Dual-screen nubia Z20 released in the US at $549, are selfies better than iPhone 11 or Note 10?
The dual-screen phone 2.0, this is what we are holding on our hands at the moment, as the Nubia Z20 was just released in the US at just $549. Yep, you read that right, a sub-$600 phone with Snapdragon 855+, 4000mAh battery, triple camera and… fully functional touchscreens both on the front and at the back.
The company’s official wrapper is a… run-of-the-mill transparent silicone one, with just a cutout for the rear camera set just like you would slip a protecting case on a normal single screen phone. Yes, that means that the second display on the back is situated under the casing, and, yes, it is visible and it works through the case.
The dual-display experience
We won’t be running you through the specs as they are as good as flagship-grade, and, thankfully, Nubia has chosen 1080p display resolution for the 6.4″ OLED display at the front, and 720p resolution for the auxiliary 5.1″ OLED screen on the back. This means oodles of battery life, and, indeed, the handset lasts a day and a half with normal usage and about 6 hours of screen-on time.
The secret? Only one display works at a time, unless you use the second in a Dual Viewfinder mode as in the header image above. The phone even provides both physical and on-screen keys to swap them.
Physical on both sides, so you can turn on the screen no matter if the front or back one is facing you, and on-screen so that you can flip an image over to the rear or front displays when needed. We’d say it works like a charm, and the Z20 has cracked the code of dual-screen phones for the first time.
The best selfies? Z20 vs iPhone 11 vs Note 10 vs Pixel 3
Indoor and low-light selfie samples with iPhone 11 vs Note 10 vs Nubia Z20
Should you buy the nubia Z20 after today’s US release?
Well, Nubia drives a very hard bargain here. At $549 for the Diamond Black or Twilight Blue models, you can only get last year’s flagship from brands like Samsung, whereas here you get the most powerful Snapdragon chipset available, oodles of RAM, plenty of storage, and long battery life.
Add to these the “wow” factor of having a phone with two fully-functional displays, one of which is protected by the official case, and all other points like average selfie quality in low-light scenarios are out with the bathwater. Oh, yeah, you can show a love or middle finger sign on your AoD rear display, depending on the mood you want to convey to your next department meeting.