The premium smartphone market is thriving at this point – you get your gaming-specific phones, your camera-centric flagships, your flagship killers, your battery champs. But we haven’t had a cameraphone that’s also a gaming phone so far and that’s the niche the nubia Z60 Ultra looks to fill.
Before we get to testing, a quick unboxing. The nubia Z60 Ultra ships with a hard plastic case, an 80W charger, and a USB-C cable.
The nubia Z60 Ultra is an all-out flagship with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, up to 24GB of RAM, it’s IP68 waterproof, and it has an under-display camera.
But it’s the camera system that really shines, at least on paper. ZTE is the only maker that’s sticking with a physical 35mm main lens – something photographers, especially old-school ones, love it for. 35mm has a narrower field of view compared to the 23-24mm focal length which is the default these days. At 35mm, you also get a nice subject-to-background separation – bokeh or background blur, thanks in equal part to the nubia Z60 Ultra’s ample 1/1.49-inch sensor.
The ultrawide promises to be just as interesting – it’s a bit narrower than usual at 18mm (still plenty wide), but it has a big 1/1.55-inch sensor and a bright f/1.8 lens. The zoom is an 85mm f/3.3 periscope with a big half-inch sensor.
We expect great things from the nubia Z60 Ultra’s camera system, provided the software can keep up with the hardware.
Finally, a word on design and build. The nubia Z60 Ultra is a rectangular phone with thick sides. It’s hefty at 246g but it’s the price you pay for a massive 6,000mAh battery.
The phone is encased in a matte metal casing that’s both a pleasure to touch and lovely to look at.
That’s it for now, stay tuned for more.
The nubia Z60 Ultra
