I went by Best Buy to look at phones and the Galaxy S9+ is just a hair bigger than the Axon 7, but it's Samsung with their bloat and skin, not to mention spotty updates.
There weren't many other recent phones there to look at which I was surprised at, so the hunt goes on I guess.
My Axon 7 broke so I sent it to ZTE for repair. After sitting on it for almost a month, they sent it back to me as "unrepairable" (after I pestered them about it), even though they emailed me saying they repaired it and updated the software. At no time did they contact me via email or phone to give me the option to replace it with a refurbished unit which I would have done until I could figure out my next move.
I called them and sat on the phone for a total of 2 hours to find out what happened and to get a refurbished unit. They more or less said they "dropped the ball" (you think?!?!), and would put me in the "VIP queue" to take my credit card information. After over 5 minutes of circular discussion the "VIP" person said they would sit on an advanced return amount of $400 (for a phone I bought a year ago new for less than that) for 30 days, even if I re-returned the phone they just sent back in a week. That would be on top of the refurbished unit charge of $79... I told them they could stick it in their ear at that point, because sitting on money for weeks when you already have the returned unit because of "policy" is just bull... I also nicely (not) thanked them for wasting a month of my time waiting for them to repair something they didn't repair, returning it w/o giving me the option to replace it, and then making me sit on hold so they could sit on my money for a month (when I have no idea if they will be operating in the US in a month).
I'm currently leaning towards either the LG G7 or the Sony Xperia XZ2 (compact or regular), because I want stereo speakers, some form of IP rating, SD card support, etc... I just need to get to a store and play with them to see which one works better, and hopefully I can get an Amazon prime deal discount or maybe some deal through BestBuy.