Nubia Z80 Ultra Review: True Full-Screen Flagship with AI OS

The development of smartphones, the full-screen is a very big turning point, to the point that now the mainstream models have all become punch-hole full-screen, and domestic Nubia phones can be considered an exception. In this issue, sharing with everyone a Nubia latest Z80 Ultra flagship phone, it continues to be designed in a brand new no punch-hole true full-screen style, 6.85-inch large screen with equal-width bezels on all four sides, integrated as one, unbeatable in appearance. In terms of performance, the machine is equipped with the fifth-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, built-in Nebula AIOS, AnTuTu benchmark score exceeding 3 million, plus a triple-camera lens combination, 7200mAh large battery, making gaming and photography more immersive and smooth.

In terms of appearance, the Z80 Ultra is the most distinctive domestic phone. Because it does not follow the trend in ID design, no matter what styles are popular in the phone circle, the Nubia Z-series flagship has always insisted on its own style, which is replicating camera elements, presenting an exclusive photography recognition. Reflected in the machine design, the Z80 Ultra's shell continues to use metal, integrally formed, this generation has changed to a rounded middle frame, but the body edges and screen corner radius are still the same as before, very small corner radius, a hard business style, combined with changes in silver, red, black, glossy, and matte, making the machine style more complex. The Z80 Ultra's body thickness reaches 8.6mm, weighing 227 grams, very solid.

Coming to the front of the body, the Z80 Ultra's screen is one of its core features, it breaks from the norm, made into a no punch-hole true full-screen style, different from the punch-hole full-screen in the phone circle. The true full-screen display is purely black in the screen-off state, the outer flat protective glass perfectly fits with the body middle frame; after the screen lights up, the Z80 Ultra's display is even more extreme, mainly because without the black lens centered punch-hole, it becomes a complete full screen, and the bezels on all four sides are equal in width, narrow, and the visual immersion experience is deep. But in fact, the Z80 Ultra's centered camera is placed under the screen display area, when in use it shoots directly, when not in use you can't sense its existence at all.

In detailed comparison, the Z80 Ultra's screen and under-display camera, the contrast between the two is invisible. During normal use, the Z80 Ultra's screen resolution is the normal 1.5K, the display is very clear and sharp, keeping pace with mainstream models, observing the machine's punch-hole camera area, you cannot see its existence, even when switching to a light-colored wallpaper the display remains invisible. The only way to see it is to shine a strong light directly on the opening area, where there will be an obvious shadow of the component present. From the editor's experience, playing games and watching videos daily, the punch-hole lens is perfectly invisible, and when using the front lens for shooting, the viewfinder frame can be displayed normally, which can be called a perfect solution.

Flipping the Z80 Ultra to the body middle frame and back cover, its design has also been changed. The middle frame has been changed from the previous generation's straight-edge style to a curved transition, matte metal material, with all necessary openings and buttons present. As for the back cover, it has been optimized to a glass-fiber material, more refined, while the core remains the lens module. This generation's lens module continues to be made very large, first there is a glass base, on top of which it is divided into two rows, the metal glossy main lens and the glass base secondary lens, the iconic red-ring lens, a total of 50MP main camera plus 50MP ultra-wide angle, and a 64MP telephoto lens, stable imaging quality, covering near and far scenes, close-ups and optical zoom, all complete.

Turning on and using the Z80 Ultra, in terms of hardware, the machine is equipped with the fifth-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, built-in Nebula AIOS, joined with mainstream AI service providers, system-level AI invocation, theoretically more complete. In daily application interface, the Z80 Ultra's style still carries the previous MyOS characteristics, the theme leans toward a clean style, wallpapers are relatively plain and elegant. With simple operations, the Z80 Ultra's response speed is fast, animation scenes, multi-task switching, standby power consumption, etc., all perform very well. It is worth knowing that the Z80 Ultra is equipped with a 7200mAh battery, standard 90W fast charging, under heavy use conditions of continuous screen-on and connected to the internet, it lasted about 6 hours, durability is not bad.

In horizontal comparison, the Z80 Ultra's camera is one of its highlights. Through AI integration, ordinary people's use of shooting becomes simpler, for example after turning it on the interface has rich prompts, when shooting specific scenes, the picture in the viewfinder will have AI real-time access, teaching users how to shoot well. When shooting people, there will be simulated focus frames, prompting how to switch angles, how to zoom in on the focus magnification, how to capture in time. When recording video, AI will prompt that movement has been detected, enabling OIS and EIS, during camera movement it will prompt how to stretch, advance and change position, to capture the most complete subject. According to the AI's prompts and training, after getting used to it, one can also become a master of imagery.

As for playing games, it is also the Z80 Ultra's strong suit, mainly because its performance is sufficient to support the installation and running of games of all sizes. Going directly to AAA titles, such as the more popular ones in recent years like Genshin Impact, Honkai, and Naraka: Bladepoint, opening settings, turning on all the highest special effects, image quality, frame rate, etc., during team battles there is almost no lag, frame rate fluctuation is small, operation is responsive, heat generation is controlled.