Authentic and aesthetic: ZTE Nubia Z18 mini smartphone - pros and cons

In April 2018, Nubia technology delighted us with its new product ZTE nubia Z18 mini. It is worth making a small remark, specifying that the name of the ZTE brand is rather nominal than real here, since Nubia technology has been independent from ZTE for 3 years. In Russia, smartphones from nubia are very popular, so the release of the new product simply could not go unnoticed. Many have already expressed their opinion about this phone, let's consider it and we.

Equipment

The contents of the box are quite typical for smartphones. It contains:

• Actually, the smartphone itself;
• Gen 1 USB Type-c cable;
• Power supply 2A / 5V;
• User's manual;
• Opener for a SIM card slot.

Display

It so happened that the word mini in Nubia models does not mean anything at all. This model is no exception, from mini it only has a name, but everything else, from the display to the characteristics, is quite a maxi.

The size of this "Mini" display is 5.7 inches with an aspect ratio of 18: 9 and Full HD resolution of 2160x1080 pixels. The screen occupies about 80.2% of the entire body and displays 16 million colors, in the NTSC space, which is 85% of all perceived by the human eye, and also thanks to the good oleophobic coating, it practically does not leave fingerprints.

Nubia also decided to do without the monobrow, which many do not like so much, and deserved a few points in karma for this.

The display matrix is ​​based on the low-temperature polysilicon LTPS technology - this is the latest technology for the production of thin-film transistors, performed using laser annealing at a temperature of -400 ^aboutFROM.

This process technology allows you to reduce not only energy consumption, but also the size of the transistors themselves. This makes it possible to greatly increase the pixel density per inch of the screen. Mobile phones with such displays have an incredibly beautiful and clear picture, since the number of pixels per inch (ppi) in them can reach 500 and above. Although our device has a little less of them, only 424, the picture does not lose much from this.

Design

The case itself has dimensions of 148 x 70.6 x 7.6 mm and weighs 153 grams. Its body is made of aluminum, and the front and back are enclosed in 2.5D tempered Gorilla glass.

The body combines all the advantages and disadvantages of a "glass" smartphone: it is not scratched, fits comfortably in the hand and looks beautiful. However, it collects fingerprints quickly and is easy to beat, so you should be careful when handling it, as such models are generally not very reliable.

On the back is a dual camera with 24 and 5 MP sensors in red bezels and a fingerprint scanner. On the left side panel there is a Dual sim slot for two SIM cards and a call button for a smart assistant with the same red stripe around it. At the bottom there is a 3.5 mm audio jack and a USB cable connector.

The design of the phone is really pleasing to the eye. The smartphone looks sleek and sophisticated, and the glass adds a special charm to it. The model comes in 5 colors. In addition to the classic black and white, colors such as purple, pink and blue are available. Each of them looks just fine.Especially the purple one, called the provence edition.

Main characteristics

The characteristics of this model are not at all mini. The table will give you a quick look at them. Below we will dwell on them in more detail in order to show that he is good not only in appearance.

CPU

The heart and brain of the smartphone is a powerful 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor. It is made using FinFET technology and its thickness is only 14 nm. Its four Kryo 260 cores run at 1.8 GHz, while the other four, called the Kryo 280, deliver higher performance and run at 2.2 GHz. It also consumes 60% less power compared to the Snapdragon 653.

According to AnTuTu tests, it gives out about 138,000 units. An excellent result for the middle class. You don't have to worry about performance. This smart processor is suitable for active games and in general for almost anything, even if you deploy a neural network on it. And yes, it does have a modification to work with neural networks.

At the same time, no throttling or overheating was noticed during operation. During tests, it never froze, and in order to heat it, you really need to try.

Camera and its features

So we come to almost the strongest point of this device. Its rear dual cameras are highlighted in red for a reason. The 24 megapixel camera sensor with a good aperture of f / 1.7 and six-lens optics allows you to take simply excellent pictures. They are in no way inferior in quality, if not superior to the pictures taken with cameras of flagship smartphones, for example, such as the Honor 10.

This is largely due to technological solutions such as phase detection autofocus. Special sensors collect light rays from different points of the frame, using multiple lenses, making up a single luminous flux from them, which is then divided into 2 halves and fed to the light sensor. When the beams are at a certain distance from the sensor, the system automatically aligns the lenses to obtain the best image quality.

Phase detection autofocus allows you to capture the image as quickly and accurately as possible, which is especially important when shooting moving objects.

The same technology is used in SLR cameras.

The second camera, with a resolution of 5 megapixels, is used to blur the background, making it possible to bring the quality of pictures even closer to professional ones.

Below are examples of how the camera takes a picture:

The front-facing camera is nowhere near that impressive and is pretty basic. It has 8 megapixel resolution and f / 2.0 aperture. The phone also uses AI algorithms to process images from the front camera.

