Update: Nubia Z9 destroys Antutu with 56,892 point benchmark


nubia z9 antutu

An Antutu benchmark shows that the Nubia Z9 is capable of some seriously high Antutu benchmark scores.

A hands on photo of both the Snapdragon 810 Nubia Z9, alongside a Snapdragon 615 powered Nubia Z9 Mini, has shown up online proving the new flagship phone is a really performer, well based on Antutu results at least.

The image shows the Snapdragon 810 version of the phone with an unbelieveable score of 56,892 points, setting a new standard for Chinese Android smartphones which we are sure Meizu, Xiaomi, Lenovo, Huawei etc are looking to beat. On the flip side though, the SD 625 version of the phone is quite disappointing on Antutu.

Gizchina News of the week


The Nubia Z9 mini gets a score of only 28,501 points which is well behind most MT6752 phones we have seen. The Meizu m1 note, and even the $160 Mlais M52 Red Note are capable of scores of well over 40,000.

The Nubia Z9 range will go on sale in China in mid April.

[ Source ]
Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

Previous 1 More Design Piston earphones review
Next Xiaomi give their Piston Earphones a design overhaul

89 Comments

  1. Rob
    March 27, 2015

    That is one ugly phone with huge bezels, as for the mini all I can think is the ROM is very poorly optimised. Unless of course it’s been done purposely to push the high end model.

    • mf1gt3r
      March 27, 2015

      Uhmmm. Did u really take a look at that phone? Huge bezels?

      • Manish
        March 27, 2015

        They look like 2013 models instead of 2015 ones! And yup they do look ugly.

        • Rob
          March 27, 2015

          Exactly my point, also the phone looks very long with a large chin.

  2. Jason45
    March 27, 2015

    Too bad they have used SD 615 chipset inside the mini 9. Even the mini 7 is now faster than the mini 9.

    The phone looks great and the camera should be improved compared to earlier version.

  3. Fanteeq
    March 27, 2015

    Z9 mini is powered by SD 615, not mtk6752, otherwise it would got over 40k. The second is z9 max, just take a look at resolution and model name

    • mf1gt3r
      March 27, 2015

      You’re on point.

  4. saor
    March 27, 2015

    I have z5s mini running cm12 based custom ROM that scores the same as that z9 mini . so something wrong there it should be closer to 40,000. Take article with a pinch of salt.

    • Manu
      March 27, 2015

      yep cant image the stock rom slows it down by so much, but i also would take antutu with cautions since it still has hard times with 64 bit cpus

    • desponent
      March 27, 2015

      The CPU on your phone is more powerful than 615 on Z9 mini. It’s simple really.

      • saor
        March 27, 2015

        CPU is snap 600

        • desponent
          March 27, 2015

          Oh right, I thought it’s Z7 Mini. However it just goes to show how weak 615 is (though it’s probably cheaper than 600 back then).

  5. David
    March 27, 2015

    Last good nubia was z5, all others are bloatware closedsource chinese crap.

    • Manu
      March 27, 2015

      why are they closedsource? as i recall z7 had custom roms as well

      • saor
        March 27, 2015

        There is 4-6 different ROMs to be had for Nubia range other than stock.its no different than any decent quality phone once your rooted doors open to bloat free custom ROMs easily found if your bothered to use google search. I started with Nubia ui 4.2.2 now I am on temasek cm12 5.0.2 and will probably get an update to 5.1 in next two weeks.

  6. Matt
    March 27, 2015

    That Nubia Z9 Mini looks amazing for people who are looking for a mid-range phone with pretty decent specs. It is not necessary to compare it to the Nubia Z7 Mini which is close to a flagship thanks to its CPU. I have seen that Ibuygou is selling the Z9 Mini at 292€ (including shipping). I am wondering if the Xiaomi E4 (MI4 with 2GB RAM) will be sold at the same or a price below 290€? Any news regarding the availability of the Xiaomi E4?

