The 5.2-inch My Prague measures only 5.5mm in width and weighs just 140 grams. The company said it will be sold in parts of Europe. Photo: Simon Song

Nubia targets Europe with first smartphone since Chinese brand spun off from parent ZTE

Published: 7:45pm, 15 Jul 2015

Chinese smartphone maker Nubia launched its lightweight My Prague model in Beijing on Wednesday featuring various camera filters.

The 32gb version will retail for 2,499 yuan (US$402.50), or about half the price of the higher-end Z9 VIP it launched in May.

My Prague is the first model to be released by Nubia Technology since it broke away from parent ZTE, one of China’s telecoms giants, in June to list as an independent brand. It will be sold in China and parts of Europe, the company said.

“Everyone has a Prague in their heart,” said Nubia CEO Ni Fei at the launch event, referring to the historic European capital famous for its architecture, castles and chateaux.

“Our new phone will depict the world as vividly as a fairy tale,” he added.

The 5.2-inch phone runs on Nubia’s UI 3.0 system. It supports two SIM cards and is equipped with a NeoVision 5.2 camera operating system, 13-megapixel rear camera and 8-megapixel front-facing camera.

The company claims its Lomo filter can beautify images with simpler lines and softer colours, bringing them closer to the works of Czech art nouveau painter Alphonse Maria Mucha. It sent a team to Prague to snap images and test the filter earlier this month.

Nubia’s core strategy appears to be offering its customers high-definition images on par with a single-lens reflex camera.

Many Chinese smartphone makers have been bidding to wow consumers with special image effects recently.

Meitu’s M4 is closely linked with the brand’s photo-editing app Meitu Xiuxiu, which has already attracted over 300 million users. It offers beauty software to improve selfies.

READ MORE: Top 5 most popular apps for Chinese women

Meanwhile, Chinese telecom giant Huawei launched its P8 smartphone a few months ago equipped with an ultra-fast octa-core CPU and HD camera. At 6.4mm, it is slimmer than an iPhone 6. Huawei hopes to build on the success of its record-selling P series.

Amid China's heating-up smartphone market, tensions boiled over in April when ZTE accused Huawei of stealing its core camera technology.

Lawyers representing Nubia claimed that Huawei’s P8 and Honor X2 models incorporated certain features based on Nubia’s key technology in violation of copyright.

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