My partner has, as of late, been eyeing anything game-y. We’re clothes shopping and, if we happened to pass by the tech area of malls, he’d eye gaming-related stuff – e.g. those gaming consoles for playing video games, newer mobile phone capable of supporting hardcore gamers, and so on.
Budget if, of course, always an issue (i.e. no one’s claiming to be rich here).
And so when nubia announced the nubia Neo 5 5G, I (okay, “we”) got curious.
So we checked.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
From the get-go, you know who the nubia Neo 5 5G is targeting – i.e. gamers (let’s qualify that by saying “budget-conscious gamers”). The box itself boasts of nubia’s tie-up with the video game Delta Force, and there are not-so-subtle references to gaming ( e.g. the “AI Gaming” claim, also prominent on the box).
This bent towards a gaming identity is apparent when you look at the phone itself. To mention:
- The back cams have geometric shapes (which may appear trendy, but noticeably not nice-feeling as they end up with “edges”);
- The sides have embedded game-y swirls; and
- Highlighted is the series’ iconic eye design (at the back, beside the cams).
This phone screams “gaming”; look for subtlety elsewhere.
All the buttons are where they’re supposed to be – e.g. the red power button (a standout for me) on the right side, volume rack and SIM tray with a microSD card slot on the left side, mic USB-C port and jack at the bottom, et cetera.
TURNED ON
NEO 5 5G is powered by the UNISOC T9300 5G chipset, and has 8GB of RAM with 256GB of storage. Those aren’t bad considering this is a budget gadget. And the power is apparent when you set it up; it may not have been lighting fast, but it’s faster than expected.
As soon as the phone turns on, the first thing you’d notice is the wallpaper that, yet again, emphasizes the unit’s gaming intent.
nubia NEO 5 has a 6.8-inch IPS LCD with HD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. To be blunt:
- The 1940 x 900 resolution isn’t flagship level (to be expected, I suppose), though this isn’t to say it is bad at all.
- The unit’s 120Hz refresh rate (317 PPI) makes its use smooth so that there’s no “lag” when scrolling or whatever while using it.
- The brightness is fine in- and outdoor, though – OOTB (that is, without changing anything in the setting) – the unit kept “correcting” me by darkening the screen while I was shooting outside. This was peculiar as it made me stop shooting now and then to readjust.
- The audio isn’t tunog-lata, but it’s not immersive either.
- The interface isn’t cluttered, at least – e.g. there’s bloatware (thanks to a number of pre-installed apps), but at least they weren’t unceremoniously dumped onscreen. Instead, they’re grouped into folders, thereby keeping the home screen clean.
Oh yeah, using the NEO 5 5G – which runs on MyOS 16 based on Android 16 – for gaming was better-than-good even if, admittedly, it had issues – e.g. lighter games were okay (like Nine Nights and Miya). But Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves, and Warzone Mobile pushed the phone to some bring, apparent perhaps I the quite-obvious warming up of the unit. Not that anyone’s complaining here, considering this unit admits it’s a budget gaming phone.
PICTURE-TAKING TIME
nubia NEO 5 5G has a 13-megapixel main camera, a 2-megapixel secondary sensor, and a 16-megapixel selfie shooter in the front.
Some observations:
- The pics are actually decent – e.g. I took pics that highlight urban decay, and nubia NEO 5 5G captured the dirt, the grime, et cetera. It was a nice surprise for me.
- The colors of the pics are muted, appearing “antiquated”, in a manner of speaking. Nothing that filters can’t edit, of course.
- I encountered issues when shooting moving objects – e.g. a pic of a passing jeepney was blurry, and not usable.
POWERED UP
Equipped with a 6050mAh battery (paired with 45W of wired charging), NEO 5 5G lasted us a full day (12 or so hours). And this was even when we multi-tasked – e.g. went online in socmed sites, watched flicks in YT, did light gaming, used it for note-taking and writing of spiels, and so on. It’s not a beast battery-wise, but it is more than enough for casual and starting-to-be-heavy users.
The best thing with these gaming-centric smartphones is their ability to merge the necessities (e.g. call and text, the core concerns of any smartphone) with real-world essentials (e.g. surfing online, social media, and so on) while allowing us users to have fun (e.g. the gaming part). Why stick to only one of these when you can do all… and more. And even with caveats, this is what nubia NEO 5 5G does. So yeah, this one’s worth checking out.
NUBIA NEO 5 5G SPECS
DISPLAY
6.8-inch FHD+ LCD display
1940 × 900 resolution
120Hz refresh rate
Up to 1000 nits brightness
Punch-hole display design
PERFORMANCE
Unisoc T9300 octa-core processor up to 2.4GHz
MyOS 16 based on Android
Live Island UI
MEMORY
20(8+12)GB + 128GB
GAMING FEATURES
Dual shoulder trigger buttons
Z-axis linear motor for immersive gaming feedback
AI Game Space 5.0 with AI Demi Copilot
COLING SYSTEM
Upgraded passive cooling system
20,000 mm² total cooling area
VC graphene cooling technology
BATTERY AND CHARGING
6050mAh battery
45W fast charging
Smart power-saving technology
CAMERA
Rear camera: 50MP AF main camera + 2MP secondary camera
Front camera: 16MP fixed focus camera
AUDIO
DTS:X Ultra audio support
CONNECTIVITY
5G support with multiple NR bands
Dual Nano-SIM support
Optional eSIM support
Wi-Fi 2.4GHz / 5GHz (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Bluetooth 5.2
GPS
INTERFACE
USB Type-C
Nano-SIM + Nano-SIM + TF card support
Sensors and Security
Side-mounted fingerprint sensor
Accelerometer
Gyroscope
DESIGN
Dimensions: 166.1 × 78.8 × 8.48 mm
Weight: 210 g
Intelligent RGB lighting design
Eagle-eye design without plastic border
COLORS
Shadow Black
Cyber Silver
Titanium Gold
PRICE RANGE
PHP 11,000 – PHP 15,000
