After its debut in China, the nubia Z80 Ultra has officially landed in global markets, and it’s swinging for the fences. This is a phone that combines a huge battery, one of the most — if not the most — powerful processors on the planet, and a camera system obsessed with the classic art of street photography.
Forget notches, punch-holes, or distracting cutouts. The nubia Z80 Ultra’s biggest flex is its uninterrupted 6.85-inch AMOLED display thanks to an invisible 16-megapixel underdisplay camera. It’s an unbroken canvas with a 144Hz refresh rate, a 1.5K resolution, and 2,000 nits peak brightness. Powering the screen is a 7,200mAh battery, a size that makes most modern flagships look anemic. This cell supports 80-watt wired and 80-watt wireless charging.
Internally, the smartphone is a beast, running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile platform. nubia has poured the gaming DNA of its RedMagic series into this device, including the CUBE Gaming Engine and a titanic cooling system with composite liquid metal and an oversized 3D Ice Steel VC. This setup promises sustained, high-frame-rate gameplay at up to 2K resolution and 144Hz, backed by AI Super Frame Stabilization. Storage is just as quick, featuring up to 1TB of UFS 4.1 paired with LPDDR5X RAM.
A photographer’s flagship, with a physical shutter button
While the nubia Z80 Ultra’s specs scream “gaming machine,” the imaging philosophy is pure photography nerd bait. The triple-lens array is centered around classic focal lengths: a custom 50-megapixel main camera with a 35mm-equivalent lens, a 50-megapixel ultrawide with an 18mm equivalent, and a 64-megapixel periscope telephoto providing a 3x optical zoom. This custom 35mm main lens, featuring the Light and Shadow Master 990 sensor, is designed to capture scenes with a more natural, classic perspective.
A look at the nubia Z80 Ultra
For the photo enthusiast, there’s a physical button shutter for instant capture, 21 creative filters, and the utterly delightful optional accessory: the Retro Kit 2.0. Developed in collaboration with Fotorgear, this kit transforms the phone into something resembling a vintage rangefinder, complete with a superior grip, tactile mechanical buttons, and programmable dials.
The nubia Z80 Ultra is available in Phantom Black, Condensed Light White, and the art-inspired Starry Night Collector’s Edition (Blue). It’s also built for endurance with an IP68/IP69 dust-and-water-resistance rating.
Pricing and availability
Priced from $649 (roughly P38,281 in Philippine pesos), the nubia Z80 Ultra is now up for preorder globally, with open sales scheduled for December 3. Here is the official price breakdown for the international launch:
Early-bird offer: A discount is available on the official nubia website:
- $30 off globally
- £20 off in the United Kingdom
- €20 off in European Union countries
nubia Z80 Ultra specs
- 6.85-inch AMOLED display with 1.5K resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, 2,000 nits brightness
- 3nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 5G processor
- Adreno 840 GPU
- 12GB/16GB RAM
- 256GB/512GB/1TB storage
- Triple 50-megapixel main, 50-megapixel ultrawide, 64-megapixel periscope telephoto rear cameras
- 16-megapixel under-display front camera
- Under-display fingerprint reader
- 7,200mAh battery
- 80-watt wired charging, 80-watt wireless charging
- IP68/69 rating
- Nebula AIOS 2 based on Android 16
- Colors: Black, White, Starry Night
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