Huawei nova. Huawei Nova: review and feedback. Hardware and Performance

Huawei Nova 3 is a new product from the Nova line, which is famous for its cameras. At the same time, the gadget is not at all similar to the previous model: the filling has become more powerful, the screen has become larger, and the cameras are even better at shooting portraits and landscapes.

Design and display

Glass body
Screen: 6.3 inches, 2340×1080 pixels
Aspect Ratio: 19.5:9

First of all, you pay attention to the bright design of Nova 3: the smartphone has a glass body with a beautiful purple gradient. It looks very impressive and unusual, especially after the boring gray gadgets. There is a blue metal frame along the perimeter of the case, but it is easy to miss it under the glare of the lid - from blue to purple.

The gadget is quite large (the screen diagonal is as much as 6.3 inches!), but it fits comfortably in the hand due to the elongated 19.5:9 format. The glass cover slides a little, but you most likely won’t be able to accidentally drop your smartphone. In addition, the kit includes a transparent silicone case, in which the fear of dropping the gadget tends to zero.

Smartphone screen - LTPS matrix with high resolution FHD+ (2340×1080) and a density of 409 ppi. We immediately turned on automatic brightness adjustment, but during tests we sometimes had to increase it manually, for example under the sun. But even outdoors, the screen brightness was quite enough to read content. For evening gatherings on social networks, there is an eye protection mode - an indispensable function for large screens.

There is a so-called “bang” on the front panel, but don’t rush to throw sneakers at Huawei for keeping up with trends. The cutout can be painted over by turning on fill fields in the gadget menu. But we didn’t do that and accepted the phone for what it was. At the top of the screen there is a speaker and two front camera matrices. An IR sensor and a light sensor are also hidden here, but they are not visible to the naked eye.

Like everyone else latest models Huawei, the volume and power buttons are located on the right side of the device, and all connectors and the speaker are on the bottom. By the way, Nova 3 has both USB C and an audio jack, so you don't have to fiddle with adapters or look for Bluetooth headphones. And this is good.

The camera unit protrudes slightly from the body, but this is almost unnoticeable when the smartphone is in a case. The fingerprint sensor is easy to find by touch; during tests, the sensor quickly unlocked the gadget and always recognized the desired finger.

Performance and equipment

Processor: Kirin 970
RAM: 4 or 6 GB
Built-in memory: 128 GB (+ microSD up to 256 GB)
Android 8.1 EMUI

Despite the fact that Huawei Nova 3 is not positioned as a flagship, the gadget runs on a top-end 8-core Kirin 970 processor. The same chipset is installed in the P20 Pro, Huawei’s coolest model at the moment. In terms of performance, the processor is comparable to the Snapdragon 845 and Exynos 8895. The test results in the AnTuTu benchmark inspire confidence: the gadget scored more than 205,000 points and even overtook the Galaxy S8+. The smartphone can easily handle 3D games and demanding applications, not to mention web surfing.

The basic version of Nova 3 is equipped with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory, 112 of which are available to the user. If you delete numerous applications and games, you will be able to free up a couple more gigs. In addition to the banal messengers, Sberbank and Yandex, there is an interesting application called “Party Mode” - in it you can link several Huawei smartphones and set up synchronous music playback. We tested this function on the Nova 3 - Honor 10 combination and consider the test successful: colleagues gathered to the sounds of the “party” and demanded that the banquet be continued.

The smartphone works with two SIM cards, but instead of one of them you can install a memory card with a capacity of up to 256 GB. Nova 3 supports a large set of wireless interfaces: NFC, 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz). Bluetooth 4.2 works with aptX and aptX HD codecs for high-quality music sound wirelessly. In addition to GPS, the model can navigate using GLONASS and Beidou.

The gadget works under Android control 8.1 and will most likely receive an update to Android 9.0 Pie. Android here is not “pure”, but in Huawei’s proprietary shell – EMUI. The system interface is clear and user-friendly, and all the necessary settings are located in the same place as in regular Android. The arrangement of icons and main menu buttons can be customized to your taste. There is also a navigation button, voice and gesture control functions and a whole list of commands for the fingerprint sensor.

