ZTE’s booth at MWC was one of the most interesting: there we found the nubia Z50 flagship phone, but the company’s first 3D tablet also caught our attention, as well as a couple of eyeshadows that actually create a virtual display from 120″.
ZTE nubia Z50
The Ultra model has just been announced, while the vanilla nubia Z50 was launched in mid-December in China. So, it’s not exactly new, but flew to Barcelona for the MWC and we got to spend some time with the phone.
This vanilla model is no slouch, it has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside and can be configured with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage (UFS 4.0). The only major advantage the Ultra will have over this is the 85mm telephoto lens.
If you’ve been following recent nubia releases, you won’t be surprised to find that the Z50 has a 35mm lens on its main camera (64MP, 1/1.7”, Sony IMX787). This offers a good middle ground between a portrait lens and your typical smartphone prime lens (which tends to be much wider, averaging around 24mm). Either way, this lens has a bright f/1.6 aperture and OIS. You can easily distinguish the main camera by its red trim.
Also on board is a 50MP ultra-wide-angle module with a 14mm lens (116° FoV). With autofocus, the UW camera is also capable of shooting macro images. The third module, the one surrounded by the LED flash, is not a camera but a multi-channel color sensor for ambient light.
On the front, there’s a 16MP camera punched into the display. This display is 6.67″ in size with FHD+ (20:9) resolution, so it’s not the sharpest but with a 144Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support, it offers great graphics for media and gaming. The speakers too stereo help with support for DTS:X Ultra.
For comparison, the Red Magic 8 Pro has a 120Hz display. Sure, that one has an active cooling fan, but the nubia Z50’s 36,462mm² vapor chamber is bigger than many flagships.
The nubia Z50 unit we got to play with was white, but the company also offers the phone in black and a green (vegan) leather option. A special edition red model was also released to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit.
Either way, the phone packs a large 5,000mAh battery with 80W fast charging (wired only).
Unfortunately, we still don’t have any information on when ZTE might bring the nubia Z50 to a global audience.
ZTE nubia Pad 3D
While 3D remained in theaters, it quickly fell out of fashion for TVs and portable devices. Most people will just shrug, but some of you may still find it great to watch 3D videos or play games. If that’s you, ZTE has you covered with the new nubia Pad 3D.
This is a glasses-free display, which is more comfortable. And you won’t get a weird look if you wear weird glasses, but if that’s your thing, check out the next section. Either way, the tablet uses face detection to present an immersive 3D image from your point of view.
The stereoscopic effect is achieved with a proprietary DLB layer over the standard 12.4″ LCD (120 Hz, 2560 x 1600 px, 16:9). The viewing angles before the 3D effect stops working are also surprisingly wide, so you don’t have to look at the screen as with early autostereoscopic displays.Unfortunately, the effect is impossible to photograph.
The nubia Pad 3D display offers a glasses-free 3D experience for videos and games
The failure of 3D in the home means there isn’t much content that is easily accessible. ZTE has thought of it: the pre-installed LeiaTube and LeiaFlix stream 3D video, LeiaPlayer and LeiaViewer work for content on the device. In addition, there is a built-in 2D to 3D conversion function for two-dimensional content.
3D games can naturally render a second perspective and there are currently over 50 supported titles (courtesy of Gameloft, Invictus, PlayChemy and others), which are available for download from the LeiaAppstore.
Plus, you can create 3D content yourself with the pair of dual cameras: 2x 8MP at the front and 2x 16MP at the rear. These take both photos and videos, and if you have two nubia Pad 3Ds, you can even make 3D video calls.
Whether you’re playing games, watching videos, or chatting, the tablet pumps audio through four speakers (with Dolby Atmos support) and has dual noise-cancelling microphones.
The Slate runs Android 13 on the older Snapdragon 888 chipset with 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. A microSD slot is available, so you can take your 3D movie collection with you.
Inside is a large 9,070mAh battery with 33W fast charging. There are five pogo pins on the side of the tablet, intended for use with charging docks and smart accessories (such as a keyboard, though ZTE has yet to reveal a specific one for the nubia Pad 3D).
Pre-orders for the nubia Pad 3D will begin later this month, with sales starting in early April (although we haven’t heard the price yet).
ZTE nubia Neovision glass
ZTE also showed off a pair of glasses that are actually a portable head-mounted display. These are quite light at 79g and while they are eye-catching, people may not notice the thicker chassis, which houses the electronics. The front “lenses” are attached magnetically, so it’s quick and easy to customize the look.
The Neovision Glass is not autonomous, an external device must be connected to drive it. Works with phones and tablets (e.g. Nubia Z50 and Tab 3D), of course, as well as laptops and consoles (Xbox, PS5, Switch). Ideally, these devices will have native DisplayPort capabilities, but if not, you can use a projection box to make the connection. In any case, there’s no built-in battery in the glasses (which is why they’re so light), so the connected device supplies power as well.
Nubia Neovision Glass from ZTE
The glasses can create a display with an apparent size of up to 120″ and have a field of view of 43°. They use Micro-OLED displays with a pixel density of 3,500 ppi and output 1080p video per eye. The displays are also quite bright , reach a maximum of 1,800 nits and it is possible to adjust the interpupillary distance.
For audio, depending on your settings, you can use the built-in omnidirectional speakers or just use headphones. Brightness and audio volume are controlled by two pairs of buttons on the chassis.
To be clear, these glasses aren’t a VR headset—there’s no head tracking. This is just a small portable display that you can slip into your backpack and use on a plane or train, in your hotel room, or just at home when someone else has occupied the TV, for example.
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