Nubia Z11 review
Nubia
is still a relatively unknown brand in the Android world, but the
Chinese company has been making in-roads into the competitive European
and US markets with a slew of fantastic smartphones. Nubia is hoping to
continue their rise in popularity with their latest flagship offering,
the Nubia Z11, which has recently been released in Europe, with an US launch imminent as well.
Does this high-end smartphone bring enough to the table to stand out from the crowd and can it survive in the increasingly-competitive US market? We find out, in this comprehensive Nubia Z11 review!
![Nubia Z11 Review-9](https://cdn01.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-9-840x560.jpg)
![Nubia Z11 Review-12](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-12-840x560.jpg)
![Nubia Z11 Review-8](https://cdn01.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-8-840x560.jpg)
![Nubia Z11 Review-16](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-16-840x560.jpg)
The Nubia Z11 comes with a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display, but unlike other competing flagships, the display resolution is 1080p instead of Quad HD, resulting in a pixel density of 403 ppi. The display gets very bright, features very saturated colors and good viewing angles, and provides plenty of sharpness. Doing anything, including reading text, watching videos, and playing games, is enjoyable, so unless you are using this device for VR, you aren’t going to easily notice the difference in resolution.
The Nubia Z11 features an eye catching display, but what makes it really stand out is that there appears to be no bezel on the left and right sides of it, something that Nubia was able to achieve by curving down the sides of the screen.
![Nubia Z11 Hands on-2](https://cdn03.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nubia-Z11-Hands-on-2-840x560.jpg)
![Nubia Z11 Review-11](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-11-840x560.jpg)
![Nubia Z11 Review-3](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-3-840x560.jpg)
There
is no dedicated recent apps key, so the way to access it is via a long
press of the back button. The recent apps screen itself takes a few
seconds to load. The apps are laid out in a horizontal swiping view,
allowing you to see only a couple of apps at the same time, and swiping
back and forth to switch between apps is a lot slower in comparison to
something like the card stack layout of stock Android.
![Nubia Z11 Review-7](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-7-840x560.jpg)
64 GB is the available on-board storage, but as mentioned, the black and gold version with 6 GB of RAM doubles that to 128 GB. Expandable storage via microSD card for an additional 256 GB is an option as well, but since this utilizes the second SIM slot, users will have to make the choice between expandable storage and dual SIM capabilities.
![Nubia Z11 Review-4](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-4-840x560.jpg)
If
battery life is a concern, the device comes with support for Qualcomm
Quick Charge 3.0, allowing you to get back to a full charge in a short
amount of time.
![Nubia Z11 Hands on-4](https://cdn03.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nubia-Z11-Hands-on-4-840x560.jpg)
![Nubia Z11 Review-13](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-13-840x560.jpg)
![Nubia Z11 Review-2](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-2-840x560.jpg)
What I like most about HDR mode with this camera is that it will automatically take a standard shot and HDR shot in one take, which can ultimately save you a lot of time, and avoid the hassle of switching back and forth between HDR and standard modes.
![Nubia Z11 Review-14](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-14-840x560.jpg)
My
favorite feature has to do with how this phone handles split screen
multi-tasking. To enter this mode, all you have do is swipe up from the
bottom of the display, but instead of giving you a list of applications
like you would see with other smartphones that feature split screen
multi-tasking, the Nubia Z11 splits the screen into two separate
desktops.
![Nubia Z11 Review-10](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-10-840x560.jpg)
There you have it for this in-depth review of the Nubia Z11 ! The big question here is whether this smartphone is worth getting over other current generation flagships. The Z11 is a solid high-end device from Nubia, but it doesn’t necessarily offer a lot of compelling reasons to be considered a better option that its competition. Had it released in the US a lot earlier, it would have garnered a lot more attention, but at this point, there are numerous great options at different price points, and Nubia might be a little late to the party.
Does this high-end smartphone bring enough to the table to stand out from the crowd and can it survive in the increasingly-competitive US market? We find out, in this comprehensive Nubia Z11 review!
Design
![Nubia Z11 Review-9](https://cdn01.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-9-840x560.jpg)
The
Nubia Z11 may not have the most eye catching or original design, but
it’s still a good looking phone that features a solid build quality. The
device basically features a rectangular slab design, with a full metal
unibody construction that puts its build quality at par with a lot of
current generation flagships.
The rounded corners and slight
tapers around the back and sides make it more comfortable to hold, but
because the metal body doesn’t have any sharp or flat edges to help with
the grip, the phone can be a little slippery and difficult to hold onto
at times.![Nubia Z11 Review-12](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-12-840x560.jpg)
If
you’ve come across a Nubia smartphone before, you will be familiar with
the red accents that the company uses with their devices to make the
phone stand out a bit, such as the ring around the camera and the bright
red capacitive navigation keys that are found below the display. This
particular unit is the standard silver model, but there is also a black
and gold dual tone version that is more flashy, and looks really good
and more unique.
