The final Nubia cellphone that I used with any quantity of regularity was the Redmagic 6 Professional, and whereas the gaming cellphone had quite a bit to supply on the {hardware} aspect of issues, the software program was one of many worst I would used. It was buggy, susceptible to distinction crashes, and stuffed with translation errors. Fortunately, Nubia made quite a lot of modifications within the final three years, and the Z60 Extremely gives a clear Android interface with none overt customization or bloatware — a refreshing change of tempo.
That is a superb start line, and the excellent news retains on coming. The Z60 Extremely has an all-screen design with none seen cutout due to an under-display digicam, making it invisible. Greater than the rest, this differentiates the cellphone from each different machine available in the market, and it instantly brings again reminiscences of the OnePlus 7 Professional.
You additionally get the most recent Qualcomm silicon, a huge 6000mAh battery, respectable cameras, and a stellar worth. However do you have to purchase the cellphone in lieu of extra established units? Let’s have a look.
Nubia Z60 Extremely: Pricing and launch date
Nubia launched the Z60 Extremely on the finish of December, and the cellphone is now out there globally. There are three variants out there: a base mannequin with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for $599, a 12GB/256GB model that prices $649, and a 16GB/512GB mannequin that is out there for $779.
The Z60 Extremely is offered in silver and black variations, however the base mannequin is not out there within the silver variant.
Nubia Z60 Extremely: Design
The Z60 Extremely is an enormous slab of a cellphone, and it dwarfs each different machine on this space. It’s taller and thicker than even the Galaxy S24 Extremely, and coming in at 246g, it’s 14g heavier than Samsung’s flagship. And whereas Samsung went with a design that makes the S24 Extremely a bit simpler to make use of, Nubia made no such issues — the Z60 Extremely has flat sides that do not present a lot in the way in which of grip.
However the primary spotlight of the machine is that it has an under-display digicam on the entrance, so you do not have a cutout of any variety. Which means you get an all-screen design that appears unbelievable, and whereas you can also make out the cutout when you’re viewing the display screen at an off-axis angle, it is not noticeable in day by day use.
One other key speaking level with the design is the digicam island on the again; the Z60 Extremely has an enormous rectangular housing that one way or the other overshadows the likes of the Xiaomi 13 Extremely and Discover X7 Extremely, two units which have greater digicam modules. The housing takes up a 3rd of the again, and it has a two-tone design that highlights the primary digicam a bit higher.
Not that it wants any further consideration; the sensor itself is encircled by a big ring with a crimson accent, and the zoom lens equally has an oblong design overlaying it. Just like the finest Samsung telephones, the Z60 Extremely will get IP68 mud and water resistance, and it does an ideal job weathering the weather.
The glass again has a silky texture that feels nice, and it does not choose up any smudges. The steel sides would have benefitted from a matte end as that will have made utilizing the cellphone a smidgen simpler, however that is not the case. You get the ability and quantity buttons on the suitable, and there is a slider beneath the ability button — just like the alert slider on OnePlus units — that allows you to management sound modes, launch the digicam, flashlight, or gaming mode.
The slider is a nifty inclusion, however I’d have appreciated the power to customise the toggle actions; proper now, you simply have a set of six actions. Regardless, it’s a good way to launch the digicam, and the one quibble I’ve with it’s that it’s situated too far down on the aspect — placing it on the left would have been a lot better.
Though there are quite a lot of buttons to the suitable, the ability button has a textured end that makes it straightforward to determine, and it has a crimson accent. The general design might be summed up as blocky, and this is not a tool constructed with usability in thoughts. Within the week I used the cellphone as my day by day driver, I discovered myself getting annoyed with the flat sides and the sheer dimension and heft of the machine.
On that be aware, the black coloration variant is fairly boring, and if you’d like a tool that stands out a bit extra, you will have to get the silver mannequin. I am irritated that the Starry Night time version is proscribed to China; that mannequin seems beautiful, and Nubia actually ought to have launched it globally.
Nubia Z60 Extremely: Show
The most important speaking level on the Z60 Extremely is the 6.8-inch AMOLED panel. The display screen has 120Hz refresh and goes as much as a most of 1500 nits, and whereas that is not as excessive because the likes of the OnePlus 12 or Honor’s Magic 6 Professional, it’s nonetheless greater than sufficient in day by day use. You miss out on a number of the extras that you simply get with different units, however the upside is that there isn’t any cutout.
Nubia makes use of an under-display digicam, and it’s invisible until you view it in vivid daylight. This results in an all-display design that simply seems cleaner, and instantly takes me again to the OnePlus 7 Professional and Redmi K20 Professional. Sure, the cutout on most fashionable telephones is small and never very noticeable, however not having one in any respect makes an enormous distinction, and it results in a way more immersive expertise in nearly any state of affairs.
The show has good coloration vibrancy and distinction, and it’s simply enjoyable to make use of. Clearly, an under-display digicam is not going to be nearly as good as a normal selfie lens, however for what it is value, Nubia did an honest job on this space, and the digicam holds its personal throughout video calls and face unlock. It does not take selfies which are wherever nearly as good as common telephones, so if that is a consideration, you have to to contemplate one other machine.
