The Nubia Z70 Ultra just gave the Galaxy S25 Ultra some tough competition

By Patrick Hearn Published November 21, 2024

A render of the Nubia Z70 Ultra. — Nubia

With all eyes on Samsung and the upcoming Galaxy S25 release, it’s easy to forget about other players on the field. And the Nubia Z70 Ultra could be the underdog competitor no one considered. This powerful phone was just announced in China and will see a global launch on November 26 for roughly $635.

This phone has a lot going for it, but the absolute first thing that catches the eye is the breathtakingly gorgeous design. I’m a fan of Post-Impressionist art, and I have to say that the Starry Night pattern looks better than any case could dream of, but this handset is no slouch in the specs department either. It comes with the same display as the RedMagic 10 Pro and has a screen-to-body ratio of more than 95%. The Nubia Z70 Ultra uses a 16MP underdisplay camera rather than a pinhole camera, giving the screen a more complete look.

Nubia Z270 — Nubia

There is also a 50MP main camera, a 50MP ultrawide, and a 64MP telephoto lens. Compare that to the rumored setup on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and Samsung’s flagship pulls ahead just slightly.

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The Nubia Z70 Ultra has a 6.8-inch display, as should be the case for the S25 Ultra, although the Nubia might be ever-so-slightly larger based on specs. The Nubia Z70 sports a 144Hz refresh rate and a 960Hz touch sampling rate, with a maximum brightness of 2,000 nits. Its 6,150mAh battery supports 80-watt wired fast charging as well.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset makes yet another appearance in a headline device that supports up to 24GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. That’s more RAM than the 16GB max we’re expecting for the S25 Ultra. The Nubia Z70 Ultra also has 1TB of maximum storage, which is the same we should see for the S25 Ultra.

Though it was announced today, fans will need to wait a little bit longer to purchase the phone. The Nubia Z70 Ultra will be available on November 25 in China, with a global launch taking place one day later on November 26.

It’s impossible to tell whether one phone will be better than another just from spec tables, but the two look to be neck and neck so far. We won’t know until we get hands-on, but one thing is clear: if the Nubia Z70 maintains its estimated price, it will be much more affordable than the Galaxy S25 Ultra while delivering similar specs. Consider us interested.

Former Technology Writer

Patrick has written about tech for more than 15 years and isn't slowing down anytime soon. With previous clients ranging from…

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