It goes without saying that many smartphone brands are now hopping on the “thin is in” bandwagon (looking at you, Apple). However, no one flaunts this fact more obviously than the recently released nubia Air.
Measuring in at 5.9mm, the phone is definitely thin. During my time with it, there were one too many instances of it just slipping into my pockets and just virtually disappearing from my sense of touch. To that end, it definitely lives up to its “Air” moniker.
However, like most phones in this category, the nubia Air is rocking an observable camera island that marginally undermines the slim form factor. You can’t really help but notice this either, as it not only houses a triple camera arrangement but also has a chrome bumper that demands your attention.
With a form factor of 6.78 inches, the nubia Air can be a tad longer than other devices, but it never comes across as unwieldy. Though the phone only weighs in at 172g, it is arguably quite dense. Admittedly, this shouldn’t come as a surprise considering how much tech had to be crammed in its lean body. Even so, the device is remarkably durable, though I am not willing to put that aspect of the phone to the test.
Of course, some compromises had to be made one way or another — the most glaring of which is the camera. What immediately jumped out to me was how some images were washed out while others were quite saturated. Night mode did not fare any better, as photos taken with the function were exceptionally grainy. What made night mode exceptionally worse was that you can immediately tell that the lighting was artificially boosted, to the point you can safely say that it is just overcompensating.
I noticed that the device had a few performance issues right from the lock screen. Of course, this can be quickly remedied by tweaking and disabling some, if not all, AI bloatware that was plaguing the device. When all was said and done, it could actually perform pretty well; Genshin Impact actually ran smoothly even after a few hours of play.
Speaking of hours of play, in terms of battery life, I was quite surprised that I was able to squeeze out almost a day of use with a single charge. However, this drops to around six hours when gaming, and that’s not even mentioning the intensity of the game. As for charging, I was able to reach it after an hour of having it plugged in, thanks to the 33W fast charge.
@lowyatnet From its 5.9mm thin body to its Unisoc T8300 chipset, here’s a quick look at what the nubia Air is capable of. Price starts at RM1,099. #nubiaAir #nubiaMalaysia #ThinAndLight
When it comes down to it, the nubia Air is a luxury and lifestyle piece first and foremost. Though it does not have the best performance, it was still surprising to see that it can hold its own during some intense gaming sessions. However, the camera leaves a lot to be desired. Had nubia remedied the issue, we might have had a perfect slim phone that could have gone toe-to-toe with other mid-rangers in its price range.
Photography by Kiran P. Ganesan
