Let your world sparkle in high-def with the nubia V70 Design smartphone

In today’s tech-savvy world, smartphones have never been more a part of the human daily experience. Social media, streaming music and movies, and attending online meetings and classes are now the norm.

With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), performing tasks, playing music, controlling smart devices, and answering questions simply by using one’s voice might sound like a stretch if you told that to a person a mere decade ago. Not to mention how we can now capture those precious moments through our phones with a simple click, no matter what the lighting or weather conditions may be. Smartphones are now “smarter” than they’ve ever been.

Enter Nubia, a Chinese consumer electronics brand, looking to make its mark on the market with its latest signature smartphone, the nubia V70 Design.

The V70 Design comes packed with features and tech, which you typically would want out of your everyday smartphone. That being said, how well does the V70 Design stack up to the competition? Let’s find out.

Design and build

First and foremost, the V70 is fitted with a sky-mirror glass exterior, which makes it both elegant and durable. Its tech specs include its “crafted with crystal-clear sky-mirror glass, refined and elegant. Highly durable and resilient against everyday wear and tear.” It has a premium leather texture making it stylish and comfortable.

Overall, its aesthetics are sleek, smooth, and stylish while being comfortable to hold, although it might be a tad on the bulkier side, especially when comparing its size and width to that of an iPhone 16. If you’re used to an iPhone’s dimensions and build, it’s just something to keep an eye out for, but weight, on the other hand, was never an issue. Another thing the V70 Design has going for it is a flat-edged middle frame, slim body, and comfortable grip which make carrying it around or playing games with it both easy and natural. 

Furthermore, even after I brought it around with me in my backpack when I was out and about, it didn’t even show any signs of scratches or dents. This was after I found out that it actually came with a light and transparent silicone case.

The V70 comes in 4 distinct and vibrant colors: Rose Pink, Stone Gray, Jade Green, and Citrus Orange.

Additional features:

• Triple Card Slot Design (Nano+Nano+MicroSD)
• Type-C, 3.5mm Earphone Port

Display

The V70 definitely packs a punch when it comes to display. It comes equipped with a 6.7-inch HD+ Display with higher screen share. I’ve always thought that the best way to watch my Netflix and YouTube shows when I’m on the go was on a handy tablet, but suffice to say the V70 has now changed my mind.

The tech specs say that it has a 1600×720 resolution, 20:9 Aspect ratio, and 91% screen-to-body ratio. Combine that with a 120Hz refresh rate for an ultra-smooth vision experience, and I’m confident in saying that I’ve never enjoyed streaming my Ultra-HD 4K Netflix movies and 1080P YouTube videos like this before on a smartphone. This also applies when I tried playing its native mobile games and some Netflix ones. Whether it be a racing game like Asphalt Nitro 2, slashers and shooters like MC: Rebel Guns, or even action games like Into the Dead 2, the immersion is there and prominent. 

Camera

As far as the camera features go, the V70 doesn’t miss the mark either. It has a 50MP AI Camera so you can “capture vivid details and crystal-clear clarity in every shot.” 

It has different smart photo settings which include: 

• Perfect Portrait so you can take photos with a beautifully blurred background
• RAW Super Night Shot so you can get the most out of those low-light conditions
• Lightning-fast Snapshot with enhanced AI-powered shooting control for fast-paced sports and other events.
• AI Magic Photos to bring more fun and beauty out of your photos thanks to its magic photo editor and magic eraser. 

I’ve got to say, that all these features at a budget-friendly price tag, just left me in awe and amazed at what a modern AI-powered smartphone can do to replace a professional camera and editing software. 

Here’s a quick recap of what I was able to do with the V70’s AI-powered 50MP camera:

• Bring to life old photos from my Facebook and Instagram accounts
• Find the perfect blurred-out new-year, new-me photo
• Bask in the zen of nature and outdoors
• Take in the cute-ness overload of my beloved pets
• Take stunning photos of the Christmas lights of the festive holiday season

The only negative thing I have to say about the AI camera is that I wish the un-blur editing setting for blurred-out photos could be enhanced. Since to be honest, the difference between the original and edited photos is minute at best. 

Performance

When talking about performance, the V70 is solid in all regards. 

First of all, it comes with a dts enhanced audio for higher volume and superior sound quality. I clearly enjoyed this feature when playing my night-time ambient music when I go to sleep. 

Secondly, it has a self-developed Live Island 2.0 which displays key notifications, reminders, and real-time activities and adds new interactive cards for more interactive features. I found the UI to be very fast and responsive, with timely notifications and suggestions which aided in the actions that I could take regarding the specific reminder. Or I could just choose to turn off specific notifications temporarily if I was in DND mode. 

Thirdly, it has battery specs of 5000 mAh large battery with smart power-saving technology, which includes 22.5W Fast Charging. The battery power is good enough that I could spend the whole day with my home data network and cellular service on without really needing to charge until nighttime. Its power-saving settings come in handy along with the fast charging. It took probably around 15-30 minutes to get it back to 100% once I began to charge it the next day after using it for my ambient-music the night before. 

Finally, it has a massive storage of 256GB ROM, up to 14GB of Dynamic RAM (4GB+10GB) for seamless multitasking with the memory fusion technology, and an octa-core strong processor for smooth operation. I found that I could be browsing through my old chats on Facebook Messenger, streaming my rock music on Spotify, and viewing pictures on Flickr through Google Chrome all at once, without hiccup, lag, or delay. 

Additional features include:

• Supports both fingerprint and facial recognition unlock
• MyOS 14 (Based on Android U)

Verdict

At the end of the day, through my usage of the V70, I found it to be a very fun and handy smartphone. It made me see just how far we’ve come in terms of smartphone technology and how the camera and editing software too might someday become obsolete. And it made me become active again on social media and that in and of itself is a feat or feeling I cannot put into words. After taking such a long hiatus of just being on the outside looking in, to now sharing my thoughts, feelings, and my self-expression with my friends, family, and loved ones. In this festive yuletide season of giving and receiving love and appreciation, I guess sometimes you forget how you can be a bad-ass writer, baller, hooper, and rock-and-roller, all at once.

So coming in at an SRP of Php 5,299, the nubia V70 Design is an affordable yet versatile smartphone that caters to most segments, especially those who are into photography and self-expression, as well those who are looking for a dependable work-horse for work, gaming and/or streaming on the go. If you’re a student looking for a budget-friendly smartphone, or just balling on a budget, the nubia V70 Design has something for everyone. At this price point, I think it’s good enough to make a case for itself when you compare similar smartphones that are priced way above it and offer similar features and immersion.