China’s smartphone market is moving deeper into AI-first devices, and ZTE’s new NaviX Ultra is emerging as an early headline-grabber. Shown at the World AI Conference in Shanghai, the phone was presented as the world’s first agentic AI smartphone, and reports indicate it sold out within hours of launch.
The device comes from ZTE’s Nubia brand and centers its experience on ByteDance’s Doubao AI agent. According to the product details shared at the event, users can trigger the AI through voice commands or a dedicated hardware button, highlighting a design that puts AI assistance at the core of how the phone is used.
ZTE is not alone in pushing this concept. The appearance of similar products from StepFun and Honor suggests that Chinese tech companies are increasingly rethinking the smartphone as a hub for AI agents rather than just a platform for apps and conventional voice assistants.
That broader shift points to a new phase in the mobile industry, where brands are competing to make AI more proactive, more accessible, and more tightly integrated into everyday device interactions. With the NaviX Ultra drawing fast demand and strong attention at WAIC, China’s race to define the next generation of AI smartphones is clearly accelerating.