    It is crazy how resellers make money on international buyers, the Nubia Z9 Mini is sold in china at 1499 Yuan = $242 which is 223€ using today’s rates. Ibuygou is selling the Z9 Mini at 280€ which is insane. They make net 57€ profit! I am not against the fact that they have to make money to survive but 57€ is quite huge, it is like stealing money from the pockets of people. 255€ max would have been much fair in my opinion. Moreover, the decline of the EUR against US Dollar is not helping buyers. I mean if I have to pay 300€ for a mid-range phone, I would prefer to get a Samsung Galaxy S5 brand new in the box. So, I have a message for resellers and please don’t get me wrong it is an advice please STOP FINGER F**KING people.

    I am tempted by the following phones:
    – Nubia Z9 Mini (not at 292€ sorry)
    – Xiaomi E4
    – THL 2015
    – IUNI U3 Mini

    Your suggestions are welcome!
    Matt

    • Jason45
      March 27, 2015

      Resellers are not getting their phones in large quantities at the advertised pricing, especially from the famous brands like Xioami, Meizu, ZTE, etc. Like many Chinese phones, phones will be released in very limited quantities and it is usually gone in a day or sooner. I doubt resellers/Chinese webshops can buy the phone in large quantities directly from these famous companies. Or else, I can open a webshop and sell these phones for a lot of money. I know some Chinese webshops are working directly with the less famous Chinese companies to sell the phones outside China, but this does not include Xioami and Meizu.

      Resellers usually pay 20 or 30 bucks to Chinese buyers of these famous phones (so on top of the advertised pricing). Chinese webshops also have other costs like warehouse, shipping costs, wages of the people working in the warehouse.

      In HK, there is always a long line in front of Apple stores when Apple releases a new product. People usually get paid a couple of hundred of HK Dollars or even more to sell it directly to resellers that are waiting outside the Apple store with tens of thousands of HK Dollars cash on hand.

      • Matt
        March 27, 2015

        I agree with you and it was clear in my message above. I do understand that resellers have to make money to survive and I am willing to pay the extra money to get a phone but 57€ (almost $62) is huge in my humble opinion. I am talking about the Z9 Mini which is not considered as a flagship but as a mid range device. A fair price would have been 260€.

        • Jason45
          March 27, 2015

          It does not depend on whether the phone is flagship or not, resellers usually add 40 USD dollar or more on top of official pricing, because famous phones like xiaomi, meizu, etc are hard to get even in China.

          • Matt
            March 27, 2015

            OK, I believe you even if $40 extra money paid by resellers is huge. Don’t get me wrong, I think that 292€ (sold on IBUYGOU with shipping included) is too much for the Z9 Mini and with the EUR level these days people would go for other options like 2013 or 2014 flagships at interesting prices. In Europe, it is possible to find the Samsung Galaxy S5 at 320€ brand new. I believe that resellers should do volumes instead of adding huge marging.

      • Guaire
        March 27, 2015

        So actually they are re-resellers, right?

        • Jason45
          March 27, 2015

          yes, you are right, second-hand buyers

    • Darth_Matta
      March 27, 2015

      Why don’t you just get Z7 MIni ? It’s better specced and cost 288 EUR at topresellerstore.it (they ship all over Europe).

      I ordered from them, used it for almost a year and sold it before ZTE released final news about Z9 line, hoping to get Z9 Mini. But, with these spece, I’ll skip Z9 and probably take something else.

  7. mf1gt3r
    March 27, 2015

    Uhmmm. Am sorry, buh the NUBIA Z9 mini uses a Qualcomm and not a Mediatek processor.

  8. Manu
    March 27, 2015

    will probably pick up the z9 max if below 550€ … still cheap considering the others with like 700€

  9. Guaire
    March 27, 2015

    Z9 Max is cheapest Snapdragon 810 flagship yet, you did miss that.

    • ARUN SUBRAMANIAN
      March 27, 2015

      Isn’t there overheating with SD810?i think i saw a comparision between 815 being abt 5 degrees cooler than 810…is SD810 really that worth to own knowing this?

