How to Unlock Bootloader on ZTE Axon 7

ZTE recently announced bootloader unlock support for the ZTE Axon 7. The process to unlock the bootloader is similar to that of Motorola and Sony. You let the company know that you wish to unlock the bootloader on your device, and they give you a way to do so (no money charged). But the manufacturer now knows that your device is tampered, and may deny warranty rights when you ask.

However, there’s an unofficial way as well to unlock the bootloader on your ZTE Axon 7. The OTA update which enables bootloader unlock on ZTE Axon 7 has been leaked on the intrenet. You can simply sideload it to your device and have its bootloader unlocked without letting ZTE know about it.

The ZTE Axon 7 bootloader unlock OTA only patches the files required to allow fastboot oem unlock command to unlock bootloader on the device. But it requires that you install the 20B OTA update first on your ZTE Axon 7, before installing bootloader unlock OTA.

You can grab both the OTAs from the download link below, and sideload them to your ZTE Axon 7 as instructed in the steps below.

Downloads

[icon name=”cloud-download” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Download 18B to 20B OTA (.zip)

[icon name=”cloud-download” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Download Bootloader Unlock OTA (.zip)

NOTE: Unlocking the bootloader on your ZTE Axon 7 will delete all files on your device’s internal storage. Make sure you take a backup before proceeding with the step-by-step guide below.

How to Unlock Bootloader on ZTE Axon 7

Flash the OTA zips:
- Check if your build number is 20B or 18B. If it’s 18B, then you need to sideload the 20B OTA update on your device. Get it from the download link above and adb sideload it via recovery.
- Once you’ve 20B installed on your ZTE Axon 7, sideload the bootloader unlock OTA zip to your device. Get it from the download link above.
- For help sideloading OTA, follow this link: How to Install OTA update manually via ADB Sideload
Once bootloader unlock OTA update is installed, boot your device and enable USB debugging and OEM Unlock from developer options.
└ How to Enable Developer Options, USB Debugging and OEM unlock on Android devices.
Setup ADB and Fastboot on your PC.
Connect your ZTE Axon 7 to PC and open a command window on the PC.
Boot ZTE Axon 7 into bootloader mode using the following command:
```
adb reboot bootloader
```
└ You may get a request to authorize USB debugging on the phone, accept it.
Once your phone is in bootloader mode, issue the following command to unlock bootloader:
```
fastboot oem unlock
```
You’ll get a confirmation screen on your ZTE Axon 7. Press Volume Up button to highlight Yes and press Power button to select it. This will begin bootloader unlocking process, which shouldn’t last more than couple of minutes.
Once bootloader is unlocked, your phone will reboot into bootloader mode. You need to boot into system now, either press Power button to reboot OR issue the following command:
```
fastboot reboot
```
During reboot, your phone might go through a factory reset and then finally boot into system.