ZTE Nubia Z17 Mini: 6GB RAM, dual cameras on a budget

The ZTE Nubia range is one of the more interesting smartphone families out there, often featuring some fantastic specs and great hardware design for a decent price. Now, the Nubia Z17 Mini has been announced, continuing the trend in many ways.

The Nubia Z17 Mini comes in either Snapdragon 652/4GB RAM or Snapdragon 653/6GB RAM flavours, making for a very capable combination regardless.

As for other specifications, we’ve got a 5.2-inch 1080p display, 64GB of expandable storage, rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, 2950mAh battery and USB Type C support.

But the camera department might be the most interesting bit, with two 13MP f/2.0 cameras on the back of the device (IMX258). Much like Huawei, one is a monochrome shooter (ZTE claims it allows almost 97% more light in than a traditional colour sensor), while the other is a colour camera.

In the camera app, we see an Apple-like portrait mode, simulated aperture adjustments (much like Huawei’s devices), a monochrome shooting mode, RAW support and slow shutter functionality.

What about a price then? Well, you can grab the Snapdragon 652/4GB RAM version for RMB1699 (R3382 as a straight conversion), or you can get the Snapdragon 653/6GB RAM variant for RMB1999 (R3980 as a straight conversion).

The Nubia range isn’t available in South Africa though, which is a shame, because this is a pretty capable handset. Additionally, the range has a number of eye-catching flagships, such as the Nubia Z11. We do have the ZTE Axon 7 Mini though, being available from the likes of MTN.