I picked up the ZTE Nubia Z80 Ultra 16GB RAM + 512 GB Storage variant for $1100 CAD recently to replace an older phone. There are three storage variants with either 12 GB RAM + 256 GB Storage, 16 GB RAM + 512 GB Storage and 16 GB RAM + 1 TB Storage.
It’s a well built flagship phone from ZTE that had a global release in November 2025. Inside the box you’ll find the phone, phone case, screen protector, 80W USB C to USB C cable, warranty card/quick start guide and SIM tray ejector pin. A charging brick was not provided in the box but is available for purchase from their website. Not including a charging brick helps to reduce e-waste but it is disappointing to not have one included when purchasing a flagship phone, which easily costs well over $1000 these days.
Specs wise you’re getting a larger phone measuring 164.5 mmx 77.2 mm x 8.6 mm and weighing in at 227g. It’s powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen5 chip, 12 or 16 GB LPDDR5x RAM and 256GB/512/GB/1TB of UFS 4.1 storage. It’s been outfitted with a 6.85″ 144 hz OLED with 2688 x 1216 pixel screen (20:9 screen ratio). Out of the box, it runs Android 16 with a custom skin from ZTE called MyOS. The phone also has a slider button and a dedicated camera button on the frame of the phone which is a nice touch.
With wireless connectivity it has Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, supports Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/n/ac/ax/be (2×2 MIMO), and 2G/3G/4G/5G cell networks. For SIM cards, you have a dual nano SIM slot which is convenient for those who either travel or run two cell plans simultaneously. Sadly the Nubia Z80 Ultra does not have eSIM functionality, which has become a common feature in many other phones in the last few years.
The ZTE Nubia Z80 Ultra is equipped with a three camera setup on the back panel of the phone and one front selfie camera underneath the phone’s screen.
- Main Cameras
- 50 MP Main Camera (35 mm, 1/1.3″. OIS, f/1.7)
- 50 MP Ultrawide Camera (1/1.55″, f/1.8, AF, Macro 5.5 cm)
- 64 MP Telephoto Camera (OIS, f/2.48), Flicker +Laser Sensor
- Front Camera
- 16 MP Under Display Camera
The Nubia Z80 Ultra is equipped with a massive 7,200 Silicon Carbon battery and supports 80W wired and wireless charging. To achieve the advertised 80W wired/wireless charging speeds, it’s advised to use the official chargers from ZTE. It’s unfortunate that ZTE did not provide a charging brick with this phone and I am only able to test it with a 65W charger from a previous phone. Charging it from 5% to 100% took ~55 mins with the 65W charger. From a full charge, it lasted me 1.5 to 2 days of moderate usage that includes watching videos, checking on emails and wireless Android Auto usage.
Regular day-to-day use has been very good with the Nubia Z80 Ultra. The 6.85″ screen is large and vibrant for reading on screen text and is bright enough to read outside in the sun. I’ve found that having no punchout or island for the selfie camera to be pleasing for media consumption to reduce the distraction of having a dark cutout in the screen. The phone supports HDR10 for video playback. The onboard speakers are loud enough for regular usage but end up sounding a bit tinny and lacking on bass. Like any other phone, I’d recommend listening with a good set of speakers or headphones when possible. Like with the vast majority of phones, it lacks the 3.5 mm audio jack, which is a shame as sometimes you forget to bring your wireless headphones and on the rare occasion only a wired set of earbuds are available. Also some people may prefer having a quality wired headphones or plugging into an older Hi-Fi system and you’d need to have a USB C to 3.5 mm adapter or a DAC on hand for those situations. As the phone is on the larger side, I’ve found that it’s hard to reach the other side of the screen if I’m only holding it in one hand to scroll through content.
The ZTE Nubia Z80 Ultra has Ingress Protection certification for IP68 for dust tight protection and immersion in fresh water up to a depth of 1.5 meters for a 30 min. time period. The phone also has IP69 for protection against close range high pressure and high temperature water jets and steam cleaning. If you frequent places that may expose the phone to water and dust, this feature comes in handy to help protect the phone from the elements. It’s an extra value feature for me as my job often takes me to construction sites and in my time off I’m occasionally in the outdoors so having the IP68 and IP69 ratings is an added bonus for peace of mind that the phone can handle the elements within reason.