In 2018, manufacturers set an incredibly high bar for front cameras, and 12 or more MP front cameras on budget models and Nubia Z18, alas, do not correspond to it. The 8MP camera looks shabby in the middle class.

Nevertheless, it is still quite good.

As for video, the camera can record Full HD and has electronic stabilization, but it does not have optical stabilization, which may cause the video to shake slightly, but this is not very noticeable.

Memory

In terms of RAM, the developers have outdone themselves. They shoved as much as 6 GB of RAM into their new device, apparently guided by the rule: "A lot is not a little." So everything is more than fine with the RAM.

But there is no additional slot for the main memory, which is sad.Since the phone is available in two variations: with built-in memory of 64 and 128 GB, we recommend taking 128, guided by the same rule as the developer when choosing the amount of RAM "More - not less"

Software

Nubia has released their novelty based on the new operating system Android 8.1 Oreo. This model also uses the latest NeoVision 7.0 user interface.

A branded shell for Nubia can cause inconvenience for two reasons:

• Minor problems with biometric sensor triggering. It almost always works flawlessly, however, during prolonged testing it sometimes starts to freeze or not work.
• The confusion and complexity of the firmware when setting up notifications. Initially, they don't work, and you may need to rummage through the manual to configure them.

Some may be upset by the lack of such a useful feature as NFC. It allows you to pay by phone instead of a card, and many are already accustomed to this method of payment. So you should pay attention to this point when choosing a smartphone, perhaps it will become decisive for you.

Battery

This not mini phone is powered by a 3450 mAh battery. This is enough for more than a day, or even as much as 2 days of battery life. On average, this is about 5-6 hours of active screen use.

The new processor contributes to this long runtime. Thanks to modern manufacturing technology, it consumes much less power and also offers higher performance than previous Snapdragon models.

The fast charging function is not implemented in the phone, which does not prevent the phone from fully charging in about an hour and a half using the charger that comes in the box by default.

Sound and voice communication

The sound from the multimedia speaker is quite loud, but the sound quality is not the same as we are used to seeing from Nubia. This is a bit disappointing, since they have been making good speakers for a long time and so far there have been practically no complaints about them.

Not everything is good with the spoken speaker either, since it noticeably distorts the sound during a conversation. Although here we will not rush to conclusions, since those problems with the conversational dynamics that the reviewers from Ukraine have had are absent from reviewers from other countries. So perhaps this is due to the quality of communication of local operators.

But through the headphones, the phone's sound is quite high-quality, in no way inferior to even the One plus 6. Through the integrated sound processor chip, you can quite clearly hear the high-quality music in FLAC format. It is distinguished by a wide stage and detailed sounding at high frequencies.

But there is no reason to hope for something supernatural, since there is no D / A converter here. The sound is just good, and it seems to us that this is quite enough.

A little about LTE

Let's say a few words about LTE support. There were complaints about the inability to use 4G networks in some CIS countries, in particular in Ukraine due to the lack of support for B3 and B7. However, this problem did not arise in Russia.

Price

At the moment, the price for the ZTE Nubia Z18 6/64 GB phone is:

• Russia: 20,000 - 22,000 rubles;
• Ukraine: from 9,500 to 10,500 hryvnia;
• Belarus: 700 rubles for 64 and 800 - for 128 GB;
• Kazakhstan: 108 987 - 110 000 tenge.

The price is definitely high for a mid-range smartphone. However, looking at its characteristics, everything falls into place.

Pros and cons of the phone

• A beautiful display in every sense with an incredible color gamut and the classic system of picture quality settings for the screen. And the thin, almost invisible edges of the display allow you to experience the full depth and contrast of the image.
• Great processor. The Snapdragon 660 is definitely the best choice for mid-range smartphones. It earned this title due to its high performance, allowing you to freely play PUBG, World of tanks and other heavy games for several hours without overheating and its low power consumption. It is this that allows the built-in battery to provide you with this watch.
• Long-term autonomy.The phone can work for more than a day without recharging and 5-6 hours with a continuously working screen.
• A very impressive camera that allows you to take quality pictures, almost equal to those taken by a professional camera.
• New software.

• Lack of NFC technology. This problem, of course, is not relevant for everyone, but in most countries it has already become the norm to pay with a phone instead of a card, and almost all modern phones have this function. Even budget models.
• Speaker. While speaker problems are most likely related to communication quality in certain regions, there is a possibility that this is not the case, and it would be a good idea to check the speaker upon purchase.
• The oddities of the Nubia shell. Perhaps the problem with notifications has already been fixed by the time of our review, but it's worth keeping that in mind.

Price. Despite all its advantages, the phone is clearly more expensive than a regular mid-range model. Especially the provence edition, which is $ 30-40 more expensive than other models.

conclusions

Finally, it should be said that the ZTE Nubia Z18, although it is expensive, justifies its cost with impressive characteristics and beautiful design.