Smartphone ZTE Nubia V18 - advantages and disadvantages

ZTE is not yet so popular in our market, but recently some of its models even lead the ranking of high-quality smartphones. Along with other leading Chinese brands such as Meizu, Xiaomi, Huawei, the company is actively attacking global markets. The popular models of the Nubia and Axon lines sell well all over the world.

In 2018, ZTE introduced its new Nubia V18 smartphone, which is the junior version of the Nubia N3 model. Nubia V18 has flagship model specification with 4GB RAM, 64GB ROM, large capacity battery and 6 inch borderless screen. At the same time, for the price, it fits into the budget segment.

This ZTE model is the main competitor of Xiaomi's popular Redmi 5 Plus model. They have similar characteristics. Consider all the pros and cons of Nubia V18 and compare which model is better.

Appearance

Nubia V18 is beautiful. The design has class and style. Front 6-inch screen with modern 18:9 aspect ratio. Very narrow bezels on the sides and wider top and bottom. The small top bezel houses the selfie camera, speaker grille, and sensors. The bottom bezel is also miniature, while the side bezels are almost invisible. The screen occupies 78% of the panel area. And this is a good indicator.

ZTE has used modern materials in this model. The back panel is metal. In the production of glass on the front panel, 2.5D technology was used. The double lines for the arched antennas are curved differently than we saw on the N3. ZTE did not support the trend of installing a dual rear camera and released a model with one. The camera comes with an LED flash and it sits under one slightly domed glass with the camera in the top left corner. At first glance, it may seem that these are two cameras.

The fingerprint scanner is centered on the back, obviously because there's no room for it at the front. Although it may not be conveniently located for everyone, it works clearly without failures. Below the scanner is the Nubia logo.

The power and volume keys are located on the right side of the phone, while the nano-SIM and storage slots are on the left. You can put either two SIM cards in the slot, or one SIM card and a microSD card up to 128 GB. Also on the left there is a new button to turn on the silent mode like Apple and OnePlus. It's comfortable. At the bottom is the Micro-USB interface, at the top is the 3.5 mm jack.

The smartphone is thin, its dimensions: 75.5 x 158.7 x 7.75 mm, weighs only 170 g.

Nubia V18 is available in 3 color options:

• red;
• gold;
• black.

Specifications

We list the main technical characteristics of Nubia V18

Screen

Display diagonal 6 inches, resolution FULL HD 2160 × 1080 pixels. Screen aspect ratio 2:1 (or 18:9). The screen is made using IPS technology and is good for a budget model - with rich colors and excellent brightness. The display is clearly visible in any light, even in the sun.The angles at which you can look at the screen without distortion and loss of brightness are very large. The screen is perfect for watching videos and playing games on your phone.

Operating system

The smartphone is running Android 7.1 with Nubia UI 5.1 shell. Android is not the newest, but the interface from ZTE is not bad. A bit like Apple, as usual with the Chinese. For example, quick settings can be accessed by swiping from the bottom of the screen, the icons look like Apple's. Notification settings are a little buggy. They are difficult to set up, and they do not always arrive on time, and sometimes even get lost somewhere.

The shell interface is convenient, it works quite fast, no delays or freezes were noticed, but sometimes applications crash. This is unpleasant, especially since ZTE does not always regularly release bug fix updates. Let's hope the Nubia V18 has more luck than some other ZTE devices.

The screen unlock function using face recognition works quite clearly and quickly.

Performance

The smartphone is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, an eight-core processor with 64-bit architecture. The processor frequency is 2.0 GHz, it is manufactured using a 14 nanometer process, which prevents overheating and reduction in clock speed. All cores based on Cortex A53 are collected in one cluster.

Qualcomm Adreno 506 is responsible for the graphics. It has 96 compute modules that deliver up to 130 Gflops. GPU frequency 650 MHz. Supports OpenGL 3.1, DirectX 11.2 and APIVulcan 1.0.

4 GB RAM running at 933 MHz allows for excellent multitasking. The storage is 64 GB, expandable up to 128 GB.These are very good indicators, but it is bad that there is no simpler and cheaper modification. This would allow it to compete more successfully with Redmi on price.

The processor is not new, but quite fast. Good for watching videos and playing games. Although in heavy games, the maximum settings will have to be removed. Therefore, this smartphone is not the best solution for active games.

The smartphone as a whole is quite productive. Here are the results of some tests:

• AnTuTu - 78000;
• GeekBench - 870 (1 core);
• GeekBench - 4300 (all cores).

autonomy

The smartphone has a stationary 4000 mAh lithium-polymer battery. It is enough for 2 days of active work. So the autonomy of the device is on top. Fast charging is not provided, and this is a minus.

cameras

ZTE has always stood out for the quality of its cameras. Even the best manufacturers, as a rule, do not put good cameras in budget smartphones. But the popularity of ZTE models is also caused by the excellent quality of the resulting photos. Nubia V18 was also up to par. Let's see how the device takes pictures, how it takes pictures in good light conditions and how it takes pictures at night.

