Stellar photos & stock Android

I’ve never tried a Nubia phone before. I know Nubia has a lot of loyal fans, and wanted to find out why. I got my hands on a Nubia Z60S Pro and put it through a thorough test while vacationing on the shores of Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada. This phone’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and 120Hz display, and that fantastic camera, certainly impressed me. However, while I discovered some strengths, I also stumbled upon some issues. Could this phone replace my trusty Pixel?

Price, specifications, and availability

Under $700 if you can find it

Despite Nubia’s aggressive expansion this year, you won’t see many Z60S Pros at the usual phone retailers. But you can buy the phone directly from Nubia or snag one from Amazon. They start at $570 for the base model with 12GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, and go up to $770 for the maxed out model with 16GB of RAM and a whopping 1TB of storage. They come in black, aqua, or white.

What I loved about the Nubia Z60S Pro

Fast and clean with a camera to match more expensive flagships

This phone feels solid in the hand and has a gorgeous glass and metallic shine. It’s the inclusion of an 80W fast charging brick and a clear plastic case that blows my mind. I can’t remember the last time I saw a charging brick along with a phone. The included threaded red USB-C cable is also a nice touch.

The Nubia Z60S Pro has a decidedly iPhone 5 look and feel. It is boxy and industrial, with a glass-covered back and metal sides. The only curves on this phone are on the corners; the rest of the edges are sharp. But at 6.4 inches tall and nearly 3 inches across, it fits nicely in my hand.

This phone is heavier than the Pixel 9 but not too heavy. It sits nicely in the middle at 7.8 ounces, and I find it the perfect blend of size and weight. More on that later.

I love the aqua color of the review unit Nubia sent me. I enjoy the big camera circle on the back, a design Nubia calls a “Cosmic Ring” and says was inspired by our solar system. There are three camera lenses around the top half of the circle and another lense in the center, and a coronet with “Be yourself” etched on it extrudes from the side.

The bottom of the device houses the standard USB-C port and a single speaker grill. The SIM card drawer is also here.

I take displays as seriously as I take sound quality. This Nubia does not disappoint. It comes with a gorgeous 1.5K AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate. It reaches 1,200 nits peak brightness. I took it to the beach on the shores of Lake Huron on a sunny day and had no issues at all seeing the screen. This display is bright, colorful, and buttery smooth.

The camera makes this phone a contender

As far as good cameras on phones go, Nubia went all-in on this device. The company considers the camera unmatched, and I agree to a certain extent. That big camera ring contains a color sensor on the left, a 35mm 50MP main shooter in the center, a 50MP ultrawide camera at the top, and an 80mm 8MP telephoto lens on the right.

I am particularly fond of the camera app that comes with this phone. There’s a normal Photo setting, but I found myself using the Pro setting a lot. I can get granular with my shots by adjusting the ISO, white balance, aperture, and shutter speed. It can also automatically do the work for me, and it always seems accurate.

There’s a setting called “Camera Family,” which is full of special effects, such as “star trail” and “electronic aperture.” I played around with these, and although they were fun, I found most of them kind of useless. Maybe I’m just a boring guy.

This camera is the perfect point-and-shoot. For example, I was driving along a country road with my kids in the backseat when we saw some cows hanging out in a farm field. I stopped the car and rolled down my kids’ window so they could see the cows, and then I grabbed the Nubia, stretched my arm out over my kid’s head, and quickly snapped a photo. The results speak for themselves.

The cameras also perform well at night. I was able to snap several photographs in the dead of night using only the regular Photo setting, while the “Milky Way night” setting took an incredible shot of the starry sky.

Video is where I really wanted to put this phone to the test. I have never been impressed with video on Android devices, which is one reason I carry an iPhone 15 Pro Max. The Nubia Z60S Pro is the first Android I’ve used to make me rethink my outlook on life.