Taking a look around the device, the volume
rocker and power button are on the right side, and are positioned well
enough to be comfortably within reach of your thumb. The buttons are
also made of metal, with a nice tactile feel to them. On the left is the
dual SIM card slot, with the secondary SIM slot also doubling as a
microSD card slot, and up top is the headphone jack and IR blaster.![Nubia Z11 Review-8](https://cdn01.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-8-840x560.jpg)
An
IR blaster isn’t something that is often seen with smartphones anymore,
but does provide a convenient way of controlling your television and
other peripherals. Finally, at the bottom is the USB Type-C port which
is flanked by what appears to be dual stereo speakers. However, the dual
speaker grill design is present just for the sake of symmetry, with
only the right side housing a single speaker unit.
Display
![Nubia Z11 Review-16](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-16-840x560.jpg)
The Nubia Z11 comes with a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display, but unlike other competing flagships, the display resolution is 1080p instead of Quad HD, resulting in a pixel density of 403 ppi. The display gets very bright, features very saturated colors and good viewing angles, and provides plenty of sharpness. Doing anything, including reading text, watching videos, and playing games, is enjoyable, so unless you are using this device for VR, you aren’t going to easily notice the difference in resolution.
The Nubia Z11 features an eye catching display, but what makes it really stand out is that there appears to be no bezel on the left and right sides of it, something that Nubia was able to achieve by curving down the sides of the screen.
![Nubia Z11 Hands on-2](https://cdn03.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nubia-Z11-Hands-on-2-840x560.jpg)
This
design aspect is something you will be familiar with if you’ve used
previous Nubia flagships, but it remains impressive to look at, and
really makes it feel like you are holding just a screen in your hand.
With the side bezels being so thin, the phone also feels a lot more
compact when compared to other smartphones that feature 5.5-inch
displays.
The curves on the side aren’t as drastic as what you will find with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge or Galaxy Note 7, but that didn’t stop Nubia from adding some software tweaks to take advantage of these slightly curved sides.![Nubia Z11 Review-11](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-11-840x560.jpg)
You
can perform a variety of functions, like adjusting the display
brightness by sliding two fingers up and down along the edges of the
display, swiping up or down from the edge to switch between apps that
are running in the background, swiping repeatedly from the edge to close
all recent apps, or holding along the edge and swiping inwards to
quickly switch to a specific homescreen.
This feature can be
really useful, but is a little awkward to use, with there also being the
fact that some of them aren’t that much faster than doing things the
traditional way. I also ran into a lot of issues with accidentally
triggering these features by just holding the phone. Fortunately, all of
them can disabled if you come across the same problems, or don’t find
them particularly useful.Performance
![Nubia Z11 Review-3](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-3-840x560.jpg)
Under the hood, the Nubia Z11 packs a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820
processor, backed by the Adreno 530 GPU and 4 GB of RAM, which is the
standard processing package across the board when considering 2016
flagships. The black and gold version of the device not only looks
better, but also comes with 6 GB of RAM and double the on-board storage.
The
performance has been perfectly fine with the 4 GB of RAM version of the
device. Even with Nubia’s heavy skin, it’s been very fast in day to day
use, and handles launching apps, browsing the web, watching videos, and
playing graphically-intensive games well. The only exception to the
otherwise smooth performance is when it comes to multi-tasking, with the
experience feeling very slow and clunky.Hardware
![Nubia Z11 Review-7](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-7-840x560.jpg)
64 GB is the available on-board storage, but as mentioned, the black and gold version with 6 GB of RAM doubles that to 128 GB. Expandable storage via microSD card for an additional 256 GB is an option as well, but since this utilizes the second SIM slot, users will have to make the choice between expandable storage and dual SIM capabilities.
There
is a single speaker unit that is bottom-firing, which isn’t an ideal
placement. However, the speaker itself sounds fine, and doesn’t get
distorted or sound tinny at the highest volume. It is on the quieter
side though, and can be a little difficult to hear with the volume set
at around the 50% mark or lower.
![Nubia Z11 Review-4](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-4-840x560.jpg)
On
the back of the phone is a fingerprint sensor, that has worked
extremely well. It is fast and accurate, doesn’t require a lot of time
to setup, and there have been no problems when using it to unlock the
phone. The scanner has been very reliable, and rarely has it misread my
fingerprint, which easily puts it at par with some of the best
smartphone fingerprint sensors currently available in the market.
