ZTE Nubia Z9 Mini Quick Review

The Indian smartphone market is now being dominated by the Chinese forces, and just when I thought that they were probably going on a vacation for a while, to let the other players have some fun, we have yet another mid range contender from China, and this time its from ZTE. Dubbed the ‘Z9 mini’, the smartphone has everything that will make it a frontrunner, and probably even snatch the crown from the alpha lion of the pride.

ZTE has been boasting of phones that have little or no bezels at all, giving the users an almost edge to edge display. The Z9 is no different. The folk at ZTE have made sure that the entire family of Z9 devices receive the same bezel treatment, and as a result, you will see that even the mid range Z9 mini comes with am almost negligible bezel area. But its not just the bezels that make this device worth looking at, the specs are amazing as well. So, without further ado, lets take a quick look at the key specifications of the device –

Dimensions	141.3 x 69.8 x 8.2 mm
Weight	147 g
Display	5″ (1080 x 1920) | 441ppi
Camera	16 MP Autofocus (rear) | 8 MP (front)
Hardware	Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615
Battery	Non-removable Li-Ion 2900 mAh battery
RAM	2 GB RAM
Storage	16 GB with SD card expansion upto 128 GB
Operating System	Android OS, v5.0.2 (Lollipop)
Durability	–
Colors	Black, White

On the get go, its obvious that the phone is not exactly a ‘mini’ but a full fledged battle ready mid ranger. Also, looking at specs like this, its obvious that the Z9 Mini is indeed the mid range device to beat for the upcoming competitors. It was real smart thinking from ZTE to launch the mid range device in India first because the market here is all about getting more out of less, and this phone delivers to the user exactly that. A brilliant design, low bezels, best mid range components and Android Lollipop out of box means that this device will not leave you with a feeling of regret. Rather, the moment you unbox and boot this device, you will have a big smile on your face. Also, if you think this device is going to cost you a bit more than your average mid range device, think again. The phone has been aggressively priced and the sort of features you are getting for this price, almost makes the deal look too good to be true. Thankfully, it it.

Anyway, enough of the build up, lets examine all the key sectors of the phone in a bit more detail –

• Design – One look at the chassis of the device, and you will see that it looks like a crossover between the iPhone and Xperia devices. Whatever be the case, it is a brilliantly designed device. Personally, I feel ZTE has got everything spot on, starting with the name. While some elements of the body may look borrowed, you simply can’t get beyond that really cool red home button on the bottom. It really brings out the ‘ Tech ‘ feel in the device and makes you want to grab the device immediately. The phone follows the current trend in smartphone design and maintains a bare left hand side. The power button and volume rocker are not very high as in a few recent devices, thus making them easy to access. All in all, its a big thumbs up to the design. If you are someone who looks at the design before the internal features, you should place this on your watch list.

• Display – This is where the fun begins. Most mid rangers these days feature a 720p display, with a near retina pixel density of 294 ppi. However, the Nubia goes one step further. While the screen size is fixed at 5 inches, which has become the mid range standard these days, the resolution has been bumped up to 1080p Full HD, which screams out an insane pixel density of 441 ppi. What this means is that even if you go full zoom on it, neither the text nor the images will show signs of  tearing. There has not been any conformation of Gorilla Glass protection on this device, as per my knowledge, but I guess I will leave it to you to update me with that, should you find out before me. So discounting the Gorilla Glass for now, it seems that ZTE have got the recipe spot on in terms of display. This device might just turn out to be a game changer for the brand in terms of sales.

• Performance and Platform – First up, the performance. Many companies these days have been cutting corners in terms of the chipset that goes into their mid range devices, just to lower the pricing of their device. What they don’t realise is that , if the phone features a weak chipset compared to the segment it belongs to, no one is going to buy it. ZTE however, has not compromised on this front either. The Nubia Z9 Mini comes loaded with the Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 chipset, which features a Quad core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & quad-core 1.0 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU along with the very handy Adreno 405 GPU. This performance package is top of the line , as far as the mid range segment is concerned, and there is no reason why prospective customers shouldn’t buy this device after all this.As far as the platform is concerned, the Nubia Z9 mini boots Android 5.0 Lollipop out of box, which means, users don’t have to wait in line to use the latest from Android. The Lollipop upgrade has been the slowest in terms of the upgrade rollouts, which is why, a lot of people these dayshave been resorting to Custom ROMs and skins, just to get the taste of Lollipop. Well, those who end up buying this device, don’t have to worry about the OS at least. Also, with specs like these, you are almost certainly guaranteed the next big upgrade as well.

  All in all, you get a top of the line performance package, and the latest Android OS. I think the two points speak for themselves now.

• Memory and RAM – One of the most researched topics while purchasing a smartphone these days is the memory and RAM. People these days depend on their smartphones for storage purposes, and thus, if a smartphone has strong memory capacity, then that phone is bought more than others. The Nubia gets a big tick mark here as well. What you have is 16 GB of internal memory, typical of Mid range devices, and SD card expansion capabilities upto 128 GB. For those who are new to this, 128 GB is the maximum available memory expansion for smartphones as of today, so when you say 128 GB worth of expansion is available, it is a big deal.While memory takes care of your storage needs, the RAM takes care of your multi tasking needs. The Nubia comes with 2GB of RAM, which again, is the maximum you can get out of a mid range device. 2Gb RAM is rather adequate to give you a more than decent multi tasking experience without breaking a sweat.
  Again, all I can say is that the Nubia has put a tick on the Memory and RAM department as well. Coming up, the Camera.

• Camera – Okay, so you want a camera phone, that will guarantee you good image quality, nice contrasts, and flawless selfies. Look no further than the Nubia Z9 Mini. ZTE has gone all out when it comes to the camera, with a 16 MP rear camera , complete with autofocus, and the usual package of features like LED Flash , Face Detection, Geo-tagging, touch focus, Panorama and HDR. It also lets you record videos at Full HD 1080p @ 30 fps.The Selfie addicts have been well taken care of as well. The Nubia Z9 mini comes with a mouth watering 8 MP front camera which not only guarantees high quality video calls, but you also get some of the best selfies ever, and all this, at a competitive price. If this doesn’t get your attention, I don’t know what will.

• Battery – Finally,we have the battery, and this is where I am a bit on the mixed feelings end. Sure, the 2900 mAh rating sounds strong enough to give you a full day’s worth of use , but personally, I would have liked the battery to go just a bit higher, maybe 3000 mAh. Now, the difference may not seem like much on paper, but trust me, when it comes to the battery performance, even a small increment in rating matters. The actual battery life is purely subjective, as everyone’s usage is different, but I will give you the numbers that ZTE claims their phone will be able to deliver.So, according to the ZTE report, the Nubia Z9 mini will give you 43 hours of 3G Talkative, and 750 hours on standby. Remember , these are just numbers, so if the device doesn’t perform upto the maximum, don’t worry.

All in all, the ZTE Nubia Z9 Mini is a smartphone that is running on all cylinders, and I am pretty sure it has been designed to take on any competition that people might throw at it in the future.
So, if you are someone who is looking for a smartphone under INR 20,000 , with killer features, brilliant design, and an awesome camera, and if brands don’t matter much, you should go for this device with your eyes closed.