The category once known as a phablet basically does not exist anymore, as your average smartphone has an average screen size within the six-inch range, with some larger models encroaching on seven. But with the launch of the nubia Neo 5 Max, the ZTE affiliate brand looks to be bringing the category back, even if it means pushing size boundaries even further. Or, as the announcement points towards, the introduction of the “PadPhone” category.
More specifically, nubia calls the Neo 5 Max a “4-in-1” PadPhone, as it features “the immersive screen real estate of a tablet with the portability of a smartphone, the precision controls of a gaming console, and the eye comfort of a dedicated e-reader”. The description is a bit of a stretch, but the numbers for the screen sort of add up, with a 7.5-inch 1.5K 120 Hz 1,000-nit AMOLED display.
There’s also what the brand calls an SGS-certified display which incorporates True DC Dimming to “negate flicker and hardware-level blue light reduction”. Adding to that are Ambient Light Adaptation, plus dedicated Reading and Night modes. In short, you can get e-reader levels of eye comfort, but those are modes that you toggle rather than passive display tech.
Inside the nubia Neo 5 Max is a Dual-Layer Capillary Vapour Chamber for what the company claims is a 140% boost in thermal efficiency, as well as a 3D Raised VC Pane. Together, the brand claims that the device can maintain a peak temperature of 38.4 degrees Celsius for an hour-long session of playing MLBB at 90fps. Powering the device while that’s happening is a 7,100 mAh battery that provides a claimed 13.4 hours of gaming time. It supports 45W charging, 10W reverse charging, and bypass charging to help keep the battery healthy.
On the console-level precision controls, the nubia Neo 5 Max features what the company calls Neo Triggers 5.0, with a 990 Hz sampling rate. These are supported on the software end of things by the NeoTap Esports Touch Algorithm and Magic Touch 3.0 to not only keep controls responsive but also block accidental inputs.
Other items on the spec sheet of the nubia Neo 5 Max include a MediaTek Dimensity 7100 chipset, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. This is priced at RM1,399 and is already available for purchase, but get it by 16 September and you’ll be entitled to a RM100 discount plus a free cooler. The brand notes that a 512GB option will be arriving sometime next month, with its price being revealed when that happens.
In the meantime, you can get your own nubia Neo 5 Max via participating physical retail outlets. The phone is also listed on Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop, but at the time of writing, you can’t buy it via those channels yet, and they’re displaying a different price.
