nubia is one of those smartphone brands that gained popularity by offering budget-friendly gaming smartphones like the nubia Neo 2 5G. It’s no surprise that they’re also offering feature-packed smartphones for music lovers, which is evident in their newly released nubia Music Pro. The best part? It’s priced at under PHP 5K.
For something in this price range, I’m surprised at how good it actually looks. The back panel is eye-catching and matches the colorful artwork on the box. It seems to come in two designs: Melody Wave, with a colorful liquid equalizer design, and POP Art, which resembles the work of Piet Mondrian. Either way, both look great.
One of the most striking features of this smartphone is the large orange speaker grille at the back beside the cameras, which works in tandem with the bottom-firing speaker for a stereo effect. Inspired by vinyl records, it has a DTS:X label in the middle to indicate support for multi-dimensional audio. You can also choose between 2.1 and 2.0 channel sound, use the phone as a Bluetooth speaker, enable Volume Booster, and even use Touch-to-Share, which lets you share the music you’re playing with another phone via NFC.
Another standout feature is its light effects. Beside the large speaker are two LEDs for the AI Melody Light, which syncs with your music. There’s also a Melody Light app that displays running light effects on the screen’s edge and matches the beat of your music.
As for sound quality, the nubia Music Pro is loud! Just don’t expect deep bass, at best it’s subtle. On the bright side, the mids and highs are crystal clear and close to the speaker quality you’d find on a flagship smartphone. It also has a 3.5mm audio jack, though no earphones are included in the package.
One thing I didn’t like, though, is that the stock music player has ads. Yes, ads. The kind you have to sit through for 10 to 15 seconds before you can skip and play your music. Worse, they appear every time you open the app, which really ruins the experience. Fortunately, you can simply download a different music player from the Play Store and ignore this one.
For the display, it has a 6.7-inch IPS screen with HD+ resolution. The quality is decent, though the bezels are thick, especially at the bottom. There’s a hole-punch at the top for the 5MP front camera. It’s very much entry-level, but we’re impressed that it still packs a smooth 120Hz refresh rate.
For cameras, it has a 50MP main sensor and a secondary “AI” camera, which is most likely for depth effects. Quality is fine in bright light, but details suffer in low light and appear soft. If you’re not into night photography and mainly upload to social media, it should be good enough.
Powering the nubia Music Pro is a UNISOC T7200 chipset with a 1.6GHz octa-core CPU, 4GB RAM (expandable by up to 4GB), and 128GB of storage. On the software side, it runs MyOS 14 based on Android 14. Keep in mind, this isn’t built for graphics-heavy games, it’s best suited for light casual gaming and social media. Battery life shouldn’t be a problem thanks to its 5,000mAh battery. Considering the modest specs, the nubia Music Pro can easily last up to two days of social media, music, and video streaming.
If you’re in the market for an entry-level smartphone, the nubia Music Pro is tough to ignore. Its screen resolution, cameras, and chipset may not impress, but its sleek design, smooth refresh rate, powerful speakers, long-lasting battery, and budget-friendly price more than make up for it. At just PHP 4,299, it’s a highly affordable choice for anyone who wants a stylish smartphone that doubles as a reliable dedicated media player.
