Introduction
A smaller camera shuffle, more battery, and the latest chipset, all in a familiar but distinctly different physical package – the Z80 Ultra is the latest in a series of Nubia smartphones best known for their 35mm main cameras.
This latest model also of course has a 35mm camera – just like last time. Telephoto is also unchanged – 85mm in the camera app, but actually 70mm. The Z80 Ultra also brings back the ultrawide from a few generations ago – a good thing, considering the performance of the previous one. Another key element from the company, the underdisplay selfie camera is also present here, to all good and not so good effect. It sure is the most unusual camera setup altogether.
The display on top of that front camera remains cutout-free most of the time, and it’s a massive 6.85-inch OLED, which is now brighter than before. Battery capacity has also increased and we like the 7,200mAh number. It’s also easy to like the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
There are other, not so minor pieces to appreciate as well. Nubia started putting a two-stage shutter release button on the Z70 Ultra, and there is one on the Z80 Ultra as well. This is in addition to the slider switch that’s been around for some time – on Nubias and related brands alike (looking at you, Redmagic). Little niceties like an ultrasonic underdisplay fingerprint sensor and infrared emitter are also definitely on board.
ZTE Nubia Z80 Ultra specs at a glance:
- Body: 164.5×77.2×8.6 mm, 227 g; Front glass, aluminum frame, rear glass; IP68/IP69 dust resistant and water resistant (high pressure water jets; submersible up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes).
- Display: 6.85″ AMOLED, 1B color, 144Hz, 2592Hz PWM, HDR10, 2000 nits (peak), 1216x2688px resolution, 19.9:9 aspect ratio, 431ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8850-AC Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (3 nm): Octa-core (2×4.6 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix L + 6×3.62 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix M); Adreno 840.
- Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM; UFS 4.1.
- OS/Software: Android 16, Nebula AIOS 2.
- rear camera: wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.7, 35mm (standard), 1/1.3″, 1.2µm, PDAF, OIS; telephoto: 64 MP, f/2.5, 70mm, 1/2.0″, 0.7µm, multi-directional PDAF (15cm – ∞), OIS, 2.7x optical zoom (vs 26mm cam); ultra wide angle: 50 MP, f/1.8, 18mm, 1/1.55″, PDAF.
- Front Camera: 16 MP, f/2.0, 24mm (wide), 1/2.8″, 1.12µm, under display.
- video capture: rear camera: 8K@30fps, 4K@30/60/120fps, 1080p@30/60fps, Gyro-EIS, HDR10, 10‑bit video; front camera:1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 7200mAh; 80W Wired, PD3.0, QC4(International), 90W Wired, PD3.0, QC4(China), 80W Wireless.
- Connectivity: 5G; Wi-Fi 7; BT 6.0, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive; NFC; Infrared port.
- various: Fingerprint reader (under the display, ultrasonic); Stereo speaker.
Nubia Z80 Ultra Unboxing
The Z80 Ultra comes in a cardboard box that’s two-thirds black and one-third silver – perhaps a nod to classic rangefinder camera styling. The red bar at the bottom also helps in this.
The charger found in previous generations is gone, but the red USB-C cable is still here. Traditionally also included is a translucent snap-on hard plastic back cover.