      • Guaire
        March 27, 2015

        Yes there is an overheating issue about SD810. Seem like HTC “solved” this with underclocking. Check out Anandtech’s HTC M9 review. Also people says LG used similar solution for LG G Flex 2. So seems all manufacturers relying on Qualcomm for their high end handsets in trouble.

        Yes also there is a rumor about SD815 but I wouldn’t believe that. Cause Qualcomm announced SD820 -with their new custom CPU named Kryo- as their new high end SoC at MWC 2015. It’s gonna be sampling H2 2015 and expecting to arrive either end of the year or early 2016 according to Qualcomm officials.

  10. thor2001
    March 27, 2015

    Nubia, Xiaomi and Co. should get their FDD-LTE-selection straight.
    Just add Band20, so it’s B3/7/20, and you will reach more customers.

  11. desponent
    March 27, 2015

    I don’t understand why they downgraded their mini line. 801 on Z7 mini is far more powerful than on Z9 mini.

    • Jason45
      March 27, 2015

      Because or else they can’t advertise it as “64-bit” phones, this is all about marketing. I also would have likened the sd 801 chipset or MT6752 chipset inside the mini 9 rather than sd 615.

      Maybe sd 615 is also cheaper to get than sd 801 chipset. They have to reduce costs somewhere, because metal body costs more than plastic body.

      • desponent
        March 27, 2015

        There are other 64 bit chipset beside 615. It’s all about cost reduction while retaining premium price because it’s “new” (even though it’s downgraded) and it’s of Nubia line. Oh well, I don’t think phone buyers today are as stupid as they were back then so I don’t think this one will be nearly as successful as the Z7 mini.

  12. dutchgio
    March 27, 2015

    Who wrote this? It says Z7 in the first sentence and the Z9 Mini does not use a mediatek at all.

    • March 27, 2015

      It’s disappointing because it is actually a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615…

      No doubt here what chipset avoid.

  13. Rob
    March 27, 2015

    That is one ugly phone with huge bezels, as for the mini all I can think is the ROM is very poorly optimised. Unless of course it’s been done purposely to push the high end model.

    • mf1gt3r
      March 27, 2015

      Uhmmm. Did u really take a look at that phone? Huge bezels?

    • Manish
      March 27, 2015

      They look like 2013 models instead of 2015 ones! And yup they do look ugly.

    • Rob
      March 27, 2015

      Exactly my point, also the phone looks very long with a large chin.

  14. Jason45
    March 27, 2015

    Too bad they have used SD 615 chipset inside the mini 9. Even the mini 7 is now faster than the mini 9.

    The phone looks great and the camera should be improved compared to earlier version.

  15. Guest
    March 27, 2015

    Z9 mini is powered by SD 615, not mtk6752, otherwise it would got over 40k. The second is z9 max, just take a look at resolution and model name

    • mf1gt3r
      March 27, 2015

      You’re on point.

  16. saor
    March 27, 2015

    I have z5s mini running cm12 based custom ROM that scores the same as that z9 mini . so something wrong there it should be closer to 40,000. Take article with a pinch of salt.

    • Frozzem
      March 27, 2015

      yep cant image the stock rom slows it down by so much, but i also would take antutu with cautions since it still has hard times with 64 bit cpus

    • desponent
      March 27, 2015

      The CPU on your phone is more powerful than 615 on Z9 mini. It’s simple really.

    • saor
      March 27, 2015

      CPU is snap 600

    • desponent
      March 27, 2015

      Oh right, I thought it’s Z7 Mini. However it just goes to show how weak 615 is (though it’s probably cheaper than 600 back then).

  17. saor
    March 27, 2015

    Where the progress two models on?

  18. Guest
    March 27, 2015

    Last good nubia was z5, all others are bloatware closedsource chinese crap.

    • Frozzem
      March 27, 2015

      why are they closedsource? as i recall z7 had custom roms as well

    • saor
      March 27, 2015

      There is 4-6 different ROMs to be had for Nubia range other than stock.its no different than any decent quality phone once your rooted doors open to bloat free custom ROMs easily found if your bothered to use google search. I started with Nubia ui 4.2.2 now I am on temasek cm12 5.0.2 and will probably get an update to 5.1 in next two weeks.

