Nubia Z70 Ultra Review: A Bold Leap in Full-Screen Design and AI Integration

Among all the smartphone arrays released this year, the design of the Nubia Z70 Ultra is definitely the most refreshing, standing out with its most recognizable appearance. At the same time, Nubia has always been the only true full-screen pioneer in the industry.

Appearance Appreciation: True Full Screen

On the front of the phone, the Nubia Z70 Ultra does not use the “pill-shaped screen” or the “punch-hole” design but instead employs an under-screen camera design.

The Nubia Z70 Ultra uses the seventh-generation under-screen camera technology. During daily use, the camera hidden behind the “screen” can only be seen from specific angles. Due to the physical separation between the screen and the camera, the problem of insufficient light intake by the front camera still exists. However, Nubia has improved the shot results in complex lighting scenarios through the AI Shimmer Algorithm 7.0 and generative AI fusion computing.

Now, let's talk about the specific parameters of this screen. It is a 6.85-inch flexible straight screen from BOE, with a resolution of 2688×1216, supporting a 144Hz intelligent refresh rate.

It’s easy to see from the resolution that this is a 1.5K screen. The PPI of 430, which supports the under-screen camera, matches the display quality of current flagship models.

In terms of eye protection, the screen supports a super-high-frequency 2592Hz PWM dimming, with SGS hardware-level low blue light certification. If you carefully observe the Nubia’s frame, you’ll notice its excellent frame control, only 1.25mm, elevating the visual experience of the full-screen design.

On the back of the phone, the design is also unique. It’s not a rectangular camera module in the top-left corner or a circular one in the center, but a whole rounded rectangle occupying about the upper third of the rear cover. Nubia calls it the “Window of the Universe” design, with the most eye-catching feature being the main camera's flowing red circle Deco design, which creates a stunning visual effect.

Mount Tai Imaging 3.0

The main camera has 50MP, with a 35mm focal length different from traditional phones. This camera also supports a variable aperture from f/1.59 to f/4.0, achieving optical blurring effects at the hardware level. In terms of telephoto, the Nubia Z70 Ultra uses a 64MP periscope telephoto lens with a 70mm focal length and a 1/2-inch sensor. Additionally, it supports telephoto macro functionality. The last camera is an ultra-wide-angle camera with a 13mm equivalent focal length and an f/2.0 large aperture.

Starting with the main camera, unlike traditional 23mm main cameras, the Nubia Z70 Ultra features a 35mm lens, which is closest to the human eye’s visual perception. This provides a natural advantage in photography, especially in terms of composition, where what the eye sees is what the camera captures.

From sample photos, it’s evident that the Nubia Z70 Ultra performs well in imaging. The main camera, with a 5.21mm aperture diameter, brings in the highest light intake among industry-standard main cameras, surpassing 1-inch sensors. This improves optical blurring and enhances night scene performance.

Whether indoors or outdoors, it delivers outstanding color resolution. Even when zooming in on sample photos, the details hold up well.

The telephoto performance is equally impressive, especially in bright daylight conditions, where the samples show pure images with excellent color uniformity and saturation. The blue sky transitions naturally, and the visuals are impressive to the naked eye.

Even at night, the Nubia Z70 Ultra excels. The main camera’s enhanced light intake and large sensor ensure accurate color reproduction and maintain the atmosphere of night scenes, allowing for precise color temperature and highlight control, making it easy for users to capture high-quality night shots.

For night portrait shooting, Nubia has added AI Bokeh, with four options: circle, heart, hexagon, and triangle. When the phone detects a person, a pop-up window allows AI to generate bokeh effects with light sources.

Also noteworthy is the mechanical shutter button introduced in this phone. This button mimics the function of a camera’s shutter, providing an excellent tactile feel compared to the capacitive buttons on the iPhone 16 Pro or the fast-launch button on the OPPO. It can focus with a half-press and take a photo with a full press.

System — Nebula AIOS

On the system level, Nubia introduces the new Nebula AIOS, claiming to be the “world's first full-voice scene-transcending AI operating system.”

Within Nebula AIOS, Nubia brings an unprecedented future mode. With the voice assistant, the phone system enters a pure desktop mode where almost all daily operations can be executed by voice commands, such as opening apps, simply by speaking the request. This represents an exploration into future technology.

Moreover, the AI assistant can help with tasks like automatic posting on Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), including auto-adding images and captions. The voice assistant can even navigate locations based on the address, simplifying app-switching and search. Users can also adjust portrait expressions in the photo gallery, simply by saying phrases like “smile more” or “be cooler.”

For business users, Nebula AIOS supports stock monitoring and ticket purchasing via voice commands, keeping them updated in real-time.

Nebula AIOS also brings AI creative features like AI voice recording and AI wallpaper creation, providing a wealth of options for content creation.

Performance

In terms of performance, the Nubia Z70 Ultra is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, one of the flagship SOCs in the Android ecosystem, along with LPDDR5X and UFS 4.0 memory and storage hardware. This combination ensures a fast and smooth user experience, with faster app launches, smoother gaming, and quicker loading times.

In GeekBench 6 tests, the CPU single-core score is 3082, and the multi-core score is 9493. The GPU score reached 16164, showing a 22% improvement in overall performance compared to the previous Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.

Regarding gaming, the Nubia Z70 Ultra supports AI-enhanced game visuals. AI Super Resolution enhances the game’s original graphics, making the visuals sharper and more detailed. Currently, it supports over 220 mainstream games, including Genshin Impact.

Battery and Charging

The Nubia Z70 Ultra features a 6150mAh second-generation Nanhai battery using silicon-carbon anode material, ensuring excellent battery life. In the battery test, it showed outstanding endurance under typical use.

For charging, it supports 120W fast charging. In half an hour, it charges up to 65%, and the 6150mAh battery is fully charged in just 51 minutes. The phone also has a charging separation feature that allows users to adjust the charging range between 20%-100%, reducing heat during charging while playing.

Conclusion

The Nubia Z70 Ultra is a truly unique product. Whether in terms of its physical design, the “future mode” exploration of AI in the system, or the introduction of a mechanical shutter button, Nubia Z70 Ultra shows its own distinctive insights and persistence, standing out as a non-mainstream, non-conformist device.