nubia V80 Max Review: paying the AI price?
A quick history of nubia
The nubia V-series has always been a cash cow for the entry-level phone market for ZTE. Last season, the nubia V70 Max and V70 Design were launched more or less during the same cycle. This new cycle, the nubia V80 Design and nubia V80 Max follow similar steps, both having similar specs but different price points. Now, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and the V80 Design looked very similar to the iPhone 17 that was released more or less at the same time. I doubt it is a coincidence that the nubia V80 Max panders towards Samsung users as it looks quite similar to the flagship S25 series.
This is a review of the V80 Max, a device that was released a few weeks after the V80 Design. I was initially thinking of comparing the two, but it didn’t make sense anymore since the former is no longer being sold. I believe the folks at ZTE knew that having these two devices released at the same time (together with the nubia Air 5G) would cannibalize one another. As of now, if you check the TikTok shop, the V80 Design has sold out.
Entry-level bells and whistles, now with AI
The nubia V80 Max, also known as the ZTE Blade V80 Max is a good starting point for a sub-P10k device. Specs-wise, it comes with 8GB of RAM, extendable to 16GB (you can extend the RAM by increments of 1GB to 8GB, which uses up the phone storage. The advertised storage is pegged at 128GB but with your OS (Android 16 on MyOS) you get roughly 98GB of storage. If you pump up the extended RAM to the max, you are really left with 90GB of storage. Caveat emptor!
The V80 Max comes with a 6000mAh battery with support for bypass charging. This means that you can keep the device plugged while gaming or watching videos and not heat the unit up too much. The screen has a 120Hz refresh rate at 1640×720 resolution.
The V80 Max comes with a 50MP AI Camera with two default zoom modes at 27mm for “street photography” and 81mm for portraits. In portrait mode you can just the simulated aperture as wide as f/0.95 to f/16. Portrait mode comes with 8 different color filters. The camera also comes with a cool monocolor mode that can highlight red, green, or blue colors while keeping everything else in black & white. Here are some photo samples:
In terms of durability, the V80 Max comes with IP64 protection which means it is fully sealed from dust and can survive some water splashes but it is not waterproof.
The V80 Max sells for a regular price of P9,999 with a promo rate of P6,499. To put this price into context, its predecessor, the V70 Max sold for P4,699, which was half the price. There’s a lot to take in here when it comes to the price increase as this reflects a growing industry concern on the global shortage of RAM due to AI. Speaking of AI, the nubia AI suite is a nice touch where you can find several curated AI features. The most useful ones are live translation and recording translation, features which were only present in mid to upper end phones only months ago.
Who is it for?
I believe the V80 Max is a product of bad timing when it comes to the global increase in RAM pricing. At a P6,499 introductory price, this might still be a good deal – because we are going to see other competing brands raise their prices as well. At that promo price I can recommend it, as it really checks all the boxes for what an entry level phone should have. It’s just unfortunate that we are living in some new reality where the price of phones, especially in the sub P5K range may no longer exist.
