HUAWEI MatePad 12 X (2026) Review
Originally released around 2nd quarter of this year, nubia is jumping into the fray in this year’s gaming phone segment with the Neo 3 GT 5G. It’s designed for those who want a mix of large battery capacity, decent hardware, and gamer-focused features without breaking the bank.
But how does it fare in everyday life?
The nubia Neo 3 GT 5G stands out right away with its gaming-aesthetic design. Our unit is in the Limited White Hailstone colorway, but there are also Electro Yellow and Interstellar Grey options.
You get a pair of built-in shoulder triggers that sit along the frame and add a console-like controls to mobile gaming. They’re responsive and can be mapped to in-game controls, giving you a new take to mobile shooters and other titles that benefit from extra controls. More on that later!
nubia also added customizable LED lighting to solidify the aesthetic it’s after. It adds a futuristic glow when you’re gaming, receiving notifications, or even just charging the device.
These LEDs aren’t just there for show. They give the phone a personality that fits right into the gaming lifestyle. You can tweak the effects in settings, so it can be subtle or as flashy as you want. It can be a bit too flashy if used accidentally so be careful for those sensitive to strobe lights.
The nubia Neo 3 GT 5G has a Limited Edition box that includes a dedicated gaming pad for added controls, a magnetic hard case for easier accessory compatibility, and a handful of themed extras. These inclusions make the Limited Edition feel more like a complete gaming kit on a budget.
For buttons and ports, you have the usual power button and volume rocker on the right, accompanied with two shoulder triggers placed on both ends, the top has a mic alone, but the earpiece also acts as a second speaker, while the bottom has the usual USB-C port, a mic, dual SIM tray, and the main speaker grill. The left side is clean and free of any ports.
Up front, with the nubia Neo 3 GT 5G, you’re getting a large 6.8-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with up to 120Hz refresh rate and 1300 nits of peak brightness.
You can expect colors to be vibrant with deep blacks, which makes everything from watching Netflix to grinding through late-night RPG sessions look immersive, but you don’t get Widevine L1 here sadly, only supporting L3. This means your Netflix binge-watching is limited to SD quality or 480p rather than 1080p Full HD.
Nonetheless, the screen is sharp enough that text and icons stay crisp, and the big size makes it easier to track the action in fast-paced games.
Audio comes from a stereo speaker setup, which gets reasonably loud but isn’t without its quirks. The highs and mids are clear, but the bass is noticeably light, and when you push the volume to maximum, the sound tends to lose balance and can get a little harsh.
For casual use, the speakers are fine, but for anyone serious about gaming or media, a good pair of headphones or earbuds is still the better way to go.
Between the fast refresh rate, the vibrant panel, and the sheer size of the screen, the Neo 3 GT’s display is surely one of its strongest suits.
For biometrics, the phone supports in-screen fingerprint sensor along with face unlock– both of which are quick to unlock the device.
While this phone is clearly gaming-first, nubia still included a usable camera system. On the rear, you’ll find a 50MP main camera paired with a 2MP depth sensor, while the front houses a 16MP selfie shooter.
In well-lit conditions, the main sensor captures shots with respectable clarity and detail, suitable for your casual socmed snaps.
Low-light performance, however, is limited, with noise creeping in quickly and dynamic range not being good enough. Some shots also come out a bit too saturated and overexposed for my liking. So, you may need to adjust the brightness slider more often than not.
Meanwhile, the 16MP front camera gets the job done for selfies and video calls but won’t wow anyone compared to camera-focused devices. Additionally, I noticed that it tends to smoothen skin texture a bit too much, so keep note of that.
For video recording, it can shoot up to 4K at 30fps but there’s no EIS. If you want some form of stabilization, you’d have to take it down a notch, shooting only at 1080p at 30 fps.
Sample rear camera:
Sample front camera:
Here’s where all eyes are set on the Neo 3 GT: the performance. It runs on a Unisoc T9100 chipset paired with a Mali-G57 MP4 GPU while having 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Day-to-day use is smooth enough, but as expected, there’s a slight pause when switching apps.
Our benchmarks give us a clearer picture of what to expect:
| Benchmark | nubia Neo 3 GT 5G |
| Chipset | UNISOC T9100 |
| AnTuTu V11 | 743,225 |
| AnTuTu Storage | 85,739 |
| S.Read Speed | 957.7 MB/s |
| S.Write Speed | 820.0 MB/s |
| 3DMark Wild Life | 2,048 | Avg. FPS: 12.27 |
| Geekbench 6 CPU Single-Core | 873 |
| Geekbench 6 CPU Multi-Core | 2,447 |
| Geekbench 6 GPU OpenCL | 2,607 |
| Geekbench 6 GPU Vulkan | 2,737 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 performance | 13,320 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 battery life | 12 hrs & 42 mins |
Now for the real focus: gaming. The Neo 3 GT 5G can handle a fair variety of titles, but performance can vary depending on how demanding the game is.
