Nubia Z17 Mini

Since the highlight of the nubia Z17 Mini is its rear cameras, let’s begin our review by focussing on them (no pun intended). The device sports twin 13-megapixel snappers at its back. For shooting in low light, the cameras get help from an LED flash. In terms of the implementation, the pair captures RGB information as well as monochrome images – promising better colour reproduction. This also means that the Z17 mini uses both its cameras by default.

The nubia Z17 mini borrows some design elements from the nubia Z11 (review), which has won accolades for its bezel-less design. What that means is that the latest offering from the brand also features slim bezels, although there’s significant space above and below the screen. But thanks to its compact 5.2-inch display, the device has an ideal size for one-hand usage. It’s also quite slim at 7.5mm and doesn’t feel bulky at 155g, because the weight is well distributed. 

The nubia Z17 mini draws power from Qualcomm’s powerful mid-range SoC, Snapdragon 652. The octa-core chipset offers two quad-core clusters running at 1.95GHz and 1.4GHz, respectively. Paired with 4 gigs of RAM, the hardware is capable enough to handle anything thrown at it – and the real-life usage lives up to the expectations. Be it basic things like navigating between screens or opening apps, or switching between multiple apps, the smartphone is able to offer a smooth performance. Thanks to the Adreno 510 graphics processor, gaming is also impressive. Playing with the tag team of Batman, Harley Quinn and Wonder Women in DC’s Injustice 2 for more than an hour was quite delightful, and there were no lags or frame drops. The device does get warm at the upper side of the back after a long gaming session, though that doesn’t affect the performance.