  19. Guest
    March 27, 2015

    That Nubia Z9 Mini looks amazing for people who are looking for a mid-range phone with pretty decent specs. It is not necessary to compare it to the Nubia Z7 Mini which is close to a flagship thanks to its CPU. I have seen that Ibuygou is selling the Z9 Mini at 292€ (including shipping). I am wondering if the Xiaomi E4 (MI4 with 2GB RAM) will be sold at the same or a price below 290€? Any news regarding the availability of the Xiaomi E4?

    It is crazy how resellers make money on international buyers, the Nubia Z9 Mini is sold in china at 1499 Yuan = $242 which is 223€ using today’s rates. Ibuygou is selling the Z9 Mini at 280€ which is insane. They make net 57€ profit! I am not against the fact that they have to make money to survive but 57€ is quite huge, it is like stealing money from the pockets of people. 255€ max would have been much fair in my opinion. Moreover, the decline of the EUR against US Dollar is not helping buyers. I mean if I have to pay 300€ for a mid-range phone, I would prefer to get a Samsung Galaxy S5 brand new in the box. So, I have a message for resellers and please don’t get me wrong it is an advice please STOP FINGER F**KING people.

    I am tempted by the following phones:
    – Nubia Z9 Mini (not at 292€ sorry)
    – Xiaomi E4
    – THL 2015
    – IUNI U3 Mini

    Your suggestions are welcome!
    Matt

    • Jason45
      March 27, 2015

      Resellers are not getting their phones in large quantities at the advertised pricing, especially from the famous brands like Xioami, Meizu, ZTE, etc. Like many Chinese phones, phones will be released in very limited quantities and it is usually gone in a day or sooner. I doubt resellers/Chinese webshops can buy the phone in large quantities directly from these famous companies. Or else, I can open a webshop and sell these phones for a lot of money. I know some Chinese webshops are working directly with the less famous Chinese companies to sell the phones outside China, but this does not include Xioami and Meizu.

      Resellers usually pay 20 or 30 bucks to Chinese buyers of these famous phones (so on top of the advertised pricing). Chinese webshops also have other costs like warehouse, shipping costs, wages of the people working in the warehouse.

      In HK, there is always a long line in front of Apple stores when Apple releases a new product. People usually get paid a couple of hundred of HK Dollars or even more to sell it directly to resellers that are waiting outside the Apple store with tens of thousands of HK Dollars cash on hand.

    • Guest
      March 27, 2015

      I agree with you and it was clear in my message above. I do understand that resellers have to make money to survive and I am willing to pay the extra money to get a phone but 57€ (almost $62) is huge in my humble opinion. I am talking about the Z9 Mini which is not considered as a flagship but as a mid range device. A fair price would have been 260€.

    • Jason45
      March 27, 2015

      It does not depend on whether the phone is flagship or not, resellers usually add 40 USD dollar or more on top of official pricing, because famous phones like xiaomi, meizu, etc are hard to get even in China.

    • Guest
      March 27, 2015

      OK, I believe you even if $40 extra money paid by resellers is huge. Don’t get me wrong, I think that 292€ (sold on IBUYGOU with shipping included) is too much for the Z9 Mini and with the EUR level these days people would go for other options like 2013 or 2014 flagships at interesting prices. In Europe, it is possible to find the Samsung Galaxy S5 at 320€ brand new. I believe that resellers should do volumes instead of adding huge marging.

    • Guaire
      March 27, 2015

      So actually they are re-resellers, right?

    • Jason45
      March 27, 2015

      yes, you are right, second-hand buyers

    • Darth_Matta
      March 27, 2015

      Why don’t you just get Z7 MIni ? It’s better specced and cost 288 EUR at topresellerstore.it (they ship all over Europe).

      I ordered from them, used it for almost a year and sold it before ZTE released final news about Z9 line, hoping to get Z9 Mini. But, with these spece, I’ll skip Z9 and probably take something else.

