The Galaxy S24 Ultra is this year’s Samsung flagship and device that Digital Trends rated highly in its review, calling it “the best Ultra ever, and a must buy.” This is high praise, but ZTE’s sub-brand Nubia has set Samsung in its sights with the Nubia Z60 Ultra “Leading Version” and the Z60S Pro, a slightly pared-down but even more affordable model.The name is unusual, but taking a peek under the hood, we’re looking at a competent phone with solid specs at a reasonable price point that’s almost certain to give Samsung a run for its money in the Chinese market. You get a 6.8-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. This is the same size as the S24 Ultra panel, though lower than the 1440p resolution.
Impressively, its 16-megapixel selfie camera lives under the screen, which tends to be a premium feature you won’t get on more affordable phones. Speaking of cameras, the rear cameras are no slouches either. There’s a triple array consisting of a 50MP Sony IMX800 primary sensor, a 50MP ultrawide sensor, and a 64MP periscope zoom lens. On paper, these compare favorably with the 200MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP and 50MP telephoto zoom lenses on the S24 Ultra, even though it has one less camera sensor.
Naturally, with AI being all the craze, Nubia is implementing the “NeoVision AI” processing for the camera system as part of its “AI+” product strategy, which attempts to implement AI functions and features to improve user experience. In this case, the idea allows for better images via AI enhancement, allowing the Leading Version to outshoot the regular Z60 Ultra. This isn’t much of a different idea from Samsung’s Galaxy AI implementation or Apple Intelligence.
Regarding hardware, the Nubia Z60 Ultra has a modified “Leading Version” of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, the same as the S24 Ultra. Clock speeds are boosted to 3.4 GHz on the Cortex-X4 CPU and 1 GHz on the GPU. Configuration options include 8GB, 12GB, and 16GB RAM with storage options of 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. The battery size is an impressive 6,000mAh with 80W wired fast charging. The entire phone is also IP68 water- and dust-resistant.
Meanwhile, the Z60S Pro is the lesser sibling, with an older Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, 16GB RAM, and 1TB internal storage. That should still give it a very capable performance, putting it on par with last year’s Galaxy S23 Ultra. The phone has a smaller 5,100mAh battery (still larger than the S24 Ultra) and also supports 80W wired charging.
Price is the killer feature here, with the Z60 Ultra Leading Version starting at $649, while the Z60S Pro comes in at $569. This is a far cry from the S24 Ultra, which can run you as much as $1,300 for the base model. Both phones are now available for preorder, with a global launch expected on August 12, 2024. That said, we wouldn’t hold your breath for availability in the U.S. market.
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