The nubia V80 Design may look like the iPhone 17 Pro Max at first glance — as in, you’d really mistake it for one. But does it offer the same premium feel when it comes to specs and features? Let’s find out!
The nubia V80 Design just came out last week and is now available in the market with a starting price of PHP 5,799. We’ve been using it for a while now, so here’s our full review.
Design and Build Quality
The first time I saw this, I was really surprised because it looks like the iPhone 17 Pro. Of course, because of the camera island or what Apple calls the Camera plateau. Honestly, you’ll definitely look twice when you see it, and you might think it’s an iPhone 17 Pro.
By the way, the back has a matte finish, so it doesn’t get fingerprints. It’s also not too thick because it has a 7.7mm thickness and weighs only 191g. The available colorways are Midnight Black, Celadon Cyan, and Pale Amber.
On the left side, you can see the AI button, while on the right side are the volume rockers and power button/fingerprint scanner. At the bottom, you have the 3.5mm headphone jack, microphone, USB-C port, and single-firing speaker, while another microphone is on top.
Display and Multimedia Experience
As for the display, it features a 6.75-inch display with FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and up to 800 nits max brightness. So far, the display on the nubia V80 Design is okay for me since it provides a decent viewing experience for its price. Just don’t expect too much.
Its high refresh rate feature is optimized and smooth, while its max brightness is more than enough for indoor use. It struggles a bit when outdoors, especially under direct sunlight.
While media consumption is also okay with this phone, the details and sharpness are good, so you’ll enjoy watching videos. However, it only has a single-firing speaker, so I suggest using earphones or a speaker since it has a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Performance and Gaming
When it comes to performance, the nubia V80 Design also delivers enough power to run our usual apps and games without a problem. It comes with the Unisoc T7280 chipset with up to 8GB RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. It also supports up to 12GB Virtual RAM.
With these specs, light games like Mobile Legends, Honor of Kings, and Call of Duty Mobile run fine.
For benchmark, it scored 406,457 on AnTuTu benchmark, and 10,249 on PCMark Work 3.0. These scores are just right for its price.
Camera Performance
In terms of camera, don’t expect too much from the nubia V80 Design since the image quality is still entry-level. This phone features a 50MP main shooter, 2MP depth sensor, and 16MP selfie camera.
Don’t get me wrong, if you’re in a well-lit area like outdoors, the output is good. It’s just that it struggles to balance shadows and highlights, so sometimes the photo is overexposed. You’ll also notice it’s a bit noisy in low light.
nubia V80 Design Camera Samples
Battery Life
The nubia V80 Design has a 5,000mAh battery capacity, and the battery life is just enough. I’ve gotten used to phones with higher battery capacity, so it didn’t really surprise me. It’s enough for all-day casual use with some gaming.
I was a bit surprised because the predecessor scored around 16 hours in PCMark Benchmark according to Yugatech, but we only got 11 hours and 16 minutes on the nubia V80 Design. Well, it still depends on the benchmark settings. I couldn’t benchmark at that time since I already played around with the phone, and we only did a first impressions video.
For charging, it still supports 22.5W fast charging, which is just enough for a 5,000mAh battery, although it took around 2 hours to charge from 0% to 100%. That’s a bit long, since most available budget phones today already support faster charging.
Verdict
Since we also reviewed the nubia V70 Design last year, for me, the nubia V80 Design has improved a lot based on my experience. Its performance is smoother, perfect for browsing social media and light gaming, thanks to its upgraded chipset and higher RAM.
It also has an upgraded display, which now has a higher resolution that provides a great viewing experience for its price. The design is also nice, so you wouldn’t even think it’s very affordable. That’s why I can recommend this for students or as a gift for our parents who need a smartphone for their casual tasks and entertainment.
nubia Music Pro Specifications
- Display: 6.75-inch IPS LCD, FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate
- CPU: 2.2GHz 12nm Unisoc T7280 octa-core processor
- GPU: Mali-G57 MP1
- RAM: 4GB, 8GB + Up to 12GB Extended RAM
- ROM: 256GB
- Rear Camera: 50MP + Aux lens + LED flash
- Front Camera: 16MP
- Battery: 5,000mAh, 22.5W charging
- OS: MyOS 16, Android 16
- Connectivity: 2.4GHz, 5GHz, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, Dual SIM (nano), Dual 3.5mm headphone jack
- Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope
- Colors: Midnight Black, Celadon Cyan, Pale Amber
- Others: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, AI face unlock, USB-C, FM antenna, NFC
Price and Availability
- 4GB/256GB – PHP 5,799 | Shopee link
- 8GB/256GB – PHP 6,499 | Shopee link
The nubia V80 Design is now available in the Philippines with a price starting at PHP 5,799 for the 4GB/256GB variant, and PHP 6,499 for the 8GB/256GB variant.