However when you miss the times of all-screen designs and need one thing that emulates that to an ideal extent, the Z60 Extremely is the plain selection in 2024.
Nubia Z60 Extremely: {Hardware}
Nubia hasn’t put a foot mistaken on the subject of the {hardware}, and the Z60 Extremely is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 — similar to all of the telephones I reviewed not too long ago. It comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage within the base model, and also you get 12GB/256GB and 16GB/512GB variants as nicely, with all fashions utilizing UFS 4.0 storage.
The cellphone is extremely fluid more often than not, and it once more jogs my memory of legacy variations of OxygenOS. However this is not the case all through, and there have been occasions once I encountered a definite lag, virtually like a jerky movement, when doing mundane issues like scrolling in Chrome or switching between apps. It is not wherever as pronounced because the jelly scrolling impact, however it’s noticeable in day-to-day use.
A restart types out the problem, and the UI goes again to being easy, so it might simply be a problem of optimization. It is solely evident as a result of the UI is in any other case fluid, and to Nubia’s credit score, the model rolled out a software program replace on the day of publishing this evaluation that addresses system stability points, and I did not see any lag within the new construct (14.0.10MR2).
| Class | OnePlus 12 | Nubia Z60 Extremely | Honor Magic 6 Professional |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCMark Work 3.0 (General) | 12542 | 20530 | 17314 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Net Looking) | 10157 | 20402 | 15748 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Video Enhancing) | 6057 | 8628 | 7707 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Writing) | 16945 | 25584 | 21271 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Photograph Enhancing) | 23586 | 49807 | 36257 |
| Geekbench 6 (single-core) | 935 | 2140 | 1908 |
| Geekbench 6 (multi-core) | 4729 | 6622 | 6816 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Excessive (rating) | 4062 | 5050 | 5121 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Excessive (FPS) | 24.325 | 30.24 | 30.67 |
| 3DMark Photo voltaic Bay (rating) | 7826 | 8539 | 8623 |
| 3DMark Photo voltaic Bay (FPS) | 29.76 | 32.47 | 32.79 |
Apart from that, I did not see any points in day by day use or gaming, and the Z60 Extremely delivers secure framerates in demanding titles, and there is little to no throttling. If something, the cellphone might use with a bit extra optimization on this state of affairs, as a result of the ability limits of the Qualcomm silicon are unrestricted right here. I do not suppose I’ve used another machine aside from Qualcomm’s reference fashions that do that, and the result’s that the Z60 Extremely will get scorching. Very popular. So scorching that you may’t use it.
Within the 3DMark Photo voltaic Bay stress take a look at, the cellphone hit a stability of 86% — one of many highest scores but — nevertheless it additionally went to up an insane 60 levels, considerably larger than another machine I examined. To provide you some context, most 2024 telephones I examined did not go previous 45 levels Celsius, and the Z60 Extremely did not simply get scorching — it was on the level the place I could not even choose it up. I needed to depart the cellphone apart for 10 minutes earlier than I might return to utilizing it.
That is one thing Nubia clearly must work on, and whereas the Z60 Extremely delivers blistering energy, you may’t use it throughout prolonged gaming classes due to the shortage of thermal administration. Switching to connectivity, the cellphone has all the most recent modems: you get Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, dual-band GPS, NFC, AptX Lossless audio codec, and USB-C 3.1.
Nubia Z60 Extremely: Battery life
The Z60 Extremely has the biggest battery of any cellphone I examined in 2024, and it places it good use. The 6000mAh unit lasts two days between expenses, and even with heavy use, you may stand up to a day and a half earlier than you will have to cost the machine.
Battery anxiousness simply is not a problem with this machine, and when it’s good to cost the cellphone, there’s 80W charging tech that makes use of the usual USB PD 3.0 protocol, so any commonplace GaN charger that goes as much as 100W will suffice. Nubia bundles a charger within the field, and you should utilize it to cost different units. The cellphone misses out on wi-fi charging, however actually, it is not that large of an omission contemplating the sheer dimension of the battery and the way lengthy it lasts.
Nubia Z60 Extremely: Cameras
The Z60 Extremely has quite a bit to supply on the imaging entrance, with the machine that includes a 50MP f/1.6 foremost digicam with OIS, 50MP f/1.8 wide-angle lens with OIS, and a 64MP f/3.3 telephoto lens that goes as much as 3.3x — and sure, this digicam has OIS as nicely. The digicam situated on the entrance is a 16MP lens.
Nubia’s digicam interface is in want of a little bit of polish, nevertheless it has most capturing modes and ordinary settings simply accessible. Curiously, the digicam interface makes use of focal lengths to toggle between the three sensors on the again — 35mm for the primary digicam, 18mm for the ultra-wide, and 85mm to change to the zoom module.
There’s a Professional mode out there that provides you granular management over photographs, and the Milky Method Night time mode is fascinating because it permits you to take photographs of evening skies. Coming to video, the cellphone permits you to shoot 4K video at 60fps from all of the lenses, and also you even get 4K at 120fps from the primary digicam — a pleasant addition.
