Nubiaa Chinese brand that also makes RedMagic gaming smartphones and an offshoot of the giant ZTE, recently launched a new top-of-the-range smartphone, the Z60S Pro. This smartphone presents itself as a competitively priced device with a particular focus on photographythanks to a complete technical sector and unique. But will it be able to compete with industry giants such as Google, Xiaomi and Honor?
A giant with a technological heart
The Nubia Z60S Pro looks like a solid and imposing devicewith a design that recalls the other iconic products of the brand. The square lines are accompanied by rounded corners, with a glass back hey matt metal edges. Despite its generous dimensions (163.6 x 76 x 8.7 mm), the smartphone fits well in the hand. Its weight of 220 grams helps to restore a feeling of solidity and robustness.
The back of the device features a large circle that houses the photographic sectionnicknamed “Cosmic Ring” from Nubia, which claims it is inspired by the solar system. Three lenses surround the upper half of the circle, while another camera is positioned in the center. On the left side of the circle protrudes a “crown” with the phrase “Be yourself“, an invitation to stand out from the crowd, something that certainly characterizes those who choose a Nubia product.
The Nubia Z60S Pro is available in three colors: Black, Aqua and White. The first two have a uniform color, while the white version sports gray shades that give it a more dynamic visual texture. However, it’s important to point out that all three versions have a glass back panel, so the texture is cosmetic only.
Instead we find a very distinctive texture both on the power button, which it boasts a beautiful red accent in the model we tested, and on the slider dedicated to the camera, which we will talk about later. The power button is optimally placed, but the volume rocker and slider are inconvenient to reachespecially with one hand.
Overall, the design of the Z60S Pro is modern and minimalistwith the large protrusion dedicated to the photographic module as the only prominent element. While it’s not the most original design on the market, it’s certainly pleasant and well-balanced.
The Z60S Pro boasts a display AMOLED and 6.78 inches con 1.5K resolution e refresh rate a 120Hz. The screen is colorful, incredibly smooth and bright, reaching a peak brightness of 1200 nit. This makes it perfectly visible even outdoors on a sunny day.
However, not everything is perfect. The optical fingerprint reader integrated into the screen proved to be a source of mixed frustration. The smartphone tends to get confused when picked up or touched, and the Always On Display often doesn’t switch to fingerprint scanning mode. Even when it works properly, it often takes two or three attempts to unlock the device.
Flagship power, but what temperatures!
The Nubia Z60S Pro is powered by the processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 “Leading Version”the same chipset found in last year’s Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Although it is not the latest model available, this processor offers excellent performancecomparable to those of many current flagships. The smartphone is available in three memory configurations: 12GB+256GB, 16GB+512GB or 16GB+1TB of storage. RAM memories are LPDDR5X while the internal storage is of type UFS 4.0.
During daily use, the Z60S Pro proved itself fast and responsiveeven with several apps open in the background. The animations are fast and fluid, and the smartphone never showed any signs of slowing down.
Unfortunately, when put under stress, the Z60S Pro it tends to overheat noticeably despite its weight which might suggest a better cooling solution. After trying many models from the RedMagic range, which tend not to limit performance in any case, we were amazed that this Nubia lowers the power output as the temperature increases. The smartphone however, it maintains respectable performance and remarkable fluidity, but in more demanding games the number of frames per second generated could be lost.
| Smartphone |
Geekbench 6 |
AnTuTu |
3DMark |
||||
|
Single-core |
Multi-core |
Solar Bay | Solar Bay Stress test |
Wild Life Extreme |
Wild Life Extreme Stress Test |
||
| Nubia Z60S Pro | 2046 | 5590 | 1517192 |
5345 (20,33 fps) |
5344 – 3584 (67,1%) |
3720 (22,28 fps) |
3700 – 2290 (61,9%) |
| RedMagic 9S Pro (ventola ON) | 2256 | 6992 | 2123581 |
9175 (34,89 fps) |
9361 – 8196 (87,6%) |
5492 (32,89 fps) |
5533 – 4704 (85%) |
|
RedMagic 8S Pro (fan ON) |
1743 |
5585 |
1632571 |
5637 (21,44 fps) |
5650 – 5634 (99,7%) |
3859 (23,10 fps) |
3911 – 3848 (98,4%) |
|
ROG Phone 8 Pro |
1346 | 6514 | 2043395 |
8250 (31,37 fps) |
8127 – 4131 (50,8%) |
4611 (27,61 fps) |
4794 – 2436 (50,8%) |
|
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra |
2263 | 6825 | 1703918 |
7243 (27,54 fps) |
7691 – 4066 (52,9%) |
4158 (24,90 fps) |
4549 – 2458 (54%) |
|
OnePlus 12 |
2176 | 6555 | 1713729 |
8474 (32,22 fps) |
8472 – 4759 (56,2%) |
4801 (28,75 fps) |
4761 – 2731 (57,4%) |
5G connectivity is present on both SIM modules but an eSIM is missing. Wireless Internet can also be connected thanks to a module Wi-Fi 6E which is accompanied by the Bluetooth 5.3. The presence of a door is very interesting USB 3.1 Type-C.
