ZTE nubia Z70S Ultra

The ZTE nubia Z70S Ultra is a flagship that makes one unusual promise: a front glass with no notch, no punch-hole and no visible cutout, paired with a rear camera system styled after a compact film camera. Everything else on the specification sheet follows the usual high-end script, with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, up to 16GB of RAM, a 6.85-inch 144Hz AMOLED panel and a 6,600 mAh battery, but the design choices are what set it apart. This article is based on the published specifications and manufacturer information from nubia's own product page, and wherever the company makes a claim rather than states a measurable fact, the text says so.

Where the Z70S Ultra sits in the lineup

nubia is the premium and photography-oriented smartphone brand of ZTE, and the Ultra line is its flagship family. The Z70S Ultra is the refreshed version of the Z70 Ultra, and nubia's store lists the two side by side, together with the later nubia Z80 Ultra. The "S" model is sold in a single "Photographer Edition" design, with a metal-finished camera plate, a textured back panel and the retro camera styling carried through to a separately sold Retro Kit. Two colours are listed: Classic Black and Antique Brown. Compared with mainstream flagships such as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the nubia is a niche proposition: it has fewer software extras and a smaller ecosystem, but it makes an unusually clear case for people who care about the screen and the main lens.

Design and display

The headline feature is the 6.85-inch AMOLED screen. nubia lists a resolution of 2688 x 1216 pixels, which works out to about 430 ppi, a refresh rate of up to 144Hz, 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space and a peak local brightness of 2000 nits. These are manufacturer figures, and they put the panel in the same league as other current flagships. What is different is the front camera: it sits under the display, in what nubia calls its seventh-generation under-display camera design. The company describes the result as a "true full view" with 100% screen-to-front coverage, and the product images support that: the glass is an unbroken panel, with no hole-punch and no notch.

The trade-off with any under-display selfie camera is image quality. The front camera is a 16MP unit, and in general the light that reaches an under-panel sensor has to pass through the display layers, which tends to reduce detail and low-light performance compared with a conventional hole-punch camera. nubia does not publish a comparison, and the manufacturer page offers no sample images that would let a reader judge this, so buyers who take many selfies should treat that as an open question. For video calls and casual shots the camera is probably adequate; for people who value front-camera quality above all else, a conventional design remains the safer choice.

At 164.3 x 77.1 x 8.6 mm and 228 g, the phone is large and heavy. That weight is partly the price of the big battery and the sturdy frame, which is on the heavy side for a modern phone. The page lists IP68 and IP69 protection, which covers dust and immersion as well as high-pressure, high-temperature water jets, and the phone has stereo speakers, NFC, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. The back combines a brushed metal-look camera plate with a leather-textured panel in black or brown, and a dedicated red side key adds a touch of colour.

Performance and software

The chipset is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, built on a 3nm process and using Qualcomm's Oryon CPU cores with clock speeds of up to 4.32GHz. nubia claims gains of 45% for the CPU and 40% for the GPU compared with the previous generation, and these figures should be read as marketing claims rather than independent measurements. Memory is LPDDR5X and storage is UFS 4.0, offered as 12GB plus 256GB or 16GB plus 512GB. This is the same class of chip as in the Galaxy S25 family and the OnePlus 13, so raw speed in everyday use and games should be comparable, with the usual caveat that sustained performance depends on cooling, and nubia publishes no thermal data on the page.

The software is Nebula AIOS 1.5, based on Android 15. nubia advertises AI features such as an AI sunset mode, motion capture, a Milky Way night mode, circle search and real-time call translation. The listing says nothing about how many Android versions or security updates will follow, so that commitment cannot be stated here. That is worth weighing: Samsung, Google and OnePlus publish multi-year promises for their flagships, and a buyer who plans to keep the phone for five years should ask the seller about update support before purchase.

For a numbers-first view of how this phone stacks up against a mainstream rival, the nubia Z70S Ultra vs Galaxy S25 Ultra comparison puts the specifications side by side, and the rankings page shows where it falls overall.

Camera system

The rear camera is where nubia puts its identity. The main sensor is a 50MP OmniVision OV50H with an optical format of 1/1.3 inch, an f/1.7 aperture and optical stabilisation. What makes it unusual is the focal length: nubia describes a native 35mm-equivalent lens, which is a narrower view than the 23 to 24mm that most phone main cameras use. The company argues that 35mm resembles the "human eye view" and suits street photography and portraits, and it says the lens is a fifth-generation custom design. Whether a tighter main view is an advantage depends on taste: it frames subjects more naturally and reduces distortion, but it makes wide scenes harder to fit without switching to the ultrawide camera.

The second camera is a 50MP OV50D ultrawide with autofocus, a 122-degree field of view, an f/2.0 aperture and macro focusing from 2.5 cm. The third is a 64MP periscope telephoto with a 70mm focal length, a four-element (4P) lens construction, an f/2.48 aperture, autofocus and optical stabilisation. A 64MP periscope is a high-resolution choice for this class, and with 70mm as the native length the zoom ratio over the 35mm main camera is about 2x. Beyond that, the phone relies on cropping and processing. The camera system also includes a flicker and laser sensor to assist focus and exposure.

The manufacturer page shows no photo or video samples that identify the settings or the lighting, so camera quality cannot be judged from the specification alone. Independent testing is essential before drawing conclusions, and one of the buyer reviews quoted on the UK store page even mentions a "pixely" look in some conditions, although this is a single opinion and should not be generalised.

Battery and charging

The battery is rated at 6,600 mAh typical. nubia notes that it uses a silicon-carbon anode, a chemistry that packs more capacity into a given volume, and claims good cold-resistance. Wired charging is listed at 80W, but the page carries an important footnote: full-speed charging requires nubia's original charger, which is sold separately. The box contents listed are the phone, a screen protector, a phone case, a USB-C cable and a SIM ejector, with no charger included. Buyers should therefore budget for the adapter, or accept slower charging with a third-party one. The page does not list wireless charging, so it should not be assumed.

A 6,600 mAh capacity is larger than the 5,000 mAh typical of the mainstream flagship tier, and in practice it should give comfortable all-day use even with a 144Hz screen, though the manufacturer does not publish endurance figures on the page, and real-world results will depend on usage.

Who the Z70S Ultra suits

• Photography and design enthusiasts who enjoy a retro camera look, a 35mm main lens and the option of accessory kits.
• Media and gaming users who want a large, uninterrupted 144Hz display and top-tier performance.
• Battery-focused buyers who want more than 6,000 mAh in a flagship without moving to a rugged phone.

Compromises to consider

• The under-display selfie camera is likely to trade some image quality for the clean front glass.
• The charger is not included, and full-speed 80W charging needs a separately sold nubia adapter.
• At 228 g the phone is heavy, and the software update policy is not stated on the manufacturer's page.
• The Android 15 base and the Nebula AIOS 1.5 skin are less widely supported than those of the big brands, and the page lists no wireless charging.

In summary, the Z70S Ultra offers a distinctive set of flagship hardware at the price of some everyday convenience. Readers who value a clean screen and a 35mm-style camera will find a clear reason to choose it, while those who want the widest software support and the most polished front camera may prefer a mainstream flagship such as the Galaxy S25 Ultra.