Another smartphone maker has joined in to make the Apple iPhone Air look dated before it’s even revealed. We’re talking fad in the smartphone industry: slim. Following Samsung, Oppo, Infinix Mobility, and more recently Tecno, Nubia has launched the Air, the brand’s take on crazy thin phones.
Not to be confused with the brand’s gaming phone version of Air, this one is in the thin race and aiming for a spot on the podium. At 5.9 mm, it is definitely one of the slimmest phones out there. And it does so while keeping it incredibly light—at 172 g—and still managing an IP68/IP69K rating against dust and pressurized hot water jets. That’s right, folks. Not just measly water splashes.
As an IP68-rated device, it can survive being submerged in static fresh water up to 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes. For IP69K, it calls for a little explaining since we rarely come across IP69 on phones. To achieve this rating, water should not seep in when sprayed with hot water (around 80°C) at high pressure from four angles (0°, 30°, 60°, 90°) using a rotating nozzle.
Each angle is tested for 30 seconds while the phone lies flat with its screen facing up. Not that you’d torture your phone by submerging it in water for no reason. These ratings serve as a defense for when unfortunate accidents occur.
Fronting the device is a 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED display shielded by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i. Resolution and pixel density are 2,720 × 1,224 pixels, 440 ppi, if you really must know. The display runs at 120 Hz, peaks at 4,500 nits brightness, and covers 100% DCI-P3 color gamut.
Like Oppo, Nubia has taken a built-tough approach. It may not look like it, but the corners of the phone’s aluminum frame are internally reinforced. The screen durability has been tested 600,000 times, and the device has survived continuous drop tests (6,000 times), repeated rolling drop tests (600 times), and five rounds of free-fall tests. It probably won’t guarantee the cosmetics will remain intact, but it sure will continue to function if you happen to drop it.
Under the hood, it benefits from a UNISOC T8300 chip packing an octa-core 5G processor with two Cortex-A78 2.2 GHz high-performance cores and up to 20 GB dynamic RAM (8 + 12 GB). Storage is 256 GB. As expected, AI Performance Engine is in the mix.
In the imaging department, it’s got a 20 MP front-facing camera tuned for “more natural selfies” and a 50 MP AI triple rear camera featuring a 50 MP main snapper, a 2 MP depth sensor, and a 0.8 MP “auxiliary” camera. Rounding out the hardware is a 5,000 mAh battery with 33 W charging.
The new Air is, of course, not short on AI interventions. Expect AI Sport Snapshot, Magic Eraser, Magic Editor, Gemini Live, AI Translate, AI Conversation Template, dual-mic AI noise cancellation, AI power-saving, and more. A couple of noteworthy extras include immersive audio with HiFi 4 DSP and under-display fingerprint unlock.
We hear the Nubia Air is expected to launch in the EU first for 250 euros [source], with availability in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East to follow. Meanwhile, you can dig into the details—or whatever there is—over at the official product page HERE.
Images: Nubia.