The battery gives 5100mAh of the Nubia Z60S Pro guarantees excellent autonomy, enough to cover the whole day even with intense use. Furthermore, the 80W fast charger included in the package allows you to charge your phone from 20% to 100% in less than 20 minutes. The only complaint we can make concerns the lack of a coil for wireless charging.
From smartphone to camera in one “click”
Il real strong point of the Nubia Z60S Pro is its photographic sector. On the back we find three cameras: one 50MP main with sensor Sony IMX800 and objective equivalent to 35mma 50MP ultra-wide angle with focal length of 13mm and field of vision of 125°and a 8MP telephoto lens with focal length of 80mm. The front camera, however, is from 16MP.
The quality of photos taken with the Z60S Pro is excellentespecially considering the price of the device. Images are bright, sharp, and full of detail, even in low-light conditions. Artificial intelligence plays a vital role in improving the quality of photos, especially when using zoom or shooting at night. The colors are occasionally oversaturatedfortunately not when the subjects are people.
Having said that, zoom is one of the weak points of the photographic sector. Above 80mm, images become pixelated and blurry, both in photos and videos. HDR also tends to be a little too aggressive, overcompensating with colors that are often oversaturated.
The choice to mount a lens with a focal length equivalent to 35mm on the main camera is highly appreciated, something that I really wish the major flagship manufacturers would take this into consideration. This is a focal length much appreciated by photographers and which makes images more similar to those seen by the human eye.
The greater separation between wide angle and main it better justifies the existence of the latter, while positioning the former a little closer to telephoto lenses with 3x optical zoom that we now find on many smartphones. The three focal points are therefore better distributed and allow a shooting experience that only ZTE and Nubia products offer to date. Street photography with Nubia products is always a little more fun and close to what is possible with a dedicated camera.
The presence of the customizable slider on the left edge helps a lot to make the experience even better. While you can remap it, by default it is set to Quickly open the camera in “Street” mode (item incorrectly translated as “Via”, but we’ll talk about this in the next section). Although the slider is difficult to reach with one hand, such positioning invites the user to hold the product like a camera and enjoy the best shooting experience.
Tipico on ZTE/Nubia/RedMagic
Nubia Z60S Pro performs MyOS 14a customized version of Android 14. It shares a lot with the software that we now know very well from RedMagic products, although it lacks the touch of “gaming paint” that characterizes the sub-brand. The interface is quite clean and intuitive, free of excessive bloatware or superfluous features.
The settings menu is easy to navigate and it follows Android design guidelines quite a bit. The customization menu is interesting as well offers a large selection of options.
What we must point out once again is one lack of care in Italian localization of the software, which in several instances presents incorrect translations that are clearly done mechanically, without context.
Nubian Way,
Hire an Italian and get help!
See you soon,LZ
Conclusions
The Nubia Z60S Pro is a smartphone complete and competitivewhich offers excellent performance and a unique photography experience. Its original design and long-lasting battery make it an interesting option for those looking for a reliable and versatile device without spending a fortune. Compared to a latest generation flagship it costs half as muchin some cases a third.
However, the Z60S Pro is not without its flaws. The camera zoom could be better, the performance in very long gaming sessions could disappoint and the speaker quality is only average. Additionally, the in-screen fingerprint reader can be frustrating to use and the software requires more care.
Despite these small drawbacks, Nubia Z60S Pro remains an excellent choice for those looking for a smartphone that puts its signature with a touch of originality in photography. If you’re willing to turn a blind eye to some minor flaws, this device will repay you with excellent performance, generally high-quality photos, and a snappy user experience.
Source: www.tomshw.it
