ZTE updates the Z40 Pro to the Z40S Pro. Now it comes with a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset and up to 1TB storage


Phones can now compete well with mainstream computers!

Nubia Z40S Pro in Magic Green

ZTE has updated the Z40 Pro to the Z40S Pro. The main improvements include the use of a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and improved battery life-ish. It is a flagship in every sense of the word. It also has a larger cooling system to boot.

The screen is a 6.67in. FHD+ (2400x1080px) AMOLED with 144Hz refresh rate. This refresh rate is unchanged from the previous model. It has a peak brightness of 1000 nits and also supports HDR10+ and has a 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, similar to many flagships of today.

There are two versions of the phone with different battery sizes and charging speeds. There is a version with 5000mAh and 80W fast charging and another with 4600mAh capacity and 120W fast charging. This seems like a pattern with ZTE as this type of pricing also occurred with the Nubia Red Magic gaming phones.

The phone has a triple camera system as well as a single 16MP front camera on the punch-hole notch. The primary camera is a 64MP Sony IMX787 sensor while the other two include a 50MP Samsung ISOCELL JN1 ultrawide and an 8MP periscopic telephoto with OIS. The phone can take 4K@120fps video. The primary lens has a 35mm focal length, the ultrawide has 14mm, and the periscope has 125mm focal length. The bigger the number, the closer your camera is to the subject.

Despite the phone having a larger battery (the 5000mAh version to be exact), ZTE managed to keep the phone thinner while also keeping important features such as DTS:X audio. From 8.4mm, the thickness was reduced to just 8.05mm. ZTE has achieved this not by removing features but by reorganizing the internal parts.

It has a USB-C port, 5G services, Bluetooth 5.2, and dual nano-SIM slots. At this rate, a MicroSD card is not needed especially if you’re getting the 1TB configuration, as most mainstream MicroSDs have nearly the same storage amount. The chipset used is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 as mentioned in the title. This is cooled by a large VC cooling chamber with a graphene sheet and synthetic diamond thermal paste. This apparently has a high thermal conductivity.

The phone comes in Magic Green and Night Sea. There is a limited edition “Special Cage” based on the manhua of the same name. This special edition is priced at CNY 4,699 (~Php 38.6K) with 12/256 RAM and storage.

The regular phones have a choice between 8/128, 8/256, 12/256, 12/512, and 18/1TB configurations. Only the 12/256 and 8/1TB have the entire 120W package. These are priced CNY 4,299 (~Php 35.3K) and CNY 6,699 (~Php 55K) respectively. The latter can get you a decent enough gaming laptop or PC!

The 80W version of the phone starts at CNY 3,399 (~Php 27.9K) for the 8/128 configuration, CNY 3,699 (~Php 30.4K) for 8/256, CNY 3,999 (~Php 32.8K) for the 12/256, and CNY 4,499 (~Php 36.9K) for the 12/512 configuration respectively.

ZTE is yet to announce whether the phone is making its way out of China and within the rest of the world.

Source: ZTE Newsroom (in Chinese), ZTE website (in Chinese), via GSMArena