The nubia Music by ZTE is a fresh take on smartphones tailored for those who live and breathe music. With its standout speaker design and integrated FM radio that operates without needing earphones, this device offers something unique. After testing it thoroughly, here’s our take on whether its focus on audio and its wallet-friendly price tag make it a hit.
nubia Music Review: Design
The nubia Music grabs attention with its retro design that feels both nostalgic and modern. The Zeal Orange version we reviewed stands out with a bold, gradient pop art dot pattern that resists fingerprints fairly well. For those who want something different, the Pop Art variant offers a funky geometric design. Meanwhile, the phone’s build is mostly plastic. However, the aluminum frame adds a touch of sophistication, complementing the overall look.
The back panel houses the camera module, featuring dual cameras, an LED flash, and a prominent speaker, all encased in a design reminiscent of classic vinyl players. The speaker, featuring a glowing DTS logo, isn’t just for show as it pulsates in sync with your tunes.
Meanwhile, on the sides, you’ll find the usual controls: volume on the right, alongside a red power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner, and a SIM card tray on the left.
Interestingly, nubia has opted for dual 3.5mm headphone jacks at the top, a rare feature these days, allowing you to share your music the old-school way.
The phone’s front display is surrounded by slim bezels, with a slightly thicker chin at the bottom. The front-facing camera is also neatly placed in a punch-hole cutout at the top center, ensuring a clean look.
nubia Music Review: Multimedia
The 6.6-inch HD+ display on the nubia Music offers a smooth experience with its 90Hz refresh rate, making scrolling and animations feel responsive. The 180Hz touch sampling rate adds to the fluidity, especially during gaming or fast-paced tasks.
A neat addition is the Live Island Interactive feature, which turns the punch-hole camera area into a useful notification center, showing battery status, timers, and more.
Meanwhile, for those who spend long hours on their phones, the display comes equipped with dark mode, read mode, and night light options. These are designed to reduce eye strain and make late-night scrolling more comfortable. The screen also delivers vibrant colors and decent sharpness, making it enjoyable for media consumption.
However, where the phone truly shines is in the audio department. The large speaker, powered by AI-enhanced super volume technology, can crank up the sound to an impressive 95dB, delivering rich audio with DTS Ultra support. The built-in FM radio is also a throwback to simpler times, allowing you to listen to your favorite stations without the need for wired headphones. This is really nostalgic, considering that this feature is becoming increasingly rare in smartphones today.
While the audio output is generally loud and clear, pushing the volume to its maximum can lead to a slight reduction in bass, with vocals and mids taking the forefront. The sound tends to radiate from the back, which might slightly dampen the volume when the phone is lying flat, but the surface it’s on can help reflect the sound and enhance the listening experience.
nubia Music Review: Software
Running on MyOS 13 based on Android 13, the nubia Music offers a smooth and customizable user experience. It comes with some pre-installed apps like Facebook and WPS Office, along with nubia’s own set of apps and the usual Google tools. The phone also features a few wallpaper options that match its retro vibe, including designs inspired by vinyl records.
One of the standout software features is the Melody Lights app, which syncs your music with dynamic lighting effects. Compatible with popular music apps like YouTube Music and Spotify, the app offers six different lighting modes, allowing you to customize the visual experience to match your tunes.
Meanwhile, the Breathing Light feature is also one of our favorite features, as it allows more ways to personalize our mobile experience.
nubia Music Review: Performance
Powered by a UNISOC SC9863A Octa-Core processor, the nubia Music is designed for everyday tasks like basic communications and social media browsing. With 4GB of RAM, expandable up to 8GB through the extended RAM feature, and 128GB of internal storage, it offers sufficient space for apps, media, and music.
However, there are noticeable moments where the phone is slow to react to navigation, especially when switching between apps. While it’s capable of handling casual gaming, the experience isn’t the smoothest, so don’t expect high-end performance in high graphics games.
Here are its benchmark scores:
The phone offers two biometric security options: face recognition and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. Both work reliably, with the fingerprint scanner doubling as a power button for added convenience. If biometrics aren’t your thing, you can stick with traditional methods like a PIN or password.
nubia Music Review: Camera
The nubia Music comes with a dual-camera setup, led by a 50MP main sensor that captures decent photos in well-lit conditions. The secondary AI camera helps optimize settings based on the scene, making it easier to get a good shot without manual tweaking. While the default shooting resolution is 12.6MP, switching to full 50MP mode is available for those who need extra detail. Sadly, if you chose to switch to 50MP resolution, you won’t have an option to zoom in your photos.
We also noticed that the shutter speed is quite slow, and outdoor shots in sunlight often appeared overexposed, which can affect the overall quality.
On the front, there’s a 5MP camera for selfies and video calls. While it handles basic needs, selfies taken indoors tend to be noisy and greyish. Although there is an option to blur the background, the pixelation reduces the overall quality. The camera app itself is user-friendly, offering easy access to modes like Video, Capture, and Portrait, along with features such as Pro mode, Panorama, and Night mode. Users can only zoom up 4x, which works for casual photography but lacks the sharpness needed for high-quality shots.
nubia Music Sample Photos:
Overall, while the camera setup is functional, it falls short in terms of speed and image clarity, especially in more challenging lighting conditions.
nubia Music Review: Battery
The nubia Music sports a 5,000mAh battery, which is quite generous for a phone in its price range. During moderate use—such as basic communication, social media browsing, and some multimedia tasks—the phone easily lasts around 14 hours. This makes it reliable for day-to-day activities. However, with more intensive usage like heavy social media browsing, watching films, and gaming, the battery life drops to around 7 hours.
Additionally, the 5W charging speed is on the slower side. For instance, it would take approximately two and a half hours to fully charge from 25%. Despite the slower charging, the battery offers solid performance for lighter tasks.
nubia Music Review: Verdict
The nubia Music is a niche smartphone that successfully caters to music lovers looking for something different. Its unique design, powerful speaker, and built-in FM radio make it stand out in a crowded market. While it may not be the fastest phone around, and the charging speed leaves something to be desired, its retro charm and focus on audio quality make it a compelling option for those who prioritize music and style over cutting-edge performance. If you’re after a budget-friendly phone with a distinct personality, the nubia Music is worth checking out.
You can get the nubia Music for Php3,999.
