Gaming smartphones are known to be expensive, which is understandable considering that for a smartphone to play mobile games properly, it must have top-tier hardware. nubia, a brand no stranger to producing powerful smartphones, decided to release a budget-friendly gaming smartphone in the form of the nubia Neo 2 5G. How is that possible? There’s probably a catch somewhere.
Design-wise, the nubia Neo 2 5G does look like a gaming smartphone. From the back, at least. The “bionic mecha design” with reflective “Hero eye” and orange accents grabs attention. Even the 50MP main and 2MP depth cameras are housed in a hexagonal camera module to complement the design. The only thing that irks me here is that the glossy back panel is a smudge and fingerprint magnet, but you can solve that with the protective case included in the package.
On the front, we have a large 6.72-inch FHD+ (2400 x 1080) IPS display with up to 120Hz refresh rate. Housed in the hole-punch is the 16MP selfie camera. The display is bright, the colors are accurate, good viewing angles and the animation and transitions are buttery smooth. No specific glass protection was mentioned so it’s probably just your standard scratch-resistant glass. All of that is housed in a plastic chassis with a metallic paint job.
It has the SIM card tray and the volume buttons on the left, and the red power/lock button and dual shoulder triggers on the right.
A loudspeaker and microphone at the top, another loudspeaker and microphone at the bottom along with the USB-C port.
Powering the nubia Neo 2 5G is a Unisoc T820 chipset with a Mali-G57 GPU, 8GB RAM (+12GB extended), 256GB UFS 3.1, and Android 13. It has features such as Game Space to manage performance settings for each game you have as well as record your games for those who want to create content.
At this point, we can already figure out how nubia was able to keep the price low. The chipset used is in the mid-range tier. Games like Mobile Legends run smoothly but more demanding games like Zenless Zone Zero and you’ll notice some stutters even in not-so-busy scenes.
Battery-wise, this phone will impress thanks to its 6,000mAh battery. Considering that it uses a less-powered chipset, you can game a whole day and not worry about going in the red. Charging, on the other hand, is decent at 33W fast charging.
The nubia Neo 2 5G, priced at PHP 9,999 (https://s.shopee.ph/qQ9E2FqTF), is an attempt to bring the gaming smartphone experience to more consumers, especially those with a limited budget. And they were able to do that with their choice of chipset. While not exactly as powerful as more expensive gaming smartphones, buyers will certainly enjoy the cool design, dual shoulder triggers, Game Space feature, great screen, and large battery. You’ll still get a lot for less.