ZTE’s myOS overlay is good and I found that it’s not too bloated. You get the standard bubbles on the pull down menu from the top for functions like data, wifi, flashlight, etc. Like with any Android phone, there are many customization options. Like with any other new phone in the past few years, AI features are creeping in. A few interesting ones are AI Translate with about 38 languages available for Call subtitles and Translation, and for Google Translate face-to-face functionality. There is a physical slider button on the top left phone frame that is similar to the one found on OnePlus or iPhones. the slider button can be set as either the camera launcher, mute/silent mode, flashlight, voice recorder or game mode. I found this to be useful and set it for the flashlight to minimize fiddling around on the phone when it’s dark.
Cell network usage for data and calls within the city core (Toronto, Canada) and surrounding suburbs has been excellent with 5G coverage. For reference, I am on Freedom Mobile and is considered a mid tier regional competitor. In comparison, Rogers, Telus and Bell in Canada, Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T in USA are considered the big national brands. There are other flanker brands like Koodo, Fido, Virgin Plus in Canada, and Metro by T-Mobile, Visible by Verizon and Cricket Mobile in the USA that are usually owned by one of the big national brands and provide a more budget friendly price. I found I had a solid connection for data use and had better call quality and no dropped calls compared to my older phone having occasional dropped call or the audio not coming through properly. I had a chance for some usage in a more rural setting in a small town and in a nature reserve 3 hours north of Toronto, Canada. While driving along the highway and the areas in and around the town, I’d get solid 4G coverage and good data speeds and call quality. Within the nature reserve, the cell signal and strength dropped but still had reasonable connection speeds of 50-70 mb down and 10 mb up. Under heavy tree canopy away from the shoreline and a clear line to a nearby cell tower I’d get a mix of 3G/4G coverage and a considerable drop in mobile internet speeds to 5-10 mb down and 2-5 mb up. Cell coverage was a bit spotty which is expected but it still did better than my older phone. If you’re headed into rural or remote locations, it’s recommended to have a cell signal booster to help with a stronger cell connection to nearby cell towers.
The Nubia Z80 Ultra is equipped with some pretty solid cameras on the back, but with the Under Display selfie camera, the quality is a bit disappointing. The UDC struggles with harsh lighting and details end up being a bit soft. For sensor resolution, the main and wife angle cameras have a 50 MP sensor and the telephoto camera has a 64 MP sensor. Pixel binning is done automatically for better low light performance and light sensitivity. This also helps with faster photo processing and ends up cutting the MP resolution to a quarter of the original at 12.5 MP and 16 MP resolution respectively.
The primary camera has a 35 mm lens and has natural bokeh. Shadows and highlights are nicely rendered with a relatively natural colour reproduction. In low light it performs well, but struggles a bit when the scene is very dark or with strong light sources. The 70 mm telephoto lens produces sharp and balanced images in daylight, but sharpness fades a touch in low light situations. With the 13 mm wide angle, it captures tons of light. It performs well in daytime and good quality at night, though sharpness takes a hit in low light situations. Video quality is good for regular use and features 8k30, 4k30/60/120 resolution. There is a mechanical two stage camera shutter at the bottom right of the phone frame that also acts as a shortcut to the camera app if it’s held down. The physical shutter button a nice touch for those who like to do photography as a half press locks the focus and exposure and a full press snaps the photo. For someone who’s an avid photographer, I’ve found the half press + full press function on the shutter button to be useful and decent enough quality.
The ZTE Nubia Z80 Ultra handles mobile gaming quite well. I played Genshin Impact on the highest setting and the battery dropped 7%. The gameplay was smooth and no noticeable framerate drops. It does get a bit warm when playing any high demand 3D games. There is a neat feature called Bypass Charging that when the phone is plugged in, the phone routes all the power to the hardware without charging the battery. The result is lower hardware temperatures as the power essentially goes straight to the hardware and does not pass through the battery for any sort of charging or usage.
Overall the ZTE Nubia Z80 Ultra is a good feature rich phone with a huge battery that lasts for literal days, solid camera setup, a crisp screen with an invisible selfie camera that costs a third less than some of the similar offerings from the titans like Samsung and Apple. The downsides on the phone is limited support for accessories and repair parts and software updates end after 3 years compared to 5-7 years on some other competitors. I find this to be disappointing as phones are not cheap and for a flagship phone from a smaller company I’d expect something closer to 4-5 years. In conclusion if you can get past some of these flaws, the Nubia Z80 Ultra is a very solid flagship phone at a bargain price.
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