ZTE Nubia Z17 flagship is first to pack Quick Charge 4+

ZTE’s Nubia sub-brand is responsible for some of the more striking smartphones on the market, so when a new flagship gets announced, you’ll want to take notice.

The company’s latest phone, the Nubia Z17, seems like a very powerful device. There’s a Snapdragon 835 processor, up to 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage and a (presumably full HD) 5.5-inch display.

The Nubia Z17 also stands out thanks to its water-resistant design and its charging chops, being the first phone to feature Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 4+ technology. In fact, ZTE claims that 20 minutes of charging will take the 3200mAh battery to 50% capacity.

Qualcomm says that a Quick Charge 4+ phone “has the potential to charge up to 15 percent faster, or 30 percent more efficiently when compared to Quick Charge 4”.

In any event, the new handset packing a 12MP+23MP dual-camera setup on the back. ZTE says the setup enables 2x “hybrid zoom”, akin to Huawei’s Mate 9 and P10.

Speaking of Huawei devices, ZTE claims that the Z17’s software also uses AI/machine learning smarts to learn and predict user behaviour — much like EMUI 5.

As for pricing, the lower tier prices weren’t disclosed, but the 8GB RAM/128GB variant has a RMB3999 price tag (R7582 before duties etc).

We’ve contacted the Nubia division for word on South African plans and will update the article if/when we receive a response.