Nubia Z70S Ultra: Premium smartphone with retro design and great camera

The Nubia Z70S Ultra is a high-end smartphone that stands out with its retro design and powerful camera setup. It’s reminiscent of classic cameras from a visual point of view, especially the black model combined with the optional camera kit, which arguably brings some legendary German camera manufacturers to mind.

The build quality feels premium, but the faux leather look on the back looks somewhat cheap, but feels pleasant to the touch. A multi-functional slider switch (e.g. for camera or muting) and a two-stage camera button emphasize its focus on photography. Additionally, the device is protected against water and dust with IP68 and IP69 ratings.

Modern connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, 5G and dual SIM, but no eSIM

In terms of connectivity, the Nubia Z70S Ultra is up to date. With Wi-Fi 7 and 6GHz support, it offers excellent transfer speeds. Mobile connectivity is also top-notch, featuring 5G Sub-6, broad frequency support, and dual nano SIM. However, the phone lacks eSIM support. Call quality is solid, but the noise cancellation quickly reaches its limits in noisy environments.

Security is provided by a quick optical under-display fingerprint sensor. There's also facial recognition via the under-display front camera, but that doesn't work reliably in low light conditions. The vibration motor delivers precise and pleasant feedback.

Software & sustainability: Android with limitations

The Nubia Z70S Ultra runs on an Android-based user interface and is expected to receive three years of updates, according to the manufacturer. It remains unclear whether this includes major Android updates. Environmentally friendly packaging solutions are nowhere to be found, as the box is primarily made of plastic and fully shrink-wrapped.

Camera highlights: Powerful triple camera with large main sensor

The camera technology is one of the Z70S Ultra's strengths. The under-display front camera is almost invisible but delivers rather weak results. Images are often oversharpened and washed out. That said, the triple camera system on the back is of high quality.

The new and larger OmniVision main sensor with improved optical image stabilization performs well in both daylight and low-light conditions. The digital zoom is also usable, and the ultrawide lens delivers mostly flawless images, albeit with slightly lower sharpness at the edges.

Video can be recorded at 8K and 30 frames per second or 4K at up to 120 frames per second. Image stabilization is enabled up to 4K60 and ensures steady footage.

Display: OLED with high brightness and 144Hz

The 6.9-inch AMOLED display offers a peak HDR brightness of 1,869 nits and a refresh rate of 144Hz. However, this is not an LTPO panel, so the frequency can only be reduced to 60Hz. Thanks to a high PWM dimming frequency of up to 2160 Hz, the display is largely flicker-free and might be suitable even for sensitive users.

Performance & battery life: Plenty of power, but thermal issues

The Nubia phone is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite with 12GB or 16GB of RAM. In daily use, performance is very good, but the Nubia Z70S Ultra falls slightly behind in benchmarks, seemingly due to high temperatures. In our stress tests, we measured surface temperatures of up to 54 °C. On a positive note, there was no condensation in the camera, unlike on previous models.

The powerful 6,600mAh battery provides decent runtimes, though we expected a bit more considering the capacity. That said, the speakers deliver solid audio quality but sound somewhat hollow at higher volumes.

Conclusion: For camera fans with certain design preferences

The Nubia Z70S Ultra is great for users who value a rather unusual design, good camera quality and modern wireless standards. On the other hand, the smartphone showed weaknesses in terms of thermals and performance. It also lacks an eSIM and doesn’t show any sustainability efforts. Nevertheless, for photography enthusiasts, it remains an exciting device with a comprehensive set of features.