For example, Umamusume runs fine most of the time, but you can catch some stutters during the race segments when things get busy on-screen. On the other hand, Pokémon Unite and Mobile Legends run smoothly at medium to high settings, making it reliable in competitive matches.
Wuthering Waves, though, pushes the hardware more than it should, and you’ll notice frame drops that make it harder to enjoy even at the lowest settings.
We also tried PSP Emulation and, surprisingly, it can play games like God of War: Ghost of Sparta smoothly at around 480p. You can up the graphics to 1080p but expect frame drops to occur.
The built-in shoulder triggers help elevate the experience in supported games, giving you extra controls without having to crowd the touchscreen. It might not boost raw FPS, but it does make gameplay feel closer to a handheld console, especially in shooter games where quick inputs matter.
Overall, the Neo 3 GT 5G isn’t designed to match flagship gaming phones with top-tier Snapdragon or Dimensity chips, but it still gives a satisfying gaming experience for low-demanding games at the very least. You’ll need to adjust settings for heavier games, but for casual to mid-core players, it holds up well enough.
The nubia Neo 3 GT 5G runs on MyOS 15, which is based on Android 15. Right out of the box, it has gamer-focused tools like performance modes, a game space to manage titles, and controls for the customizable LED lighting at the back.
However, the overall experience is not as clean as other Android devices. The UI can feel a bit too cluttered, with options that may take some time getting used to.
There’s also the issue of bloatware. Nubia pre-installs several apps, and while you can uninstall or disable most of them in the settings, it takes a bit of work to clear things up. It’s not the worst case of bloat we’ve seen, but it does detract slightly from the focus of the phone.
Once you’ve trimmed down the extra apps and organized the settings, MyOS 15 runs smoothly and provides plenty of customization for gamers and power users alike.
If there’s one thing the nubia Neo 3 GT 5G doesn’t compromise on, it’s battery life. On paper, a huge 6000mAh battery is usually built to handle long hours of use.
However, our PCMark battery benchmark test tells a different story, garnering only 12 hours and 42 minutes. It falls slightly short of what you might expect from such a large cell. Maybe the chip and MyOS 15 setup might not be squeezing out maximum efficiency compared to other chips like Snapdragon or Dimensity devices.
Still, in actual use, the Neo 3 GT more than makes up for it.
In our proprietary video loop test, it managed to last 22 hours and 34 minutes of playback. This was done at 50% brightness and volume while looping 1080p video at 24fps.
Gaming endurance is equally strong, though naturally, it depends on the title you’re playing. At 50% brightness, 50% volume, and on WiFi with recommended graphics settings, we got these results for gaming:
That’s plenty of juice for multiple long sessions without needing a top-up mid-day.
When it does come to charging, the 80W wired charging kicks in fast. You can fill the battery up quick enough that downtime is never an issue, which is crucial for a device that positions itself as a gaming companion.
Another thing, it comes with a charging brick and cable which is always a welcomed bonus. On top of that, it supports bypass charging to extend battery health further. Additionally, there’s support for bypass charging.
Connectivity is equally complete with support for 5G, dual SIM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and NFC. There’s also support for magnetic link accessories if you opt for the case included in the Limited Edition set.
At an introductory price of PHP 12,999, the nubia Neo 3 GT 5G Limited Edition makes it clear what it’s all about. It’s a smartphone built with gaming as the top priority, while everything else comes second.
The big AMOLED screen is smooth and responsive, the shoulder triggers give you extra control, and the LED lights make it stand out in a way that feels unique.
The chip handles daily use and most popular games just fine, although heavier titles do push it to its limits. Although, MyOS software can feel a bit cluttered unless you spend some time disabling the extra apps.
Still, the battery life more than makes up for those shortcomings. Whether it is long video playback, extended gaming sessions, or all-day use, the 6000mAh battery holds up well, and the 80W charging makes it easy to keep going.
It is not the most powerful gaming phone out there, but at this price, it offers a combination of features and endurance that makes it a compelling choice for anyone who wants a reliable and fun gaming phone on a budget.
What we liked:
* Bright and smooth display
* Good battery life with bypass charging
* Decent build quality and design
What we did not like:
* Audio gets unbalanced when volume is maxed out
* Cameras are subpar
* MyOS 15 feels cluttered and comes with bloatware
nubia Neo 3 GT 5G specs:
6.8-inch FHD+ OLED display
120Hz refresh rate
1300 nits peak brightness
UNISOC T9100 5G SoC
6nm, octa-core, up to 2.7GHz
12GB RAM (+12GB extended memory)
256GB storage
Dual rear cameras:
– 50MP f/1.8 main, AF
– 2MP depth
16MP f/2.0 selfie shooter (hole punch notch)
Dual SIM
5G, 4G LTE
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
GPS
USB Type-C
Under-display fingerprint sensor
IP54 dust and splash resistance
Dual stereo speakers, shoulder triggers, RGB lighting
MyOS, Android 15
6000mAh battery
80W charging (wired), bypass charging supported
Interstellar Gray, Electro Yellow (colorways)
163.7 x 75 x 8 mm (dimensions)
192 grams (weight)
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