After launching the flagship Nubia Magic 5G last month, Nubia is back again with yet another gaming-oriented phone. The company officially unveiled the Nubia Play 5G in China through an online launch event. The new Nubia Play 5G aims to deliver a superior gaming experience on budget and as such, it retains many of the premium features from its big brother.

Nubia Play 5G: Specifications

Specification

Nubia Play 5G

Dimensions and Weight

  • 171.7 x 78.5 x 9.1 mm
  • 21og

Display

  • 6.65" FHD+ (2340 x 1080) Super AMOLED;
  • Notchless display with thin top bezel
  • 144Hz refresh rate
  • 240Hz Touch Response Rate
  • 4096 auto brightness adjustment levels

SoC

Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G:

  • 1x Kryo 475 (ARM Cortex-A76-based) Prime core @ 2.4GHz
  • 1x Kryo 475 (ARM Cortex-A76-based) Performance core @ 2.2GHz
  • 6x (ARM Cortex-A55-based) Efficiency cores @ 1.8GHz

Adreno 620 GPU

RAM and Storage

  • 6GB LPDDR4X + 128GB UFS 2.1
  • 8GB + 128GB
  • 8GB + 256GB

Battery & Charging

  • 5,100 mAh battery
  • 30W fast charging via USB PD

Rear Camera

Photo:

  • Primary: 48MP Sony IMX582, f/1.79
  • Secondary: 8MP wide-angle
  • Tertiary: 2MP Super Macro
  • Quaternary: 2MP Depth Sensor

Front Camera

12MP selfie shooter

Other Features

  • 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Bluetooth 5.1
  • Dual-frequency GPS
  • 5G SA/NSA
  • Pressure Sensitive capacitive buttons on side frame
  • In-Display Fingerprint Scanner

Android Version

Nubia UI 8.0 based on Android 10


The main highlight of the Nubia Play 5G is the notchless 6.65-inch AMOLED display which offers an insane 144Hz screen refresh rate, a 240Hz touch sampling rate, and supports up to 4096 levels of automatic brightness adjustment. It's worth noting that the Nubia Play 5G is only the second phone on the market that offers a 144Hz screen refresh rate, the first being the Nubia Magic 5G. There is no notch or punch-hole display over here, as Nubia has chosen to go with a thin top bezel for the front camera and other front sensors. We agree with this choice, as it makes sense on a gaming phone where the bezels provide some holding and grip area when playing games in landscape orientation.

On the inside, the Nubia Play 5G is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G octa-core processor built on Samsung’s 7nm EUV process along with Adreno 620 GPU, LPDDR4X‌ RAM, and UFS‌ 2.1 flash storage.

In the camera department, the Nubia Play 5G packs a quad-camera setup on the back, consisting of a 48MP‌ Sony IMX‌582 primary sensor, 8MP ultra-wide lens, 2MP macro lens, and 2MP depth sensor. On the front, it has a 12MP selfie shooter.

Just like the Nubia Magic 5G, the Nubia Play 5G also features pressure-sensitive buttons to allow gamers to seamlessly execute multi-finger operations in shooting games such as PUBG and Call of Duty. Moreover, the device comes equipped with “ICE 2.5 cooling system” which employs a 61mm liquid cooling tube and heat dissipation materials such as graphite and thermal gel to quickly cool down the smartphone. Nubia claims its cooling system can bring down the CPU temperature by up to 16 degrees Celsius.

Powering all these things up is a massive 5,100 mAh battery with support for 30W fast charging via USB-PD‌ and it’s also compatible with Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0 standard. On the software front, the Nubia Play 5G runs Android 10 out of the box with Nubia UI‌ 8.0 on top.

Pricing and Availability

The Nubia Play 5G comes in three memory configurations in China and its pricing details are as below:

  • 6GB + 128GB: CNY 2,399 (~₹26,000 / $339)
  • 8GB + 128GB: CNY‌ 2,699 (~₹29,000 / $381)
  • 8GB + 256GB: CNY 2,999 (~₹32,500 / $423)

The Nubia Play 5G is available for pre-order in China right now and will go on sale officially starting April 24, 2020. Nubia hasn’t revealed any details regarding the international availability of the phone just yet but we hope to hear more on that front in the days to come.