ZTE Nubia Z9 mini review: No small affair

Performance

The ZTE Nubia Z9 mini might take after its bigger sibling in terms of looks, but, as it's price tag would suggest, it is a undoubtedly mid-range offer. It is powered by what is currently Qualcomm's go to mid-range SoC - the Snapdragon 615. We have seen devices perform rather well with this chip, but it can also do quite poorly in our benchmarks when not properly implemented and utilized. The custom OS can have a major impact in this respect as well.

The ZTE Nubia Z9 mini is equipped with a 5.0-inch Full HD screen, which is great for visuals, but does put some extra strain on the Adreno 405 GPU. RAM is set at 2GB which is plenty for most every task and the dual-band ac Wi-Fi chip should provide a stable stage for browser performance.

As for contenders, it really wasn't difficult finding Snapdragon 615-powered handsets to pit the ZTE up against. Samsung, for instance, has based a lot of new devices on the very same platform, like the Galaxy J7 and the metal A7 and A8 models. All three are priced slightly higher than the Nubia Z9 mini, but still within mid-range limits. HTC also has a couple of units with the Snapdragon 615 inside - the Desire 820 and 826.

And on the local market, there is Oppo, with the R5 and R7 models - both also slightly costlier than the Nubia, but still based on mostly the same hardware platform. The vivo X5 Max is also in pretty much the same boat and so is the Archos 50 Diamond. ZTE itself has another Snapdragon 615 phone, which we have previously reviewed - the Blade S6, so we are throwing it in the mix as well.

We also included a few other devices from the same price bracket as the ZTE Nubia Z9 mini. A quick search reveals that for about €230 to €300 you can currently pick up a Samsung Galaxy S5 mini or a Galaxy S4. Also the more-recent Galaxy A5. Other viable candidates include the Sony Xperia M4 aqua, the LG G2, most any Motorola Moto G, the Asus Zenfone 2 and a few other interesting offers. The following benchmark results show how well the Nubia Z9 mini stacks up against each one of them.

First up, we have the raw CPU performance test with GeekBench 3, which should be straight-forward enough. Having eight cores is a definite plus and the pretty standard Snapdragon 615 clock speed of 1.0 GHz and 1.5 GHz for the two clusters has proven itself capable under loads and otherwise easy on the battery.

We find the ZTE Nubia Z9 mini at the very middle of the chart. We can therefore conclude that the phone makes pretty good use of its Qualcomm chipset, but could potentially do better. Below the Z9 mini we find the vivo X5Max, which runs on the same chip, although the difference is negligible. However, we can clearly see the Blade S6, another recent ZTE handset way down the list with over 2000 points less, so the manufacturer definitely shows progress.

Still, there is some room for improvement. We see that the Xiaomi Mi 4i and Sony Xperia M4 Aqua both scored marginally better, so did the Archos 50 Diamond, the HTC Desire 820 and the two Oppo phones, not to mention the Samsung Galaxy A7, also running on a Snapdragon 615 chip. So, there is still a lot of power to be squeezed out of the silicon.

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

• Meizu m1 note
  3988
• Acer Liquid Jade S
  3557
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  2880
• Oppo R5
  2806
• Oppo R7 (retail)
  2683
• HTC Desire 820
  2586
• Archos 50 Diamond
  2460
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML (Z3560)
  2402
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  2375
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  2336
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  2298
• vivo X5Max
  2291
• LG G2
  2243
• HTC Desire 616
  2125
• Motorola Moto X
  2123
• ZTE Blade S6
  2086
• Huawei Ascend P7
  1895
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  1589
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  1460
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  1123

AnTuTu is a compound benchmark, which also takes into account RAM and GPU performance. Here the ZTE Nubia Z9 mini did a lot better for itself, which speaks well the performance of the rest of the device's internals.

In fact, it managed to outshine all of its Snapdragon 615-powered competitors and only fall short of a pair of octa-core Mediatek devices and the Asus Zenfone 2 with its Intel chip. That is a remarkable achievement, but it is also an isolated occurrence among all of the test, so take the Antutu score with a grain of salt.

AnTuTu 5

Higher is better

• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML (Z3560)
  41154
• Acer Liquid Jade S
  39637
• Meizu m1 note
  39224
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  35582
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  34491
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  32217
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  31436
• Oppo R5
  31417
• vivo X5Max
  29630
• Oppo R7 (retail)
  29452
• Huawei Ascend P7
  28758
• Archos 50 Diamond
  28756
• ZTE Blade S6
  27198
• HTC Desire 820
  27070
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  24293
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  21581

Moving on to Basemark OS II, which is a another all-round benchmark. The ZTE Nubia Z9 mini appeared to be breezing through this benchmark as well. The overall score paint much the same picture as Antutu, with the ZTE leaving its equally-specked competitors in the dust. Thankfully, however, we came prepared and put the phone through our anti-cheat version of the same benchmark. We also made sure to cool the unit properly between tests, to eliminate any doubt of thermal throttling.