  20. mf1gt3r
    March 27, 2015

    Uhmmm. Am sorry, buh the NUBIA Z9 mini uses a Qualcomm and not a Mediatek processor.

  21. Frozzem
    March 27, 2015

    will probably pick up the z9 max if below 550€ … still cheap considering the others with like 700€

  22. Guaire
    March 27, 2015

    Z9 Max is cheapest Snapdragon 810 flagship yet, you did miss that.

    • ARUN SUBRAMANIAN
      March 27, 2015

      Isn’t there overheating with SD810?i think i saw a comparision between 815 being abt 5 degrees cooler than 810…is SD810 really that worth to own knowing this?

    • Guaire
      March 27, 2015

      Yes there is an overheating issue about SD810. Seem like HTC “solved” this with underclocking. Check out Anandtech’s HTC M9 review. Also people says LG used similar solution for LG G Flex 2. So seems all manufacturers relying on Qualcomm for their high end handsets in trouble.

      Yes also there is a rumor about SD815 but I wouldn’t believe that. Cause Qualcomm announced SD820 -with their new custom CPU named Kryo- as their new high end SoC at MWC 2015. It’s gonna be sampling H2 2015 and expecting to arrive either end of the year or early 2016 according to Qualcomm officials.

    • Guaire
      March 27, 2015

      I have seen that before. They don’t offer any source for that graphs.

    • Guaire
      April 1, 2015

      Qualcomm officials denied it. There is not a Snapdragon 815.

    • ARUN SUBRAMANIAN
      April 1, 2015

      Ok if there is no SD 815,i am fine with that.My immediate lookout is good camera phones powered by MT6752 and maybe the Letv with MT6795

  23. Guest
    March 27, 2015

    Nubia, Xiaomi and Co. should get their FDD-LTE-selection straight.
    Just add Band20, so it’s B3/7/20, and you will reach more customers.

  24. desponent
    March 27, 2015

    I don’t understand why they downgraded their mini line. 801 on Z7 mini is far more powerful than on Z9 mini.

    • Jason45
      March 27, 2015

      Because or else they can’t advertise it as “64-bit” phones, this is all about marketing. I also would have likened the sd 801 chipset or MT6752 chipset inside the mini 9 rather than sd 615.

      Maybe sd 615 is also cheaper to get than sd 801 chipset. They have to reduce costs somewhere, because metal body costs more than plastic body.

    • desponent
      March 27, 2015

      There are other 64 bit chipset beside 615. It’s all about cost reduction while retaining premium price because it’s “new” (even though it’s downgraded) and it’s of Nubia line. Oh well, I don’t think phone buyers today are as stupid as they were back then so I don’t think this one will be nearly as successful as the Z7 mini.

  25. dutchgio
    March 27, 2015

    Who wrote this? It says Z7 in the first sentence and the Z9 Mini does not use a mediatek at all.

    • Yetimania
      March 27, 2015

      It’s disappointing because it is actually a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615…

      No doubt here what chipset avoid.

  26. Guest
    March 27, 2015

    it is the Nubia Z9 Max and not the Z9

  27. saor
    March 27, 2015

    Where the progress two models on?

  28. saor
    March 27, 2015
  29. Guest
    March 27, 2015

    it is the Nubia Z9 Max and not the Z9

  30. TheOracle
    March 28, 2015

    Those are fugly phones. I’ll stick with my Z7 Max until the Flagship Z9 comes out and see what the finished item has to offer.

  31. TheOracle
    March 28, 2015

    Those are fugly phones. I’ll stick with my Z7 Max until the Flagship Z9 comes out and see what the finished item has to offer.

  32. חתול תעלול
    March 28, 2015

    That image is fake. look at the Z7 bezels- one is thicker than the other, In addition- look at the bottom corners of the white device- while one is rounded the other one is square-ish and a little bit pixelated, smells like Photoshop.

  33. חתול תעלול
    March 29, 2015

    That image is fake. look at the Z7 bezels- one is thicker than the other, In addition- look at the bottom corners of the white device- while one is rounded the other one is square-ish and a little bit pixelated, smells like Photoshop.