ZTE nubia Z20 review

Design

The nubia Z20 is a delicate device, there's no denying that. This handset has twice the number of screens that can shatter, so you suffer from anxiety about breaking your phone, perhaps the Z20 isn't the right one for you. Still, nubia boasts Gorilla Glass 5 on its both sides while the camera lenses are protected by synthetic sapphire glass.

On the other hand, the handset is gorgeous. We got the blue variant with subtle gradient - the color shifts ever so slightly when viewed from an angle. The back acts as a mirror and fingerprints and smudges are quite visible. When you look closely, you can also see the outlines of the display but when looked from afar, it blends perfectly with the colorful glass plate.

The glass back is also curved to the sides improving the hand feel and ergonomics and seamlessly connecting with the side frame. Right above the display is located the triple-camera module and two LED flashes, one of which is dual-tone. The ambient and proximity sensors for the secondary display are tucked away somewhere above the camera array. Speaking of which, it doesn't stick out too much. In fact, the bump is barely noticeable, so bonus points for that. Interestingly, there's also a secondary earpiece so you can use the backside of the handset for calls as well.

Going around the side metal side frame, we can easily recognize the speaker grille and the USB-C connector on the bottom and the microphone. The top side houses the noise-suppression microphone while the volume rocker is on the right side.

For optimal convenience, the nubia Z20 features two side-mounted fingerprint readers that double as power buttons. So no matter how you hold the phone, there's a fingerprint scanner at your disposal.

The placement of the fingerprint readers is quite convenient. They are symmetrically placed on both sides and offer additional features when pressing both of them simultaneously, but we will talk about that later in the software section.

The front greets you with a tall 6.42-inch AMOLED screen with lightly curved edges to the sides and full-screen design. The bezels, however, are not at all that impressive - the side ones are thin but we've seen thinner frames fro the top and bottom. Especially the top bezel. It's big enough to house the earpiece, the proximity and the ambient sensor. Don't get us wrong, we are not complaining, we are just saying we've seen better full-screen implementations. Still, the fact that there are no holes or cutouts obstruction the screen's content is a big plus.

With all that hardware crammed up inside - two screens, big 4,000 mAh battery and three cameras - one would expect that the handset is heavy and thick. However, only the latter is true. The phone measures 9.2mm in thickness without the provided case but weighing in at 186g is pretty impressive. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S10+ which sports a 6.4-inch display, tips the scale at 175g and that's a pretty lightweight smartphone. The Z20 is just 11 grams heavier with similar battery and two screens.

Honestly, we can't think of anything that needs radical improvement in terms of build and overall design. The handset is solid, usable with one hand and the secondary screen is pretty stylish when you turn on the always-on and perfectly blends with the surrounding colorful glass panel.

Here, take a look at the phone from all sides in the 360-degree image.