The
Z11 comes with a 3,000 mAh battery, and while Nubia claims that their
battery optimizations will allow up to 2 days of battery life, my
experience hasn’t matched that claim. With regular usage that involves
social media, surfing the web, and a couple of hours of watching videos
or playing games, the device comfortably allows for a full day of use,
which is fine, but nowhere near what Nubia claims the battery is capable
of.Camera
![Nubia Z11 Hands on-4](https://cdn03.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nubia-Z11-Hands-on-4-840x560.jpg)
When
it comes to the camera, the Nubia Z11 may not be packing any fancy dual
lens setups that we’ve been seeing with a lot of other smartphones, but
you do get some rather interesting features here. Up front is an 8 MP
camera, which is definitely more than good enough to take care of all
your selfie needs. On the back is a 16 MP shooter, with a f/2.0
aperture, optical image stabilization, and phase detection auto focus.
The
camera app is straightforward and easy to use, but it does feel very
iOS-like. You can swipe left or right to switch between different camera
modes, and there are some built into this camera that make it unique
and a lot of fun to use. For example, there is a Clone mode, that will
overlap several photos to make it appear as though there are multiples
of a person or object in a single shot. It does a good job of stitching
these photos together for the most part, but it isn’t always perfect.![Nubia Z11 Review-13](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-13-840x560.jpg)
Another
interesting mode is called Electronic Aperture, that lets you select an
aperture from as wide a f/2.8, to as narrow as f/44. Changing the
aperture will effectively change the shutter speed from as quick as 0.3
seconds to as long as 72 seconds, with the longer shutter speeds
allowing you to capture some silky smooth motion blur with moving
objects, while still keeping everything that is stationary in focus.
![Nubia Z11 Review-2](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-2-840x560.jpg)
The
Z11 has three types of stabilization built in to allow you to use this
feature with just your hands, but in my experience, the results were
still much better with a tripod, especially if you are using shutter
speeds that are over a minute long.
The general picture quality is
actually quite good. The shots taken are pleasantly sharp and detailed,
and there’s enough color to make them pleasing to the eye, but without
going overboard and looking oversaturated and unnatural. However, it
does have the tendency to overexpose and blow out highlights, but this
issue can be alleviated by using HDR mode.What I like most about HDR mode with this camera is that it will automatically take a standard shot and HDR shot in one take, which can ultimately save you a lot of time, and avoid the hassle of switching back and forth between HDR and standard modes.
In
low light situations, the camera tends to hunt for focus a lot, which
makes the shooting experience feel a lot slower. That said, shots taken
in poorly-lit environments still have a relatively good amount of
detail. There isn’t a whole lot of grain or noticeable noise reduction
to be seen, but there are still problems with properly exposing
highlights, which is also seen with day time shots.
Software
![Nubia Z11 Review-14](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-14-840x560.jpg)
On
the software side of things, the Nubia Z11 is running Android 6.0
Marshmallow, with version 4.0 of Nubia’s user interface, which
drastically changes the entire Android experience. The interface is
cluttered with bright and cartoon-ish icons, there are a lot of
transparency effects, and there is also no app drawer.
It is jam
packed with a slew of interesting features though. If you long press on
the fingerprint scanner, or hold the volume down button and volume
rocker, you will get the option to take a long scrollable screenshot, a
standard screenshot that you can crop different shapes like hearts or
circles out of, or create a recording of the screen.
It’s a very different approach, but by
doing it this way, you are able to use virtually any application you
want, with the exception being the camera. That said, just because you
can use any app doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. For example,
apps like games can open in the split screen view, but these aren’t
exactly split screen friendly. However, apps for social media, email,
text, and web browsing all work just as you would expect.
Specifications
Display | 5.5-inch IPS LCD display 1080p resolution, 403 ppi |
Processor | 2.15 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Adreno 530 GPU |
RAM | 4/6 GB |
Storage | 64/128 GB expandable via microSD up to an additional 256 GB |
Camera | 16 MP rear camera, f/2.0 aperture, OIS, PDAF, dual LED flash 8 MP front-facing camera |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Bluetooth 4.1 GPS + GLONASS NFC IR USB Type-C 1.0 |
Battery | 3,000 mAh |
Software | Android 6.0 Marshmallow |
Dimensions | 151.8 x 72.3 x 7.5 mm 162 grams |
Gallery
Pricing for the Nubia Z11 in the US is still to be determined, but in Europe, the device is currently priced at €499 (~$560) for the standard version, and €599 (~$673) for the black and gold edition. Hopefully these prices are not an indication of what the eventual cost in the US will be, as these will make the Nubia Z11 a rather expensive smartphone to get your hands on.![Nubia Z11 Review-10](https://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nubia-Z11-Review-10-840x560.jpg)
There you have it for this in-depth review of the Nubia Z11 ! The big question here is whether this smartphone is worth getting over other current generation flagships. The Z11 is a solid high-end device from Nubia, but it doesn’t necessarily offer a lot of compelling reasons to be considered a better option that its competition. Had it released in the US a lot earlier, it would have garnered a lot more attention, but at this point, there are numerous great options at different price points, and Nubia might be a little late to the party.
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