It was a busy MWC for ZTE and its nubia subsidiary with the announcement of 5 new telephones. We managed to get some hands-on time with a couple of of the brand new fashions and these are our first impressions of the nubia Flip, Focus Professional, Neo 2 and Music smartphones.
nubia Flip
The nubia Flip is arguably probably the most fascinating system from the bunch – a finances flip foldable to rival the Galaxy Z Flip5 and Moto Razr 40. It feels nice within the hand with a pleasant brushed aluminum body that folds fully flat. It’s a bit heavier than its key opponents at 214 grams however we don’t thoughts the additional heft because the folding mechanism feels strong.
The pearly gradient purple again on this demo unit appears to be like nice and shifts colours relying on the angle you’re . Whereas we’re right here we should always point out the 1.43-inch cowl display screen. It exhibits time, date and notifications however you can too use it to take incoming calls, management media playback, present climate information, and as a viewfinder for the 50MP essential digital camera.
Unfolding the nubia Flip reveals a 6.9-inch essential OLED show with FHD+ decision and a 120Hz refresh fee. The show appears to be like respectable at first look although you’ll discover the thick surrounding bezels. The crease within the center is fairly noticeable when seen from the aspect and you may definitely really feel your finger going by it on swipes.
The software program entrance right here is roofed by ZTE’s MyOS 13.5 based mostly on Android 13 and there are a number of tweaks to reap the benefits of the folding display screen like splitting the digital camera UI throughout each halves of the show. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip here’s a almost two-year-old midrange chipset however that is the place the nubia Flip’s $599/€599 beginning worth begins to point out. The decently sized 4,310 mAh battery ought to provide sufficient juice to energy by a day and also you’ll be capable of recharge at 33W speeds.
ZTE will present extra detailed pricing and availability particulars within the coming months, however for now the nubia Flip appears to be like like a strong finances contender within the flip foldable area.
nubia Focus Professional
The nubia Focus lineup goals to supply a camera-centric expertise within the midrange phase. Focus Pro encompasses a 1/1.67” 108MP Neovision essential sensor with an f/1.75 aperture and OIS. The principle shooter presents in-sensor crop and covers 5 focal lengths starting from 18mm to 72mm. The digital camera can even shoot RAW HDR and RAW tremendous evening mode images and file as much as 4K video.
The digital camera focus expands to the cellphone’s design too with a bodily slider on the right-hand-hand aspect which serves as a fast toggle to the digital camera app. The underside aspect of the body has a capacitive seize button which presents respectable suggestions for capturing photographs.
The vegan leather-based again and dual-tone end mixed with the massive round digital camera island assist the Focus Professional look a bit like an old-school digital camera despite the fact that this isn’t the primary time we’ve seen this design – it’s roughly based mostly on the nubia Z50S Pro from final 12 months.
Elsewhere, Focus Professional encompasses a 6.72-inch show with FHD+ decision and a 120Hz refresh fee, a 32MP front-facing digital camera and a Unisoc T760 chipset paired with 8GB RAM. You additionally get a 5,000 mAh battery with 33W charging. ZTE mentioned that the Focus Professional is coming later this 12 months and it’ll retail for round $199 which is fairly spectacular given the camera-centric options.
nubia Neo 2
nubia Neo 2 is a finances gaming cellphone that’s mentioned to retail for round $199 when it launches formally later this 12 months. For that worth, you’re getting a powerful listing of specs with a 6.72-inch show (FHD+ 120Hz), a 5G-capable Unisoc T820 chipset with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.
The fitting-hand aspect options capacitive shoulder triggers that are usually reserved just for the higher-end gaming telephones and they’re a welcome addition right here.
The ZTE sales space had the yellow and purple Neo 2 each of which sport unmistakably flashy gamer designs. We even noticed some nods to previous Pink Magic gaming telephones and their cooling followers – solely this time the fan was merely painted on.
Neo 2 options the identical Sport House 2.0 overlay discovered on the Pink Magic 9 Professional which brings a bevy of customization choices, CPU and GPU monitoring and entry to fast toggles. Rounding out the spec sheet is a 6,000 mAh battery with 33W charging.
nubia Music
nubia Music is arguably the quirkiest cellphone of the bunch – its key promoting level is the loudspeaker on the again which nubia proudly claims is 600% louder than typical smartphone audio system. The speaker’s design was impressed by vinyl information and regardless of all of the commotion happening on the occasion corridor, we definitely observed that the nubia Music will get a lot loud.
ZTE is advertising and marketing this system as the best alternative for these little Bluetooth audio system that you just’ve in all probability seen all over the place whereas additionally doubling as an entry-level Android 13 smartphone with a 6.6-inch (HD+ 90Hz) show, 5,000 mAh battery and twin cameras.
Whereas most different makers are shifting away from headphone jacks, nubia Music boasts twin 3.5mm ports situated on the prime. The intent right here is that you could share your tunes with a fiend over wired headphones which is a daring transfer in a world the place Bluetooth headphones have gotten the brand new norm.
nubia Music is powered by a Unisoc SC9863A chipset alongside 4GB RAM and 128GB storage which clearly positions it within the entry-level phase. The system is anticipated to retail for $149 as soon as it launches later this 12 months.