Foldables might be the future of smartphones (the same way electric cars might be the future of vehicles). We're not quite at a point where they'll completely take over, but they're growing in popularity, with more and more brands jumping into the segment.
ZTE's sub-brand, Nubia, has finally unveiled its first foldable phone to the world, and it's a clamshell-type called the Nubia Flip. It's not meant to be some flagship or even flagship killer, and that shows in the price tag. The Nubia Flip is literally the cheapest foldable you can get.
The Nubia Flip Is Finally Here And Costs Just A Bit Over $400
We saw the Nubia Flip showcased at MWC 2024 and it was a very different take from what the others were doing with clamshell foldables, most notably with quite a small cover display and a relatively simple camera layout, but now that we know the price, it explains everything.
The Design
The Nubia Flip is a clamshell foldable, so when it is closed, it is basically a square. It goes for curved corners and a mostly flat frame. The bottom half of the back panel is plain, but the top half contains a round module. I'd call it the cover display, but considering the size of the bezels around it, I'll refer to it as a “module”, especially since those bezels house the two cameras.
The phone is available in Cosmic Black, Sunshine Gold, and Flowing Lilac colorways.
The Screens
The cover display is circular and small compared to the standards of foldables like the Z Flip 5 and the Motorola Razr. It is an OLED panel and has a diameter of 1.43 inches and a resolution of 466 x 466. It can still be used to take pictures, control your music, pick up calls, and other basic things.
The foldable display is more interesting though. It is also an OLED unit but has a 120Hz refresh rate, measures 6.9 inches, and has an 1188 x 2790 resolution.
The Internal Hardware
This is a budget foldable, and with that, you shouldn't expect the most blazing-fast chip on the market. Nubia opts for Qualcomm here and has put the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 under the hood. It's not the worst choice they could have made, considering the price point.
You'll get 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM with the base model, but pay extra and you can get 12GB/256GB or 12GB/512GB configurations. The battery is 4,310 mAh, which is a decent size for a clamshell foldable, and you'll be able to juice it up at 33W. There's also a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.
The Cameras
The snappers on this are decent, but you don't get crazy variety. The selfie shooter is 16MP and can record FHD at 30fps. The main sensor is 50MP with autofocus and comes paired with a 2MP depth sensor, and that's it. To me, a depth sensor isn't a “real” camera (helps with portrait shots though), so I would consider this device as having just two usable lenses. You can record at 4K at least.
The Pricing
The Nubia Flip has launched in China and it looks set to launch in Europe too, but for now, we know it will cost about $415 once converted, which is shockingly low. It is literally the cheapest foldable in the market, and if you asked me whether they'd ever get so affordable so quickly, I probably would have said no.
