Heyup presented me with the opportunity of testing and reviewing the Nubia Z50 smartphone. I’ve had the phone for a few months now, and I’ve been able to familiarize myself with it to some extent. Here’s some of the experience and my thoughts on the Nubia Z50:
Unboxing
The unboxing experience is a great one. The packaging is nice, and it resembles an Apple unboxing experience–but with more accessories :). Upon opening the box, you’ll encounter the Z50 straight away in a protective plastic sleeve. Underneath the phone is a paperboard sleeve containing manuals (almost entirely in Chinese), a SIM card ejector, and a simple phone case–a unique, but nice gesture. Going further into the box you’ll discover two smaller boxes containing a powerful, yet bulky charging block, and a heavy duty USB-C charging cable. Here’s a video of the unboxing experience: YouTube
Design & Build Quality
The Nubia Z50 features a beautiful, impressive, large, and unique–yet familiar–design along with a premium construction. A curved edge-to-edge display comprises the front along with a punch-hole camera centered at the top. The frame of the phone seems to be aluminum, while the rear of the phone is composed of a leather-like material. A large dual-camera array is positioned in one of the top corners on the back of the phone. The volume and power buttons are positioned on the right side of the phone, and a SIM tray, USB-C port, and the speaker/mic holes are positioned on the bottom of the phone.
Hardware
The Nubia Z50 features some impressive specifications:
256 gb of storage
12 gb of RAM
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform Octa-core Max processor/CPU @ 3.2 GHz
Adreno 730 graphics processor
64MP Sony IMX787 sensor w/35mm lens (rear-facing)
50MP Samsung S5KJN1 sensor w/ultra-wide lens (rear-facing)
16MP OmniVision OV16A1Q camera (front-facing)
6.67 in. AMOLED display w/2400×1080 pixels w/built-in fingerprint sensor
5,000 mAh battery
80 watt fast-charging
Dual-sim
For the most part, the Nubia Z50 boasts respectable and featured hardware. The internal hardware (the storage, RAM, processor, graphics, battery, etc.) is quite powerful and plentiful–especially for the price point! The battery charges insanely fast. The display is bright, colorful, and detailed. The cameras are capable of capturing quality, but may not quite compare to famous flagship phone models. Here are some shots taken on the Z50:
Now here’s where the hardware composition becomes surprisingly underperforming or mediocre: the speakers. You may notice that Nubia doesn’t brag about the Z50’s speakers or mics, and there’s obviously a reason for the speakers. I’ve noticed distortion and an overall lack of quality that would be expected from an otherwise “high-end” phone. It’s disappointing.
Software
The software features some commendable aspects, yet it also has a couple of downsides as well. Here’s a quick low-down:
Pros:
Highly customizable
Lightweight
Cons:
Sub-par localization
Lacking ease of use
Like I just mentioned, the Nubia Z50 comes preinstalled with software that features some commendable aspects. The phone runs on Android 13 and the Nubia MyOS 13 build/UI. As Android is known for, the software is highly customizable. Nubia builds upon that premise. MyOS is relatively lightweight as well. It doesn’t come preinstalled with an over-abundance of apps or games which is kind of nice.
Unfortunately however, nothing is perfect. As an English-speaking American, the localization is definitely sub-par. After you select your preferred language in setup or settings, you’ll notice some occasional grammar/translation errors or inadequacies. Not only that, some aspects of the system aren’t translated at all. For example, the search engines/start pages in the browser are displayed in Chinese. I also receive quite a few notifications from the browser in Chinese. The content in the App Center and Game Center is displayed in Chinese. Certain wallpaper credits are also left in Chinese. Last, but not least, you’ll need to change time and unit settings to reflect your region. Along with these localization issues, there is an added lack of ease of use. The phone does not come preinstalled with common Google apps or services such as Chrome or Google Play. These are pretty important due to the lacking built-in browser, App Center, and Game Center as I mentioned. APKs are possible, but they’re not simple–let alone commonly used by an average user.
Overview
The Nubia Z50 is an impressive piece of technology in many ways, yet it lacks in a few major areas. The hardware is outstanding–bar the speakers. The software has its pros and cons. I love the custom and lightweight MyOS 13, but I’m disappointed by the lacking localization and simplicity. The price point is exceptional from a hardware perspective (for the most part). From a software standpoint, it’s a bit underwhelming. Overall, I would give the phone a rating of ±4 stars. I would recommend the Nubia Z50 to tech enthusiasts, but not to your average users.
Disclaimer: Spec information is courtesy of Nubia and my own observation.
