ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini S: This Beauty Is Not Overpriced

ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini S has been launched in India with a price tag of Rs 16,999 and it is not at all overpriced when we take all the specifications under consideration. Although not a well-known brand in India, ZTE Nubia has taken the Chinese market by storm. So was the case with Xiaomi which recently launched the Redmi Note 4 and ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini S is the perfect answer from the company to tackle the challenge.

With camera capabilities never seen in this category and a design that will put more premium smartphones to shame, ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini S has everything in the backpack to attract modern day users. ZTE has come a long way from Nubia Z11 Mini which was launched last year and what we are seeing right now, is nothing short of a drooling attention-demanding package.

As said earlier, ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini S directly competes with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and with a ton of hardware improvements over the old model, let’s see well the challenge has been answered.

ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini S Specifications

• 5.2-inch (1080 x 1920) Full HD IPS LCD 2.5D curved Glass Display with 424 ppi
• 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor coupled with Adreno 506 GPU
• 4GB RAM and 64GB Internal Storage which is expandable upto 200GB
• 23 MP Rear Camera With Dual Tone LED Flash, SONY IMX318 Exmor RS, PDAF+Contrast Focus, Sapphire Protective Lens, 6-piece Motor Drive Lens and ƒ2.0 aperture
• 13 MP Front Camera with SONY IMX258 CMOS, 5 piece lens, ƒ2.0 aperture
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow
• 3000mAh Battery With Quick Charging Support
• Hybrid Dual SIM, 4G VoLTE/WiFi/NFC, Fingerprint Sensor, USB Type-C, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS and GLONASS

What’s Good

• Well-finished metal body. There’s no plastic used anywhere in the construction, it’s just metal and glass everywhere
• Best in class Display Quality
• No Heating Problems and as expected, the hardware works exceptionally well.
• One of the best cameras with tons of photo modes. Video and picture quality in both outdoors and low lighting conditions is unmatched.
• Day long battery life, even for heavy users.
• 4GB RAM and Snapdragon 625 processor coupled with Adreno 506 GPU will make sure that your gaming experience is not hampered with.

What’s Not So Good

• The ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini S features a customised Android 6.0 Marshmallow version called Nubia UI which comes with a lot of bloatware.
• Inconsistency in the UI.
• In short, although the customised skin is even better than the likes of Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo, it sometimes feels messy.

Verdict

The ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini S is a great smartphone, actually the best smartphone in this category but the unfinished software is holding it back. However, this is something that the company can work on and fix in the future. The capable 23MP camera, great battery, premium looking design and the perfect hardware combination makes ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini S a smartphone worth the Rs 16,999 price tag.

As for the competition, Redmi Note 4, which offers similar hardware with a much lower price tag of Rs 12,999 is still the best buy but if a camera is your need and you want to want to jump in a more premium category, ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini S is undoubtedly one of the best smartphones you can buy.