Recently, we shared with you our first impressions of the nubia Neo 2 5G, a budget gaming phone that’s only under PHP 10K and has shoulder triggers.
This Nubia Neo 2 5G was released on April 24 for only PHP 9,999, and we are fortunate to get the opportunity to test it. We have had this phone for two weeks now and have noticed numerous amazing and just-right features.
Performance
Since this is only a budget gaming phone, the main focus of this nubia Neo 2 5G is performance. To recall, it has a 6nm Unisoc T820 octa-core chipset that can be considered powerful, and just so you are aware, it is more powerful than the Helio G99 and the Snapdragon 680 that is often used by phones in this price range.
For me, its performance is good because it can handle the apps I use like social media, productivity apps, and especially gaming. So if you don’t like to play games and buy this nubia Neo 2 5G, you will definitely be satisfied with the performance.
It actually got a 525K AnTuTu benchmark score and a 12,593 score in the PCMark benchmark which we can consider really high.
For gaming, I tried 6 games including Genshin Impact, Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG, Asphalt 9, League of Legends: Wild Rift, and Mobile Legends. So far, all those games are smooth, only in Genshin Impact maybe you should tweak the graphics settings to reduce the frame drops.
Of course, we also tried its Shoulder Triggers which is one of the selling points of this phone. This really levels up my gaming experience especially when playing first-person shooting games. For those who love playing Call of Duty: Mobile like me, this feature is very useful. Besides, this is the cheapest phone I’ve seen with Shoulder Triggers.
The nubia Neo 2 5G comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB UFS3.1 storage which is enough even if you install many games. Just take note that it doesn’t have a memory card slot.
It’s my first time trying MyOS 13 and the software is fine, the user experience isn’t really premium but it’s stable somehow. It also doesn’t have much bloatware out of the box compared to other phones, and you can also uninstall it if you want.
Display and Multimedia Experience
As for the display, it is just in the middle. It also has a 6.72-inch display with FHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. Because it only has an IPS LCD, the colors it produces are just right and the quality is crisp.
The 120Hz refresh rate is also smooth and stable but drains the battery faster. Its display is bright enough, although ZTE did not indicate how many nits the max brightness is. But you can see a bit more clearly when you’re outdoors.
Your watching and gaming experience with this phone is already immersive because it has dual stereo speakers. Its sound quality is decent, although I preferred a more bassy speaker. Unfortunately, this device doesn’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Camera
Next is the camera, this nubia Neo 2 5G has a 50MP main camera with a 2MP depth sensor and a 16MP selfie shooter at the front. Do not expect a flagship image quality here because the focus of the nubia Neo 2 5G is performance or gaming and not camera.
But in fairness, the photos we got with the rear camera setup are also good, they are also sharp and colorful, just make sure the lighting is good so that we can get a good output. Its front camera is also decent, although it is a bit soft and pale. Again, we cannot complain about its image quality since it is not the focus of this phone or most of gaming phones.
As for the video, I was happy because it has stabilization, even though the resolution is only up to 1080p@30fps.
For camera modes, it has Video, Capture, Portrait, Pro, Panorama, Refocus, Time lapse, QR code, 50MP, Street, Night mode, and Document.
Here are some of our sample photos:
Battery
In my testing of its battery performance, I was a little disappointed because even though it has a 6,000mAh battery capacity, it drains fast. I’m not sure if the software is not optimized but I hope updates can fix it. It also only got 11 hours and 7 minutes in the PCMark battery benchmark and that’s really low. Even if you check the reviews of other tech reviewers, the result they got is almost the same.
When it comes to charging, it is also quite fast to charge because it supports 33W and I tried to charge it from 20-100%, it only took an hour.
The good thing about the nubia Neo 2 5G is that it also supports Charge separation or bypass charging. In other words, you can use it while its charger is plugged in and it will help to keep your phone from getting too hot.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we may consider the ZTE Nubia Neo 2 5G a decent value because of its performance-focused features. That is why it can run the games we frequently play, but we still need to adjust the settings to make our gaming experience smoother. Our gaming experience also becomes more immersive because of its Shouder Triggers which we cannot see in other phones at this price point.
Its other features like the camera and display are also decent, and most of the gamers out there don’t think it’s a big deal. So, if you are looking for a budget gaming phone, I can recommend this nubia Neo 2 5G to you.
nubia Neo 2 5G Specifications
- Display: 6.72-inch IPS LCD, FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate
- CPU: 2.7GHz 6nm Unisoc T820 octa-core processor
- GPU: Mali-G57
- RAM: 8GB + 12GB Dynamic RAM
- ROM: 256GB UFS 3.1
- Rear Camera: 50MP + 2MP depth lens + LED flash
- Front Camera: 16MP
- Battery: 6,000mAh, 33W fast charging
- OS: MyOS 13, Android 13
- Connectivity: 2.4GHz & 5GHz WiFi, 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS, Dual SIM (nano)
- Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope
- Colors: Flowing Silver, Emerald Green, Midnight Black
- Weight: 199g
- Dimensions:166.7mm (H) × 76.5mm (W) x 8.24mm (D)
- Others: Shoulder Triggers, Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, AI face unlock, USB-C, IP54 rating, Hi-Res Audio, DTS:X Ultra, Dual speakers, Game Space 2.0
Price and availability
nubia Neo 2 5G – PHP 9,999 | Shopee link
We can now buy the nubia Neo 2 5G for only PHP 9,999 at ZTE’s official store on Shopee. Also, you can use Shopee’s PHP 1,200 off voucher so you can buy it for only PHP 8,799.
