In the increasingly competitive landscape of smartphone photography, Nubia is poised to shake things up with the upcoming Z80 Ultra. The company’s teasers promise bold hardware upgrades and “natural imaging.” But will Nubia truly deliver the professional-level results it claims, or will it simply remain a gimmicky experience? Here are the details.

Z80 Ultra: A Big Step in Camera Hardware

With its latest teasers, Nubia has officially confirmed its triple-camera setup. This setup stands out with its unusual focal lengths for mobile photography:

• Main Camera (35mm): 50MP OV990 sensor (1/1.3-inch), f/1.7 aperture.
• Ultra-Wide (18mm): 1/1.55-inch sensor, f/1.8 aperture.
• Telephoto (70mm): f/2.4 aperture, OIS support, and the ability to go up to 50x hybrid zoom with a 12x digital crop.

The biggest leap forward comes with the ultra-wide lens. The new 18mm lens, which replaces the Z70S Ultra’s narrower 13mm f/2.0 camera, is equipped with a larger sensor. This is expected to capture more light and produce results with less distortion thanks to an upgraded lens correction algorithm.

The published sample images demonstrate that Nubia prioritizes originality over intensive algorithmic editing in photo processing. Previews from the main 35mm camera deliver realistic colors and natural contrast. While some previews show a slight softness of detail due to compression in promotional submissions, this is also evident in camera samples from Nubia’s subsidiary Red Magic’s upcoming 11 Pro+.

The 18mm ultra-wide lens produces balanced tones and reliable white balance, especially in daylight, but its perspective is closer to a wide-angle lens than an ultra-wide lens. Samples from the telephoto camera, on the other hand, exhibit strong contrast, minimal noise, and clear subject separation.

The Z80 Ultra, which will be officially unveiled in China on October 22nd, retains the design language of its predecessor, the Z70S Ultra. The sleek, curved edges and the dedicated shutter button, which evokes a retro camera feel, continue to garner user praise. Design touches primarily revolve around the reshaping of the camera module, giving the device a familiar yet refined look.

Under the hood, the device will be powered by the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. Rumors also suggest a 7,200mAh battery, which is said to offer a significant durability advantage over competing flagships.