ZTE Nubia Z40S Pro Smartphone Review – Apart from impressive gaming-centric Redmagic phones, ZTE also provides flagship killer phones this year. Recently, the company come up with a great combination of performance and style with their newest creation ZTE Nubia Z40S Pro. The phone is unveiled in July 2022 and it got several amazing things to uncover. Everything looks pretty good on this phone, whether you talk about the elegant design or robust processing power.
The first impression does feel quite overwhelming and attractive, which kind of gives a vibe of a decent phone. On top of that, the phone is exclusive to the Chinese smartphone market and it’s not clear when this phone appears on the global stage. But, it doesn’t improve much from the previous Nubia Z40 Pro version, so we won’t judge the phone based on the specs on the papers, and there are so many things left to review. So without any further delay, let’s head toward the ZTE Nubia Z40S Pro review.
Table of Contents
ZTE Nubia Z40S Pro Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The display section brings a 6.67-inches AMOLED panel that grants a 144Hz refresh rate and 1000 nits brightness.
- As for the processing power, the phone is powered by the latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset with Adreno 730 GPU.
- Moving to the software, you will get the Android 12 out of the box alongside MyOS 12 version.
- A 64MP triple camera handles all of your photos and videos, while there’s a 16MP selfie lens at the front.
- In terms of battery life, the Li-Po 5000 mAh can refuel through an 80W or 120W charger.
Design and Display
The Nubia Z40S Pro comes with a new camera module that looks pretty attractive compared to the previous version. Aside from this, the phone equips a pretty decent and sleek design layout, which gives a premium feel while holding the phone. Besides this, you can choose this handset in three amazing shade options from Magic Green, Night Sea, and the Spirit cage special edition.
The Magic Green and Night Sea are classic green and black color options with a minimalistic layout. On the other hand, the Spirit cage special edition pushes the design limits and brings almost similar designs to the Red magic phones. Although, you won’t get RGB lighting here. But you can choose the special edition for its appealing and interesting looks. In terms of the dimensions, the phone feels pretty thick but doesn’t feel that heavy.
The front display of a 6.67-inches AMOLED panel comes with 1B colors that enhance the viewing experience of contrast, saturation, and colors. Besides this, the Nubia Z40S Pro arrives with 1000 nits brightness so you won’t face any problem using this phone outdoors. Plus, the combo of advanced 144Hz refresh rate and HDR 10+ crispness grants quite a smooth user experience.
Memory and Internal
The smartphone makers launched the Nubia Z40 Pro not too long ago with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, and hopefully, the company upgraded the processing unit with the 4nm Qualcomm SM8475 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset in Nubia Z40S Pro. With the new chipset, you won’t notice overheating issues, unlike the previous-gen chip. Yet, the overall performance output and graphic rendering are the same.
Since the phone got flagship level processing power, you can easily play your favorite games without any hassle or lags, or hiccups. Besides this, you will also attain the latest Android 12 interface, which is loaded with lots of custom features of the MyOS 12 skin. Moreover, you can modify various things in the interface. Plus, the gaming experience improved with faster touch responses.
Apart from this, the phone also provides decent 5G bands so you can effortlessly obtain connectivity features. Besides this, the phone does not disappointed in terms of the RAM and storage options. The starting variant comes with 128GB UFS 3.1 space accompanied by 8GB RAM, while the higher variant comes starts with 256GB, 512GB to 1TB, and RAM support hikes from 12GB to 18GB, which is totally magnificent.
Camera
Although, there aren’t many major improvements taking place in the camera department compared to the non-S variant. Though the smartphone does change the camera module placement with the new cutout, there’s nothing change specs-wise. But it’s noteworthy that image processing quality enhances a bit and grants immersive colors with dynamic range on the 64MP primary lens.
As for the lowlight photos, the images come out decent with the night mode, and you will notice a proper color balance in each shot. Aside from this, the 8MP telephoto lens gives the ability to zoom in precisely and gives fine details. Following this, the camera module is accompanied by the 50MP ultra-wide lens, which is responsible for providing the dynamic range in each picture. The details look crisp and appealing, while not to forget, the main camera also has optical image stabilization support.
Moving to the front camera setup, you will attain a 16MP selfie lens that captures a good amount of colors and contrasts with the selfie. Besides this, you can also utilize the native camera features to boost the camera quality to a whole new level. Use portrait, macro, and night modes to add vibrant colors and saturation. As for the video recording, the main sensor can go up to 8K video recording without any trouble.
Battery and Others
The regular version of the ZTE Nubia Z40S Pro arrives with a Li-Po 5000 mAh battery capacity that can handle multitasking and give a decent battery life of six and a half our usage in a single charge through an 80W charger. With this charger, all you need is roughly 40minutes to refuel the battery from flat to 100%. As for the special variant, you will attain the same battery size, but with 120W fast charging speed and wireless charging support.
The special edition can provide an impressive feature at almost the same price tag. Apart from this, the phone house stereo speakers that will make sure you get crisp and clear sound output. Furthermore, you will also attain several top-notch sensors and comms under the hood. Finally, the price point of the ZTE Nubia Z40S Pro starts at $505 (Rs. 40,290), while the special variant’s starting price is around $652 (Rs. 51,999 in India) approx.
ZTE Nubia Z40S Pro Pros and Cons
ZTE Nubia Z40S Pro Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the ZTE Nubia Z40S Pro smartphone.
| Specifications | ZTE nubia Z40S Pro |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | July 2022 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.35 x 2.91 x 0.32 inches |
| Weight | 205 g |
| Size | 6.67 inches |
| Display | AMOLED 1B colors 144Hz HDR10+ 1000 nits brightness 20:9 ratio ~395 PPI density |
| Protection | No |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| OS | Android 12, MyOS 12 |
| Chipset | 4nm – Qualcomm SM8475 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 |
| CPU | Octa-core 1×3.19 GHz Cortex-X2 3×2.75 GHz Cortex-A710 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510 |
| GPU | Adreno 730 |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB, 18GB |
| Internal | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB UFS 3.1 |
| Camera | 64 MP (standard), PDAF, OIS 8 MP (periscope telephoto), PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom 50 MP (116Ëšultrawide), AF Dual-LED flash, panorama, HDR Max – 8K, 4K@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS |
| Selfie | 16 MP (wide) HDR |
| Loudspeaker | Yes Stereo speakers |
| 3.5mm jack | No 24-bit/192kHz audio |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 3.1, USB On-The-Go |
| Sensors | Under display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Battery | Regular version Li-Po 5000 mAh Fast charging 80W 120W version Li-Po 4600 mAh Fast charging 120W Fast magnetic wireless charging 15W |
| Colors | Interstellar Black, Star Black, Silver |
| Expected Price | $500 (Rs 40,000 in India) approx |
Conclusion
In general, the regular version of the ZTE Nubia Z40S Pro smartphone is a great upgrade from the ZTE Nubia Z40 Pro. With this phone, you will attain powerful processing power, decent battery life, fast charging support, beautiful camera support, and a good viewing experience. Overall, the phone is a brilliant deal for under $500. But if you are willing to push the limits, you can check out the special edition.
For the special edition, you have to increase your budget by roughly $100 to unlock blazing fast charging and wireless charging support with an aesthetic gaming-centric design layout. Both of them are good options for flagship phones. If you are looking for an alternative option for a good gaming phone you can check the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 7S smartphone. But for a better camera experience, we will recommend you to check out other phones.
