Did a lesser known smartphone maker create the best camera phone 2 years ago?

Ever since I began using cameras obsessively in 2016, I’ve enjoyed the physical aspects of the machines as much as taking the images. I also was fine to use my phone – and really like the LG phones. They pushed the envelope and went all out for risky but innovative features. And then they quit. My last LG was a V50 and it died from rain in Bali. I’d bought it second hand without realizing the battery had been replaced thus breaking the waterproof seal. As my wife and I raced towards our destination through rural mountain villages towards Ubud in a deluge of gumball sized water drops, she questioned my choice to leave the phone mounted on our scooter as our gps. “No, it’s an LG – totally waterproof not like your iPhone ha!” It died and we relied on her trusty iPhone for the rest of our trip…

I tried a few other phones on the cheap – but the image quality was trash. I basically quit taking images with my phone other than for use as a note, such as a restaurant I saw that looked good that I might try later.

I had read about a camera called the Nubia Z70 Ultra, how it had a photography case that allowed attaching filters, flashes, and physical dials like a real camera. Cute gimmick – but I’m not falling for it. But then I read something crazy. The phone, without attached accessories still had photography first features such as physical aperture, a 35mm equivalent field of view on the main camera (and bigger sensor than budget and mid-range phones I had tried).

This was intriguing. My favorite camera is the Fuji x100t – which also has a 35mm equivalent focal length or field of view. I looked it up, cheaper than major brand flagship phones, but not cheap. I dug deeper into the specs. It’s water and dust sealed, has a super strong processor, plenty of ran and rom even in the base versions, and a dedicated shutter button where it should be. I had only seen this on the Sony Xperia series but those have a 24mm equivalent super wide main camera – a great width for scenery, but not what I want as the main camera.

I found a special edition copy of the Nubia Z70 Ultra “starry night edition”, which has an etched glass Van Gogh tribute art backing. The back is glass, but somehow the art looks like it’s etched on metal, it swirls as light hits the back at different angles. It was slightly used but looked new and came with the high speed charger and original box, plus the price was right.

The first thing I noticed was the heft of the phone/camera. It feels like a quality device. The screen resolution is really good, and there’s no selfie camera dot at the top (it’s hidden under the screen somehow – magic?!). The buttons/volume rockers are tactile and firm yet snappy as the should be. There’s a 2 stage shutter button as expected, and even a special features slider switch that is customizable. You can also set the shutter button to open the camera when held for 2 seconds.

So far I’m excited. So here’s the issue – how convoluted and stupid with the OS and camera UI be??? It’s actually reasonable. I prefer a custom launcher anyway, but the OS seems nearly stock, not a ton of bloat ware like Samsung or Xiaomi phones.

The camera UI and features. Honestly, really fun. There’s some serious camera nerd stuff for snappers like me (and you?). The first is street mode. This has the option to set a manual focus distance OR stay in autofocus which seems fast enough. What I like, is it keeps your settings, so if you always want f1.9 at 3 meters, just leave it set and every time you open street mode, you’re already set. Another cool feature is you can lock the settings. Yet another cool feature is the Fuji, Kodak, etc film simulations built in. Everyone lauds Fuji cameras for this feature, but this phone camera has simulations too. There’s also an option to add film grain at 2 levels and 2 styles! There’s “old” which seems like heavy grain like pan film. The “frost” which seems more like a Portra style fine grain.

But wait, can it shoot images like the Fujifilm/Hasselblad xpan? Not with film, but you can use the built in NPan feature instead, and just like swapping lenses on the Xpan, it let’s users switch camera/focal lengths within the wide panorama cropping.

This probably won’t make billboard size prints, but it’s fun and I like it way better than the digitally stitched panoramas (it can do that too!).

It has 3 cameras on the back plus the selfie camera. There’s the main – that lovely 35mm. The ultra wide 13mm. And the telephoto 70mm. Each camera has additional cropped focal lengths and the 70mm defaults to a cropped 85mm, while the 13mm seems to default to 18mm. Not a huge deal but one of a few small things I wish I could change.

Nubia – if you’re reading this – please go with a 24mm, 35mm, and 70mm. 13mm is just too wide and the cropped focal lengths of 18mm and 24mm aren’t high enough resolution for even small prints.

Another cool feature/mode is the pro mode. This allows changing almost every setting you can think of, including the physical aperture, interval shooting, and even RAW!

I’ve also used the moon camera mode – it’s pretty good…

So, did I sell my Fujifilm camera(s)? Not a chance. This camera phone still has a smaller sensor than many older digicams from 10+ years ago. But keep in mind, the Ricoh GR digital cameras had small sensors and can make A3 prints in most daylight situations.

What makes this phone a game changer is I don’t have constant fear that I’ll miss capturing a unique moment because I opted not to carry a full featured camera around. I’m just forming the habit of capturing a sunset or interesting street scene with my phone again and it does some things that are unique (hint: Hitchcock mode).

The Nubia Z70s Ultra and Z80 Ultra have since been released – and while they lack the physical aperture, have made other improvements which are worthwhile (bigger main sensor on both, bigger battery capacity with wireless charging on the z80). 

My hope is that Nubia will keep innovating with the photographer in mind. As for daily usage as a phone, it’s overall quite good – the Bluetooth connection is powerful, the screen continues to amaze me, the battery life lasts all day with moderate to heavy usage. I also love that they went with a flat screen instead of curved, almost bezel-less, and decent speakers so I can jam while doing the dishes.

Here’s some sample images with different settings, modes, cameras. And yes, there’s a Van Gogh mode…