ZTE Nubia Z40 Pro 5G should feature the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and up to 16GB of RAM

ZTE was the fourth-largest smartphone vendor in the U.S. as recently as 2018. When the company refused to follow restrictions placed on the firm by the U.S. after it did business with Iran and North Korea (both countries were under sanctions in the states), the Commerce Department placed ZTE on the entity list. This prevented the company from accessing its U.S. supply chain and nearly shuttered the company for good.

Within a few months, ZTE eventually worked out a deal with the U.S. that cost the company $1 billion with an additional $400 million put in escrow. A new Board was created and there were wholesale changes made to the executive offices. While ZTE has been able to continue on its path, and its handsets are offered in the states (Verizon's Visible unit offers some ZTE phones), the company has dropped out of the list of top five vendors in the U.S.

A recent Geekbench benchmark test for a new ZTE handset has been posted. Listed as the ZTE NX701J, this appears to be the Nubia Z40 Pro. Based on the processor listed on the Geekbench results, the device will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. This is the sequel to last year's powerful Snapdragon 888 SoC with a new naming convention.

According to the benchmark test, the ZTE Nubia Z40 Pro will be equipped with 16GB of memory. For those interested in the results of the test, the Nubia Z40 Pro had a single-core score of 1200 and 3489 for its multi-core score. The device will also be offered with Android 12 pre-installed.

We would assume that ZTE will offer the device in multiple configurations and the version with 16GB of RAM will probably be the most expensive top-tier variant of the phone. We can get some idea of what to expect with this year's model by taking a look at last year's top-of-the-line variant.

Last May, ZTE released the Nubia Z30 Pro which came with a 6.7-inch AMOLED display carrying a resolution of 1080 x 2400. The device is driven by the Snapdragon 888 SoC and included configurations of 8GB RAM/256GB storage, 12GB RAM/256GB storage, and 16GB of RAM/512GB of storage. Something similar should be made available to consumers with the Nubia Z40 Pro.

The Wide, Standard, and Ultra-wide cameras all used a 64MP sensor, and an 8MP sensor was used with the telephoto camera's periscope lens to deliver 5x optical zoom. The 4200mAh capacity battery charges to 100% in 15 minutes according to ZTE (thanks to a 120W fast charger). The device supports 5G as should the Nubia Z40 line..

With these specs in mind, we can make some guesstimates. For example, a 6.8-inch AMOLED display seems likely for the Nubia Z40 Pro and we wouldn't be surprised to see it include a 120Hz variable refresh rate for buttery smooth scrolling. The battery capacity could receive a hike to either 4500mAh or 5000mAh, and the fast charging rate will probably remain at 120W.

Since last year's model featured an under-display optical fingerprint scanner, the Nubia Z40 Pro is likely to keep that feature. And if you dig around, you should be able to find the new model in the U.S. when it is released. The Nubia Z30 Pro with 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage is listed on eBay at $1,289.95.

ZTE's appearance on the entity list, as brief as it was, combined with LG's exit from the smartphone business to give Motorola an opportunity to get its foot back in the door that is marked "United States." But that doesn't mean that ZTE isn't building high-end handsets, and the Geekbench benchmark test shows that the Nubia Z40 Pro will be a powerful top-tier handset.