While ZTE phones are not allowed to be sold in the US, the company has a flourishing market in Asia, Europe, and elsewhere under the Nubia brand. Similar to last year, the manufacturer unveiled a series of smartphones at the annualMobile World Congress, which officially kicked off today in Barcelona, Spain. The headliner is ZTE’s first-everflip phone, which also has the honor of being among the cheapest foldables you can get anywhere.
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Known as the Nubia Flip 5G, the device is one of the few competitors to theMotorola Razrin terms of pricing. However, the Nubia Flip 5G is much closer to theTecno Phantom V Flipin the design department. You get a 6.9-inch 120Hz folding display and a small circular external panel on the Nubia Flip 5G, powered by the midrange Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip.
The external screen can act as a camera viewfinder, letting users use both the primary and secondary displays simultaneously with the camera. The outer screen also houses 50MP and 2MP rear cameras, whereas the front camera is a 16MP unit. It’s worth noting here that ZTE also has a Japan-exclusive version of the Nubia Flip 5G, known as theLibero Flip 5G.
The Nubia Flip 5G comes with 128GB or 256GB of storage out of the box, paired with 6GB or 8GB of RAM. Android 13 is the software of choice, with the company providing a 4,310mAh battery pack to go along with it. Fast charging is supported at up to 33W, comfortably outpacing theSamsung Galaxy Z Flip 5. ZTE says the new foldable will be available in Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia for the local equivalent of$599.
Nubia didn’t stop there
Apart from the new flip phone, ZTE also announced the broader launch of the Nubia Z60 Ultra in global markets. This camera powerhouse has been available in some capacity for several weeks now, and we even got toreview one last month. ZTE says the Nubia Z60 Ultra will be available in the same markets as the Nubia Flip 5G, starting from $599. That’s not bad for a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 phone with plenty of other flagship-grade features, including an under-display selfie camera.
Next up are a couple of budget devices that start from $200, with the Nubia Neo 2 5G, which is marketed as agaming smartphone, and the Nubia Focus 5G and Focus Pro 5G models. The Pro model in the Focus series packs a 6.72-inch 120Hz screen, whereas the Focus 5G settles for a marginally smaller 6.6-inch 120Hz panel instead. They run on a 6nm octa-core chip, though ZTE didn’t specify the make. Other features like DTS high-quality audio and a 5,000mAh battery are also shared between the two models.
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As for the gaming-oriented Nubia Neo 2 5G, it retains the two gaming shoulder triggers from the first-gen model launched last year. It offers a 6.72-inch 120Hz screen and a mammoth 6000mAh battery paired with 33W fast wired charging to ensure uninterrupted gaming. Features like DTS:X Ultra audio are also present with the Nubia Neo 2 5G, making it a perfect budget/midrange phone for the global markets.
Strangest of all is the Nubia Music, which boasts dual 3.5mm headphone jacks and an enormous rear speaker, which Nubia says is 600% louder than the average phone, perfect for when you want to annoy everyone on the bus by blasting music at max volume. It starts from $149.
A follow-up to last year’s 3D tablet
ZTE also took the wraps off the Nubia Pad 3D II at MWC 2024, succeeding last year’sNubia Pad 3D, which stood out as one of the more unusual announcements from MWC 2023. There are some improvements from the first-gen model, per the company, with an 80% increase in 3D resolution and a 100% boost in 3D brightness being touted. Additionally, ZTE supposedly has made “comprehensive” optimizations to 3D crosstalk, color, and power efficiency.
The 12.4-inch screen from the predecessor makes way for a smaller 12.1-inch 144Hz panel with a resolution of 2560x1600. However, it runs on 2022’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and not the more recent Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 we see oncurrent flagshipsand even the brand’s own Nubia Z60 Ultra. The Pad 3D II offers up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage and a big 10,000mAh battery with 66W fast charging supported. ZTE didn’t provide pricing and availability details for this “eyewear-free” 3D tablet.
