezel from hell" running right down the middle of the screen.
But honestly? Looking back from 2026, the ZTE Axon M was way more important than we gave it credit for. Before the Galaxy Fold made "foldable" a household word, ZTE was out here trying to solve the problem of small-screen multitasking with brute force and hinges.
The Hardware: A Tale of Two Screens
Most phones today try to hide their complexity. The Axon M wore its complexity on its sleeve—literally. It consisted of two identical 5.2-inch 1080p LCD panels. When folded, it felt like carrying two phones taped together. It was 12.1mm thick and weighed nearly half a pound (230g).
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Putting that in perspective: it was basically a brick.
But that brick could do things no other phone could. You could open it up into "Extended Mode," which turned the two displays into a roughly 6.7-inch tablet surface. Sure, there was a thick black line where the screens met, but for reading long articles or scrolling through maps, it was kind of a revelation.
What was under the hood?
ZTE made a bit of a weird choice with the internals. By the time the phone hit shelves in November 2017, the Snapdragon 835 was the king of the hill. Instead, ZTE used the older Snapdragon 821.
- RAM: 4GB (which struggled once you started pushing dual-app mode)
- Storage: 64GB (expandable, thank goodness)
- Battery: 3180mAh
- Camera: A single 20MP sensor that acted as both front and rear camera depending on how you folded the phone.
The battery was the real Achilles' heel. Imagine trying to power two high-brightness LCD screens with a battery smaller than what most single-screen phones use today. If you were doing heavy multitasking, you could practically watch the percentage drop in real-time.
The Four Modes That Defined the Experience
ZTE didn't just give you two screens and say "good luck." They built a specific software toggle—a little "M" icon in the navigation bar—that let you swap between four distinct ways of using the device.
- Dual Mode (A|B): This was the real winner. You could have YouTube open on the left screen and your email on the right. No "split-screen" windows that cut off half the content; these were two full-sized apps running natively next to each other.
- Extended Mode (A+A): This treated the two panels as one big screen. It was great for web browsing, though watching movies was a nightmare because the main action usually happened right where the hinge was.
- Mirror Mode (A|A): You'd fold the phone into a "tent" shape. This was meant for sitting across from someone at a table—you could both watch the same video at the same time. It was the ultimate "sharing a Netflix show at Starbucks" feature.
- Single Mode: You just used the front screen like a normal (albeit very thick) phone.
Why Didn't It Take Off?
It's easy to blame the hinge, but the failure of the ZTE Axon M was a "perfect storm" of bad timing and technical hurdles.
First off, the software wasn't quite there. Android Nougat (7.1) wasn't designed for dual-screen layouts. While ZTE did a decent job with their overlay, apps would frequently crash when you tried to stretch them across the hinge.
Then there was the carrier problem. In the US, it was an AT&T exclusive. If you were on Verizon or T-Mobile, you were basically out of luck unless you wanted to hunt down an unlocked version and hope the bands worked.
And we can't ignore the elephant in the room: the US government's ban on ZTE and Huawei that hit shortly after. That effectively killed the phone's momentum in North America, leaving early adopters with a device that would eventually stop receiving the security updates it desperately needed.
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The Misconception: "It was just a bad foldable"
People often group the Axon M with the Galaxy Fold or the Pixel Fold. That’s a mistake. The Axon M wasn't trying to be a flexible phone; it was a multi-screen phone. It had more in common with the later Microsoft Surface Duo than the Samsung Fold.
ZTE's goal wasn't to eliminate the bezel; it was to maximize the utility. If you were a power user who constantly swapped between Slack and a spreadsheet, the Axon M was actually better than many early "real" foldables because the glass was durable Gorilla Glass 5, not the soft, scratchable plastic found on early folding OLEDs.
The Legacy: What We Learned
We owe a lot to this weird little device. It proved that there was a genuine hunger for more screen real estate, even if the hardware was clunky.
It also served as a warning to other manufacturers: Software is everything. You can have the coolest hinge in the world, but if the apps don't know how to handle the transition between screens, the user experience falls apart.
Honestly, the Axon M was the "rough draft" for the modern era. It was brave, it was ugly, and it was fascinating.
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Actionable Insights for Tech Enthusiasts
If you’re a collector or someone looking at the history of mobile tech, here is how you should view the Axon M today:
- Don't buy it as a daily driver: Even in 2026, you'll find some for sale on eBay for under $150. Don't do it. The Android 7.1 software is a security risk, and the Snapdragon 821 is painfully slow by modern standards.
- Appreciate the "Single Camera" Hack: ZTE's idea to use one high-quality sensor for everything is something we’re seeing a return to with "flip" style cameras. It's a smart way to save space.
- Check out the Surface Duo instead: If you love the dual-screen (non-flexible) concept, the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 is the spiritual successor to the Axon M and offers a much more polished version of the same dream.
- Study the Hinge: If you ever get your hands on one, pay attention to the "click." It's one of the most satisfying mechanical hinges ever put on a phone.
The ZTE Axon M wasn't the future, but it was the bridge we needed to get there. It reminded us that sometimes, being "normal" is the most boring thing a phone can be.
Next Steps for You:
If you're interested in how this led to modern designs, you might want to look into the evolution of the Samsung "Hinge" patents or the history of the Kyocera Echo—the true ancestor of the Axon M.