Nubia might be a sort of new name to most people but these guys are not new comers. Nubia is spawn of the venerable ZTE Group whose phones grace most Zimbabwean shops. Their technological prowess therefore needs no introduction.
The Amazing Z17 Mini
While at the moment Xiaomi certainly wears the budget phone crown the Z17 Mini is currently unmatched especially at the price Cafago are selling it at. The phone comes in a black/gold colours and is made up of almost entirely out of metal instead of the plastic crap that you normally see at Gulf Complex.
The phone has a 5.2″ true HD display with 1920 * 1080 Pixels resolution with a pixel density of 424PPI. If you are wondering what all this means in layman terms: you can see all the pimples on Beyonce’s face on this screen. The screen also comes with Gorilla Glass 3. The touch screen can handle up to 10 simultaneous touchs.
The device naturally comes with 4G LTE support duh. The phone also comes with a hybrid SIM tray which means you can either put two SIM cards or a SIM card and an SD card.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WvMQ_yN-ME
It sports dual 13MP cameras at the back allowing it to be able to take photos in the famous portrait mode. On the front there is a 16MP for crisp selfies. This device can record 4K video and takes amazing photos. Even at night and in low light where most phones fail you the Mini does well more than most. Let the videos above speak for themselves. The camera also has a pro mode for photography buffs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mGZeNubkeQ
Time lapse recorded using the Mini.
If you are still in doubt check out the phone’s electronic aperture mode
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZc9zSebbZ4
The phone also comes in a 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM configuration which means playing games like FIFA 18 will not be a problem. In case you run out of space you can always add up to 200GB external memory. The phone is powered by the proven Snapdragon 652 which somehow mitigates the phone’s rather underwhelming 2950mAh battery which means you can spend the whole day without needing a recharge without about 8-9 hour of onscreen time.The phone does not support fast charging but can be charged from 0-100% in about 2 hours.
While the device comes with Android 6.0 however Nubia customised the ROM to allow mult-tasking if you are into that sort of thing. In any case you can always update to Nougat or Oreo using the Lineage ROMs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnQuGDRBwv4
While not officially water proof the phone can handle normal splashes and survive a fall into the sink with no water damage but don’t go swimming with it.
Where to buy?
The phone normally sells for prices north of $200 however the guys at Cafago are offering TechZim readers an exclusive deal to get the phone for $169. To take advantage of this deal click here and use the coupon code FF0160 just like that the price will magically drop to an unbeatable $169. Please note you have to manually apply the coupon for the price to be reduced. Also this coupon is valid until 4 June 2018.
The phone will be shipped free to Zimbabwe and you can expect the phone to be delivered to you within 7-20 business days customs permitting these guys have been taking long breaks recently. Also expect to pay duty of 25% and VAT of 15% on the purchase price. This is true for all phones even most of those you buy locally have paid duty so don’t let this dissuade you.
Who are Cafago
Well you remember Tomtop right? We wrote about them here, well Cafago is one of their sites so you can expect the same stellar service. They have 10 years of online selling under their belt.
Is this a good deal?
One of the questions I often get asked is if it’s worth it buying a phone online. The only downside I can think of is I have to wait but usually the results are well worth the wait. If you don’t believe me here is an example of local phone prices.
![](https://t3n9sm.c2.acecdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/oppo_phone-min.jpg)
I could not find the Nubia Z17 mini on sale locally but here is a phone with slightly inferior specifications but a similar display size. Look at that price and do your calculations.
Making payments
You will need a Visa/MasterCard that can make international payments. If you do not already have one, I recommend the BancABC prepaid Visa, I can confirm this is still kicking, or the Steward Prepaid Visa. FBC are have been having a month long upgrade that has seriously messed up their MasterCard system so you might want to give them a pass for now until they have had their house in order.
6 comments
Garikai please do one on redmi note 4… Main selling point is battery same processor as above but 4100mah battery… Last a good day and more
I will have to admit the Redmi 4 is a pretty good device but the Nubia has a better processor (it has a 652 the Redmi 4 has a 625 kind of hard to notice but the two are different), the dual rear camera set up is hard to beat, the selfie camera is much better 16MP vs 5MP in my book the Nubia wins this battle despite the battery size. Both can last a day if you don’t go crazy. The 652 like the 625 is pretty power efficient.
A good comparison between the two would be the Nubia vs the Redmi S2 or the 6X (might also become the A2)
yes buying online is way better, bought my redmi 5 plus for $164.00 and got charged duty for $76 which is way cheaper than the $450 i saw the redmi note 4 going for in town
Which site did you purchase the redmi 5 plus from?
He probably got it during some sort of sale. It was around this price on some sites during the Xiaomi anniversary.
Hi Garikai.On Carfargo it says they don’t ship that item to Zimbabwe