ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra Smartphone Review – ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra was launched in December 2023 as the latest flagship offering from ZTE. The smartphone showcases the best of what ZTE has to offer. It’s the most premium smartphone you will find from the house of ZTE. The smartphone is available globally in many regions, which will further expand.
This is a well-crafted smartphone and comes with all the latest technologies, including 5G connectivity. But can it compete with the likes of iPhone 15 Pro Max or Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra? That’s exactly what we plan to find out today. So, let’s begin with a detailed review of the ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra smartphone and see if this smartphone is worth purchasing.
Table of Contents
ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The ZTE nubia Z60 Ultra has a 6.8-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz high refresh rate support.
- The SoC inside the smartphone is the latest Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 5G chipset that can reach clock speeds of 1×3.3 GHz.
- The smartphone comes with Android 14 out of the box with a MyOS 14 user interface for better customizability.
- The smartphone has a 50MP triple camera system while the selfie camera has a 12/16MP sensor.
- The smartphone is powered by a Li-Po 6000 mAh battery with an 80W wired fast charger support.
Design and Display
ZTE never shied away from creating unique designs for their smartphone and the same follows here. The ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra has a unique flat design with a large camera island that is situated at the top. ZTE went above and beyond when designing the smartphone. The smartphone is available in Black and Silver color options.
No matter which color variant you choose to go for, the ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra will look extremely premium. The use of a metallic side frame makes the smartphone extremely durable. The smartphone is also protected against dust and water as it has been certified with IP68 certification.
On the front, you get a 6.8-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz high refresh rate support, which makes everything that happens on the screen super smooth. The display also has support for 1 Billion colors and HDR10+. On top of that, the display can get adequately bright at 1500 nits, making it easy to use the smartphone outdoors under direct sunlight.
Memory and Internal
The ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra features the newest flagship 4nm Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 5G chipset that has a clock speed of 1×3.3 GHz. It’s the fastest and the latest flagship Android chipset in the world, so there’s nothing to worry about. It can run anything you want on it, whether that’s social media apps, games, or any productivity software.
Speaking of gaming, you will find the Adreno 750 GPU extremely satisfactory. The Adreno 750 has even dethroned the A17 Pro’s GPU in multiple tests. So it has more than enough power to run all your high-end games like Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile, and CODm at the highest graphical fidelity. Also, the chipset supports 5G connectivity, so you can download multiple files at gigabit speeds and also have lower latency during your gaming session.
For RAM and storage, the smartphone can be purchased with up to 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. 24GB of RAM is simply an outkill but if you need it, you can purchase that variant. You can also purchase the base variant with just 8GB RAM. The decision is left to you. Also, the storage cannot be expanded later, so it’s better to go with a higher-capacity storage.
When it comes to the software side of things, the ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra is running on Android 14 out of the box. Having Android 14 out of the box will ensure you get all the latest features and the best user experience possible. Android 14 is further enhanced with the MyOS 14 user interface for better customizability.
Camera
The ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra sports a 50MP triple rear camera system. The main 50MP rear camera is capable of taking pictures with excellent detail levels, higher dynamic range, and natural color tone. The detail levels are preserved when zoomed in and if you want even better zoomed-in shots, there’s the 64MP periscopic telephoto lens. The sensor can take pictures at 3.3x zoom levels and the fine details are all preserved perfectly.
These images are captured at a 26mm focal length for easier productivity and editing later. The images look sharp even if you zoom in, thanks to all the details that the senor managed to preserve. There’s also a third sensor and that’s the 50MP ultra-wide camera and this camera takes ultra-wide 100˚ FOV images. These images are quite detailed and don’t have the soft look that we often see in other smartphones.
There are also no warping distortions around the edges of the ultra-wide pictures that many ultra-cameras suffer from. The cameras also excel in low-light situations, thanks to the night mode. It helps capture more light and boosts the darker areas of all the shots to preserve more details. For the selfie camera, there’s the 12MP sensor that takes some decent selfies with a natural color tone.
This is an under-display sensor but this is an advanced under-display camera tech and this has significantly boosted the selfie performance. As for video recording, the ZTE nubia Z60 Ultra can shoot at a maximum of 8K@30FPS or 4K@120FPS from the rear cameras, while the selfie camera can only shoot at a maximum of 1080p@30FPS.
Also, the rear camera system has both OIS and gyro-EIS video stabilization systems and it allows users to shoot action captures with extreme stability. Users can also record with HDR10 and 10-bit color profiles, which is extremely important to content creators.
Battery and Others
The ZTE nubia Z60 Ultra has a Li-Po 6000mAh non-removable battery. This is a very high-capacity battery, so expect the ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra to provide an excellent backup. It can last 1 – 2 days easily with light to moderate usage but if you play games for an extended period, the battery will drain faster and last less than a day full day.
This smartphone also supports the 80W wired fast charger, which will fully charge the smartphone in under 40 minutes. The best part is that the charger is included in the box, unlike many manufacturers who choose to remove it from the box. Apart from that, the phone also has Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4, an under-display fingerprint scanner, NFC, GPS, and a USB Type-C port. The ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra starts at $600 (Rs 49,990 in India) approx for the base variant.
ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra Pros and Cons
ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra smartphone.
| Specifications | ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | December 2023 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.46 x 3.01 x 0.35 inches |
| Weight | 246 g |
| Size | 6.8 inches |
| Display | AMOLED 1B colors 120Hz HDR10+ 1500 nits brightness 20:9 ratio ~400 PPI density |
| Protection/Others | IP68 dust/water resistant |
| Resolution | 1116 x 2480 pixels |
| OS | Android 14, MyOS 14 |
| Chipset | 4nm – Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
| CPU | Octa-core 1×3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 5×3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 2×2.3 GHz Cortex-A520 |
| GPU | Adreno 750 |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB, 16GB, 24GB |
| Internal | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB UFS 4.0 |
| Camera | 50 MP (standard), PDAF, Laser AF, OIS 64 MP (periscope telephoto), PDAF, OIS, 3.3x optical zoom 50 MP (100Ëšultrawide), PDAF, OIS Ring-LED, dual-tone flash, panorama, HDR Max – 8K@30fps, gyro-EIS, HDR10, 10‑bit video |
| Selfie | 12 MP under display – International model 16 MP (wide), under display – China model HDR Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes (stereo speakers) |
| 3.5mm jack | No 24-bit/192kHz Hi-Res audio Snapdragon Sound |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 5.4, A2DP, LE, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless |
| GPS | GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS (L1+L2+L5), GALILEO, BDS |
| NFC | Yes, eSE |
| Infrared port | Yes |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 3.1, OTG |
| Sensors | Under display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, color spectrum |
| Battery | Li-Po 6000 mAh 80W wired, PD3.0, QC4 |
| Colors | Black, Silver |
| Expected Price | $600 (Rs 49,990 in India) approx |
Conclusion
The ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra is a true flagship smartphone that can go toe to toe with the likes of the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra even in camera performance. In some scenes, the ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra can even beat the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, which is something else. It provides a true flagship experience, whether that’s the display design, performance, battery, or camera.
It is even protected against dust and water. However, the smartphone lacks one thing and that’s the wireless charging capabilities. That’s about the only thing one can complain about, but everything else sounds perfect. If you want an alternative smartphone, the Vivo IQOO 12 is also quite capable and features a similar feature set. The best part is that IQOO 12 is available at a similar price point to the ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra. However, the final decision is up to you, so it is better to choose a smartphone based on your requirements and needs.