Main camera

The smartphone is equipped with a rear camera of 13 Megapiskel and f/2.2 aperture. ZTE used an artificial intelligence system to analyze the photo scene and auto-adjust the camera to suit its features. Autofocus works well. Apparently due to the fact that the main camera is not dual, there is no background blur function. Color rendition is natural and juicy. When shooting in low light conditions, the quality deteriorates, there is more noise, detailing suffers, and the white balance is disturbed. But still, even at night the camera shoots at a good level.

With HDR (High Dynamic Range) support, the camera handles very high contrast scenes well. For example, if part of the frame is in the bright sun, and part is in the shade, then the smartphone gently smooths out the difference in illumination, slightly reducing the brightness in the sunny part and brightening the shadow part. It turns out a harmonious photograph with natural colors.

As always, ZTE has rich shooting mode settings, you can manually set the desired ISO, white balance and many other parameters. Just what photo enthusiasts need.

4K video is not supported, only 1080p. There is no stabilization, which is bad for the quality of the videos, but in general they turn out to be of decent quality.

Selfie camera

Selfie camera 8 megapixels with f/2.0 aperture. It has a wide angle of 80 degrees. In general, the front camera also leaves a good impression. Focus, sharpness, contrast - all on top. The camera is clearly better than the main competitor Redmi 5 Plus.

Photo examples

Wireless interfaces

Nubia V18 supports dual band Wi-Fi, but does not support phone payment (no NFC). Unlike the ZTE Blade V9 model, where just the opposite is true. Supports Bluetooth 4.1, Dual Sim. There is GPS and GLONASS. There is no radio.

Comparison with other popular competitor models

Let's compare inexpensive models that have similar functionality and characteristics. This will help you decide which one to buy. So, a brief overview of the main competitors.

Comparison with ZTE Nubia N3

Even outwardly, the V18 is very similar to the N3. The back panel is almost the same, the front part differs in slightly more rounded corners of the display in the V18. N3 is slightly thicker and heavier due to the installation of a larger battery.

The filling is also slightly different.The V18 has a simpler camera: the main camera is a single 13 MP instead of a double 16 MP + 5 MP, the front one is 8 MP instead of 16 MP. The V18 also has a smaller battery capacity of 4000 mAh versus 5000 mAh and does not support fast charging. The average price in stores is also close, V18 is slightly cheaper.

It is not clear why ZTE produces competitors for itself, releasing models with similar characteristics and prices. But here the selection criteria are simple: if the camera and autonomy are important, then you need to buy Nubia N3, if these indicators are not critical, then you can save money and choose a thinner and more elegant Nubia V18.

Comparison with ZTE Blade V9

And again, the ZTE model is fighting the ZTE model. Both devices are new for 2018. Nubia V18 differs from Blade V9 more than from N3. The ZTE Blade V9 package comes in two types with different amounts of memory 3/32 GB and 4/64 GB. We will compare the latest modification closer to V18.

Benefits of Nubia V18:

• larger screen - 6 inches versus 5.7;
• less bezel around the edges of the screen;
• more powerful processor - Snapdragon 625 2.0 GHz vs. Snapdragon 450 1.8 GHz;
• higher capacity battery - 4000 mAh versus 3200 mAh;
• dual band Wi-Fi.

Benefits of Blade V9:

• better main camera - dual 16 MP + 5 MP versus a single 13 MP;
• better selfie camera - 13 MP vs 8 MP;
• newer software - Android 8.1 vs. Android 7.1;
• NFC support.

How to choose from these models? In general, Nubia V18 is a more powerful device with a large screen, but again loses to a competitor in the quality of photographs.

Comparison with Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus

And finally, a comparison with the main competitor Redmi 5 Plus. Very similar smartphones. They have the same chipset, the same battery capacity, very similar screens.The advantage of Xiaomi is support for fast charging, although there is no device for fast charging in the box. It needs to be purchased additionally.

Nubia V18 is ahead of Redmi 5 Plus in photo and video quality, especially on the front camera. Redmi's selfie camera generally let us down, and even the presence of a flash does not save it. With flash, the range of the camera in the dark increases, but if you shoot close, then the opposite effect occurs. Nubia at the time of shooting, instead of a flash, brightly illuminates the space using the screen. And the close-up photo is softer and more natural.

If the quality of photos and videos does not bother you, then you can choose by how much each of the models costs in stores, since the rest of the parameters for smartphones are almost the same.

Results: advantages and disadvantages of ZTE Nubia V18

• stylish frameless design;
• metal case;
• capacious battery;
• large bright screen;
• good camera;
• face unlock.

• lack of an NFC module;
• no fast charging.

Nubia V18 just appears on our market. There are few offers, it is difficult to say where it is profitable to buy this model. But already there are good reviews about this phone. Users purchased the device mainly via the Internet. The smartphone is suitable for those who want to buy a budget reliable phone with good performance, camera, large screen and modern appearance.