The camera can shoot video up to 8K at 120 fps. However, I find the sweet spot on this phone is 4K at 60 fps. The footage it captures is so crisp I can practically feel the rain pouring down on the last day of our vacation.

This camera is easily on par with the Pixel 8 for regular everyday shots and has better video. I also feel it is as good as my iPhone 15 Pro Max. However, the zoom is an issue, and both the Pixel and iPhone better all-around cameras for everything, including zoom. Nothing beats the Zoom on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, so I won’t even go there.

Nubia’s own MyOS 14 is a light skin of stock Android 14. The entire experience feels like I’m using a stock Android phone without any gimmicks or bloat. The only Nubia apps on this device are the settings, camera, and cleaner apps. It comes preloaded with the standard Google apps and nothing else.

The settings menu is easy to navigate and sticks to Android design ethos. The customization menu is interesting, and Nubia pre-loads two dozen stylish wallpapers.

There’s also a “SyncMind” AI on board. It works flawlessly in the background, helping with your photos and optimizing performance so you don’t need to think of anything. Just pick up the phone and go.

Finally, this phone is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and it is zippy-fast with most tasks. I’ve never seen it lag. The animations are quick and out of the way. The battery lasts all day and into the second. I never worry about the battery life on this thing, and the included 80W fast charger tops it up from 20% to 100% in under 20 minutes.

What I don’t like about the Nubia Z60S Pro

The camera zoom is awful, and this phone does not game well

Nothing is perfect, and the Z60S Pro falls short in a few key areas. For starters, the zoom on the camera is not good. Pushing the zoom in beyond 80mm results in pixelated and blurry images. The results don’t change with the AI and HDR turned off; both video and still photos are equally bad when zoomed in.

The HDR is also aggressive on this phone. It overcompensates with bright colors. For example, a pink beach bucket in the sand looks too bright and pink.

The onboard AI can also get confused by small details in photos. For instance, it adds random strange colors to the sunlight glinting off wet rocks. These issues pop up consistently enough to say it’s an issue with the phone’s software. Those lenses should be able to capture accurate images when zoomed in.

The second issue I have with this device is gaming. It plays simple games easily enough, but it gets extremely hot when playing more intensive AAA games. Call of Duty: Warzone is practically unplayable. Not only does it overheat, but the graphics begin to glitch and everything looks pixelated. The same happens with Genshin Impact. There are definitely better options for gaming phones out there.

Another small annoyance is the speakers. They are underwhelming, and the music sounds flat and tinny. Movies and videos are a little too high-pitched and often quiet. I find myself using Bluetooth headphones with this phone more than with any other.

The in-screen fingerprint scanner is a constant source of frustration. The phone gets confused when I pick it up or tap the screen, and the Always On Display often doesn’t switch to the fingerprint scanner. When it does, it almost always takes two or three attempts to capture my fingerprint properly. Although I enjoy the ability to change the scanner animation, sometimes it’s nice to see the different effects multiple times.

I also don’t like the placement of the physical buttons on the right side. The power button is in a great spot, but the volume rocker and the customizable slider are not. The volume sits above the power button, which means I often accidentally power off the phone when I reach to change the volume. The slider is in the top right corner of the phone and is practically unreachable one-handed, so I don’t ever use it.

Finally, as is often the case with phones from smaller brands, I don’t know how many Android updates you can expect to get from Nubia here.

Should you buy it?

I recommend the Nubia Z60S Pro to anyone who wants a great point-and-shoot camera and a mid-range phone that will get most things done. If you’re not looking for a pro-level premium device, this phone is great. This phone is perfect for shutterbugs and globe-trotting travelers.

You don’t get a lot of the AI features or the incredible camera of the new Pixel 9. But you do get a device that is easily better than other Androids in this segment, including the OnePlus 12, thanks to Nubia’s amazing cameras. Now that I’ve tried this phone for a few weeks, I think I’m ready to retire my trusty Pixel. I’ve found my newest favorite Android.