Here you can observe the regular scores:

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  883
• LG G2
  848
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  843
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  818
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  786
• Oppo R5
  772
• Archos 50 Diamond
  762
• ZTE Blade S6
  741
• Oppo R7 (retail)
  737
• HTC Desire 820
  725
• Meizu m1 note
  715
• vivo X5Max
  620
• Acer Liquid Jade S
  619
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  619
• Motorola Moto X
  578
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  555
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  419
• HTC Desire 616
  378

Basemark OS II (single-core)

Higher is better

• Oppo R7 (retail)
  1932
• Acer Liquid Jade S
  1924
• HTC Desire 820
  1812
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  1790
• Meizu m1 note
  1754
• ZTE Blade S6
  1721
• Archos 50 Diamond
  1674
• Oppo R5
  1657
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  1651
• vivo X5Max
  1618
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  1572
• HTC Desire 616
  1533
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  1485
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  1453
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  1353
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  1217

Basemark OS II (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Acer Liquid Jade S
  15798
• HTC Desire 616
  12986
• Meizu m1 note
  12848
• Oppo R5
  10000
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  9284
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  8592
• HTC Desire 820
  8453
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  7749
• Oppo R7 (retail)
  7515
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  7497
• Archos 50 Diamond
  6906
• ZTE Blade S6
  6064
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  5607
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  5283
• vivo X5Max
  5212
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  4880

We can clearly see that the Z9 mini falls short in the multi-core department, but that seems to be completely offset by the rest of the tests and the single-core score. However, the anti-cheat test reveals a boost in the scores, just enough to give the ZTE an edge. Now, we could be wrong, but these are the numbers we got. Judge for yourself:

Basemark OS II (anti-cheat)

Higher is better

• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  818
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  781

Basemark OS II (single-core. anti-cheat)

Higher is better

• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  1790
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  1536

Basemark OS II (multi-core. anti-cheat)

Higher is better

• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  7497
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  6021

Graphics performance for the ZTE Nubia Z9 mini is as expected for the Adreno 405 GPU inside. Scores are pretty consistent with the equally specked competition. It is also important to note that the Z9 mini is equipped with a Full HD display, which takes its toll in onscreen tests.

The Xiaomi Mi 4i does seem to outshine a lot of the competition in the GFX 3.0 tests, both on screen and off screen, but the difference in frame rate is hardly noticeable in real life. As for the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua, HTC Desire 820, ZTE Blade S6 and Acer Liquid Jade S, they all have the "advantage" of a 720p screen resolution, which results in the impressive frame rates onscreen.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• LG G2
  22
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Octa
  17.1
• Motorola Moto X
  16
• Oppo R5
  15.1
• Archos 50 Diamond
  15
• Oppo R7 (retail)
  15
• vivo X5Max
  15
• ZTE Blade S6
  15
• HTC Desire 820
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  15
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  15
• Meizu m1 note
  15
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  14.9
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  14
• Huawei Ascend P7
  12.3
• Acer Liquid Jade S
  11
• HTC Desire 616
  8.7
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  6.7
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  5.3
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  5.3

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better

• HTC Desire 820
  26
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  25.8
• ZTE Blade S6
  24
• LG G2
  23.1
• Acer Liquid Jade S
  22
• Meizu m1 note
  16
• Archos 50 Diamond
  15
• Oppo R7 (retail)
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  15
• Oppo R5
  14.8
• vivo X5Max
  14
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  14
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  14
• HTC Desire 616
  13.4
• Huawei Ascend P7
  12.4
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  9.7
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  9.6
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  9.3

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  6.2
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  5.9
• Oppo R7 (retail)
  5.9
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  5.84
• Oppo R5
  5.8
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  5.8
• ZTE Blade S6
  5.8
• Archos 50 Diamond
  5.8
• Meizu m1 note
  5.8
• vivo X5Max
  5.7
• HTC Desire 820
  5.7
• Acer Liquid Jade S
  4.9
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  1.8
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  1.7

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  12.2
• HTC Desire 820
  12
• ZTE Blade S6
  11
• Acer Liquid Jade S
  10
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  6.2
• Oppo R7 (retail)
  5.9
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  5.8
• Oppo R5
  5.8
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  5.8
• Archos 50 Diamond
  5.7
• Meizu m1 note
  5.7
• vivo X5Max
  5.7
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  3.9
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  3.9

Moving on the Browser performance the ZTE Blade Z9 mini has some glaring issues. This is where the odd OEM software really falls short. The enclosed scores were achieved with the phone's default browser.

It is clear that it can't come even remotely close to the performance of a powerful and highly-optimized browser, such as Chrome. Furthermore, the fact that the OS is missing the Google Play store and most other services related to it, makes switching to another browser quite troublesome. We did actually manage to side-load the Chrome apk, but, as expected, the Google account login didn't work.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML (Z3560)
  6272
• Oppo R7 (retail)
  11257
• Acer Liquid Jade S
  11410
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  11439
• Oppo R5
  11656
• vivo X5Max
  11967
• Archos 50 Diamond
  12110
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  12266
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  12272
• ZTE Blade S6
  12865
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  13083
• HTC Desire 820
  13568
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  13609
• Meizu m1 note
  15055
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  15885
• HTC Desire 616
  16953
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  18583

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  1655
• Archos 50 Diamond
  1437
• Oppo R7 (retail)
  1433
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  1396
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  1359
• Oppo R5
  1319
• ZTE Blade S6
  1271
• Acer Liquid Jade S
  1175
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  1171
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  1171
• HTC Desire 820
  991
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  861
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  767
• HTC Desire 616
  683
• vivo X5Max
  607
• Meizu m1 note
  536

The Nubia Z9 mini benchmark performance is a mixed bag and not surprisingly. The phone is equipped with perfectly decent mid-range hardware, but riles on a highly custom implementation of Android. As with most devices geared for an Asian market - the GUI is refreshing and houses a lot of nice little feature and functionalities, but comes at the price of bad optimization.

ZTE has already stated its intention to bring the Nubia Z9 to the US, which in tern means that the OS should be optimized for international use. Hopefully, that means that the Z9 mini will get the same software transformation. However, the mini version might never venture outside China, in which, we urge any prospective buyers to consider the current state of the OS and weather it will suit their needs.