I just copied over my 116 Hunter who became level 48, however one issue is she now is equipped with shoulders that require level 50, this is notable due to the fact that these shoulders were dropped from a BFA Rare/Silver portrait mob, Specifically Rimestone in Drustvar.
Going and killing another Rare that drops Azerite gear for this character will drop them at also requiring level 50, but interestingly, at a lower ilvl of 59 (Even after leveling up to 49 via exploring experience on the way to the rare).
Other gear on this character that was looted from rare mobs that is not azerite gear is properly equippable, I cannot however see the level requirement, as this is natively hidden from the tooltip if you can equip it.