Picture 1 of 8
The digicam takes nice photographs in daylight, providing a superb dynamic vary and good coloration stability. Foliage is rendered appropriately, you do not get overly saturated colours, and there is not any seen noise. The cellphone does a superb job with autofocus as nicely, and it’s respectable at taking photographs of shifting objects — albeit not on the identical degree because the Pixel 8 sequence.
The wide-angle and zoom lenses additionally maintain their very own in well-lit situations, and whereas the picture high quality at 3.3x is not on par with what you get on the likes of the Galaxy S24 Extremely and even the OnePlus 12, it’s serviceable. Portrait photographs come out with loads of element and vibrancy, and that is an space the place the Z60 Extremely excels.
The cellphone takes good photographs in low-light eventualities as nicely, nevertheless it takes a second to avoid wasting the photographs to the gallery. Once more, the resultant high quality is not on par with different flagships, nevertheless it is not a foul digicam by any measure. That virtually sums up the digicam of the Z60 Extremely — it is not fairly on par with the perfect Android telephones, however you get usable photographs in any state of affairs from all of the cameras, and that is ok.
Nubia Z60 Extremely: Software program
To say that I used to be stunned by the software program on the Z60 Extremely can be an understatement. The cellphone runs Nubia’s MyOS 14 primarily based on Android 14 out of the field, and in distinction to all different Chinese language producers, you get a clear software program with out overt customization and little to no bloatware.
The software program has quite a lot of parallels to OxygenOS 9.5; it has loads of customizability do you have to want it, however you need not tinker with the settings to get the machine set as much as your tastes. You’ll be able to simply us it as is out of the field and nonetheless be glad with what the interface has to supply, and that simply is not attainable with another Chinese language pores and skin at the moment.
Sure, there are points with optimization, however these are prone to be ironed out, and there’s a lot to love with the software program as an entire. Nubia embraced the Materials You aesthetic wholeheartedly, and the result’s in depth UI customizability that is above and past what most units provide.
The one situation with the software program is the aggressive reminiscence administration; it’s extra restrictive than different manufacturers, and I would not even get textual content messages if I did not have the SMS consumer operating. I’ve had points with getting push notifications for Gmail and Instagram, and they might solely present up as soon as I woke the display screen. Whereas Nubia gives a setting to disable battery administration, doing so made no tangible distinction.
That is one thing that may be addressed with a software program replace, however because it stands, the reminiscence administration makes utilizing the Z60 Extremely annoying at occasions. On that be aware, the cellphone is not prone to choose up software program updates similtaneously its quick rivals.
Nubia Z60 Extremely: The alternate options
The plain various to contemplate on this class is the OnePlus 12R. The machine additionally has a terrific worth, and whereas you do not get absolutely the newest {hardware}, it holds up extremely nicely in day by day use in addition to gaming. The cameras are additionally nice this time round, they usually’re higher than what you get on the Nubia. The software program is not as clear, nevertheless it has quite a lot of customizability, and it’s fluid.
The common OnePlus 12 is an excellent better option. Coming in at $799, it is without doubt one of the finest telephones you will get in the meanwhile, providing cameras that may rival the would possibly of the Pixel 8 Professional, together with a stunning design that is considerably simpler to carry and use than the Z60 Extremely, standout battery life, and ultra-fast charging tech.
Nubia Z60 Extremely: Must you purchase it?
You can purchase this if:
- You need a gaming cellphone on a finances
- You want the most recent {hardware} and a vibrant 120Hz panel
- You need nice battery life
- You want a clear software program with out a lot bloatware
You should not purchase this if:
- You need a cellphone that is not heavy
- You want long-term updates
The Z60 Extremely misses out on design refinement, however the upside is that that is probably the most inexpensive solution to get your fingers on Qualcomm’s newest silicon. What the cellphone lacks in polish it greater than makes up for by means of highly effective {hardware} and an enormous battery. That mentioned, it’s heavy and unwieldy to make use of, to the purpose the place it makes the S24 Extremely look small.
The {hardware} completely holds up in day by day use, and the cellphone is a good selection when you’re trying to play video games. The cameras are nice as nicely, and the battery lasts two days between expenses. I just like the software program fairly a bit as nicely, and it is not typically you come throughout a clear UI on this section.
In fact, an enormous differentiator is the invisible entrance digicam, and this makes the Z60 Extremely stand out significantly. There’s a lot to love right here, and whereas the software program is clear and devoid of bloatware, Nubia must reign within the battery administration; because it stands, it is irksome to make use of the machine due to these limitations.
Software program updates are additionally an unknown, and the Z60 Extremely is not prone to choose up main updates wherever as early as its rivals. If you happen to do not actually care about all of that and simply need a machine that has the perfect {hardware} on this section, then sure, you will love what the Z60 Extremely has to supply. It embodies the ethos — if not the design — of the OnePlus 7 Professional, and it’s a nice selection when you’re trying to improve.
