Now this seems almost I did this review before, and for some part, that’s not entirely wrong, in fact we did the ZTE Nubia Neo 5G before, and this time around in 2024, they release a refresh and here it is, in our hands for a review as usual and lets dive in to what is the offering from this device.
Specifications at a glance
| ZTE Nubia Neo 2 5G | ZTE Nubia Neo 5G | |
| Processor | UNISOC T820 Octa Core Processor with 5G | UNISOC T820 Octa Core Processor with 5G |
| RAM/ROM | 8GB + 12GB Virtual RAM/256GB Internal Storage UFS 3.1 | 8GB + 10GB Virtual RAM/256GB Internal Storage |
| Display | 6.72 FHD+ 2400*1080, 120Hz | 6.6“ HD+ 120Hz Display |
| Camera | Rear: 50 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), PDAF 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth) Front: 16MP Wide | Rear: 50 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), PDAF 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth) Front: 8MP Wide |
| Speaker/Audio | Dual Speakers, USB C Audio | Single Speaker with 3.5mm Audio Jack |
| Battery | 6000mAh with 33w fast charging | 4500 mAh with 22.5w charging |
| OS | Android 13 with MyOS + GMS | Android 13 with MyOS + GMS |
Design
ZTE uses the same, or I should say very similar design from the last year’s Nubia Neo 5G, if you are looking at both of the device, one can hardly can distinguish the differences apart unless looking at it in detail. The same polycarbonate plastic material is still being used with the same eagle eye design that shines under bright areas revealing slightly different hue of color, and ZTE calls it the Bionic Mecha Design. Apart from that, you will spot 2 pressure triggers included on the sides giving you additional control on games such as FPS. However when compared to the last Nubia Neo, the 3.5mm headphone jack is removed but instead you get dual stereo speakers. This should not impact much since the majority might just use USB C based headset or Bluetooth TWS to compensate it. The whole phone is weighted at 208 grams carrying thickness of just 8.5mm.
Display & Audio
There is a considerable upgrade from the display side, resolution has been slightly bump up to 2400*1080 with a size of 6.72 inch, giving it a Full HD view this time while still retain the fast dynamic 120Hz screen. Being an IPS, the viewing angle is quite good on front facing while looking from both sides, the colors may be a little washed out however if you are facing it front all the time, both the colors and contrast remain as vibrant as it is with dynamic brightness control and boasting a 92% screen to body ratio. My overall experience remains mostly positive with such display, especially judging from the good price point.
Audio wise, the ZTE Nubia Neo 2 5G has a dual stereo firing speakers, but lack of 3.5mm headphone jack that can be easily ignored since you can have many alternatives towards personal audio experience such as USB C audio headphones or Bluetooth Earbuds. Besides that, the speakers are tuned with DTS:X Ultra providing some option such as Equalizer, Audio Preferences and listening profile modes. Do take note some of the modes and features also applies to both speaker mode and your connected audio headphones or TWS. Speaking of which, the dual speakers does give an adequate listening experience with some lack of bass, but still, pretty strong and audible.
Camera
Day time shots
Night Time Shots
The camera set in the ZTE Nubia Neo 2 5G is similar to what you get from the last year’s ZTE Nubia Neo 5G with some noticeable improvements from several key fixes and updates that ZTE has carry it over. Both front and rear camera honestly will perform well during day time with pretty good color boost and details that can be identified over the images, hence this is passable as an upload for social media and small bite size web publishing, and should you need to edit the picture, there is no self ZTE gallery app, but still you can use the default Google Photos should you need to manipulate or edit the images captured with the phone. Night time or darker area environment is where the phone may take a hit, the overall images is good enough for some minor editing and uploads for sure, but any attempt of zooming towards images with light source may be blurred sometimes or pixelated, fortunately there is a night capture mode that is able to improve things up by processing a slightly cleaner images, with lesser noise and more identifiable areas and objects. If you are feeling more adventurous, there is also the Pro mode and RAW shooting.
The phone’s main focus is more towards a balance in performance and common use cases, so over to the video, you are still equipped with a 1080P 30FPS recording mode which is still adequate enough for fast video upload and viewing.
Performance & Software
In terms of performance, the phone is still fitted in with the same UNISOC T820 Octa Core SOC with a MALI G57 GPU, along with 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM + 10GB Virtual Fusion RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Basically with the combination of the internal hardware you should be able to use it up to more than a day at least with the equipped 6000MAh battery capacity with fast recharging up to 33W with the equipped charger inside the box.
Since the phone is built with gaming in mind, games such as Genshin Impact with hover around 45FPS average which is pretty good with sustained thermals on the battery around 35 celcius, which overall is just a tad warmer as ZTE has adopted the multiple heat dissipation conducting thermal materials to dissipate heat on the processor and memory portions.
Software wise, it is still running on Android 13 with almost stock UI experience from ZTE’s MyOS, and just a few bloatware here and there, nothing serious or intruding apps. Most of the base features are AOSP with Google Services ported over to this phone with ZTE’s own Adaptive 5G feature, gesture and motion and dual app duplicator, so basically you are enjoying an almost pure Android experience with close to no compromises with theme settings and Live Island, which has similar functions to iOS Dynamic Island. There is also a GameSpace 2.0 app where you can set gaming profiles, configure the pressure triggers, bypass charging and stats monitoring. Upon that it supports most of the RedMagic gaming accessories via the included Goper App.
Benchmarks
Here are the benchmark results that we have gotten with the phone. Of course in terms of performance, this is slightly higher when compared with some budget tier smartphones, but matches some of the same bracket pricing level smartphone with the Nubia Neo 2. However that being said, these are just synthetic benchmarks and these are just for reference purpose.
Verdict & Conclusion
The ZTE Nubia Neo 2 5G gathers in an objective of taking in more gamers towards a phone that is affordable, yet still adequately powerful within the budget category and it certainly shows with good aesthetics and has unique design and features that stands out including the pressure triggers. With the price of RM999, this certainly appeal to certain users that is interested in using this phone as their daily gaming phone with large battery capacity.
To know more about the ZTE Nubia Neo 2 5G, Click here to find out.
Purchase links
Lazada : https://shorturl.at/eDGMX
Shopee : https://shorturl.at/artO1