ByteDance’s Doubao AI assistant makes its debut on a Nubia prototype phone, and the device quickly sells out at a $495 price as early resale values surge by about $210.
The Nubia M153 engineering prototype, the first phone to showcase ByteDance’s Doubao AI assistant in a preview build, disappeared from ZTE’s official online store in short order at RMB 3,499 (approximately $495). Limited initial quantities pushed resale prices upward. On the second-hand platform Xianyu, unopened units have surfaced at as high as RMB 4,999 (around $706), signaling a roughly RMB 1,500 premium over the official price.
This model represents a joint effort between ZTE Corp and ByteDance. ByteDance’s Doubao team steered the product definition and the user experience of the AI assistant, while ZTE’s Nubia division managed hardware design, development, and manufacturing responsibilities. The phone is offered in a single configuration of 16GB RAM and 512GB storage, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and featuring a 6.78-inch LTPO display. [TechNode reporting]