The latest build of EMUI 8 has a PrivateSpace feature, with which you can create a separate space on your smartphone with your password and applications. For example, here you can install a second Facebook and log into it under a different account.

In addition to the fingerprint scanner, the gadget supports unlocking via face recognition. The function works clearly and quickly activates the smartphone, and it does not have to be held level in front of your face. Thanks to the IR sensor, which is hidden in the “bangs”, recognition works even in the dark.

Cameras

Main camera: 24 + 16 MP, AI mode
Front camera: 24 +2 MP, AI mode

Huawei Nova 3 has a dual main camera with 24 and 16 megapixel matrices. The main feature of the camera is its functions artificial intelligence. Even on the body of the gadget there is a proud inscription “AI camera”.

In AI mode, the camera recognizes your subject and optimizes color, aperture and focus settings for the best results. As a result, the photo turns out rich, clear, with correct focus. For example, when you point at the sky, the app configures the camera to capture the landscape. Historical Museum Nova 3 recognized as "Ancient building".

In bright light, the photos turned out great, and during twilight, too. In some cases, the AI processed the photos so much that the picture on the screen looked better than the real landscape. Examples of photos are in the gallery below (click on pictures to enlarge).

1 of 12

Photo indoors

Photo at dusk

The camera app has advanced settings for the pros, where you can play with shutter speed and ISO. For ordinary users Ready-made modes are available for night photography, photos of bright objects (headlights, light) and water. When shooting portraits, already on the main screen you can turn on background blur or programmatically adjust the aperture (f/0.95 - f/16).

Among the unusual features are all kinds of masks and animated augmented reality stickers. For example, here is a penguin in the office kitchen.

The main camera can record video in Full HD (60 fps) and 4K (30 fps). You can also shoot slow-motion or super slow-motion videos (16x, 480 fps). The quality of panoramas depends on the straightness of your hands and the movement in the frame. Stationary objects and buildings come out perfectly, without noticeable transitions or artifacts.

A dual main camera will no longer surprise anyone, but a dual front camera is not so common. But what won’t you do for beautiful selfies? Nova 3 is doing great in this regard - the front camera supports AI mode and is equipped with two 24 and 2 megapixel matrices. This pair recognizes a face faster during unlocking and more accurately highlights the foreground when blurring the background.

In addition to the standard slider that adjusts the smoothness of the skin and the beauty of the face, the front camera has a huge list of functions for taking selfies. There are 3D Qmoji - funny avatars that repeat your facial expressions. There are effects in the spirit of Snapchat: all kinds of ears, bows, hearts... You can turn yourself into a cute cat with big eyes or a Christmas reindeer. The filters include different backgrounds that will take your portrait under palm trees, into space, or wherever your heart desires. You can also take a selfie with a 3D effect, and then change the background and lighting on the finished photo.

Selfie with blurred background and “improvers”

Our colleague took a couple of funny photos with different filters. When taking standard selfies, the camera clearly separates the foreground from the background and does not blur the edges of the face or hair. But when adding a background, the algorithm may fail and cut off part of the hairstyle or arm.

AI on the front camera works the same way as on the main one - it makes pictures brighter, richer and more colorful. Here are two selfies taken with and without AI mode. In the left photo the colors are noticeably brighter, but less true to reality.

This processing saves pictures taken in poor lighting, but initially nice photos They seem unnaturally bright and saturated if you overdo it with “improvers” like the AI mode.

Autonomy

Battery: 3750 mAh
Operating time: 24 hours without recharging
Charging time: 90 minutes

Nova 3 has a non-removable battery with a capacity of 3750 mAh. Considering the large screen size and powerful hardware, we did not expect that the gadget would be able to work for a long time without recharging. But Huawei pleasantly surprised us: throughout the test week, the smartphone calmly survived until the end of the day and required recharging only in the morning.

We measured energy consumption with Wi-Fi on, saving mode and average screen brightness. After half an hour of playing videos on YouTube, the gadget lost 5% of its charge. For half an hour of surfing the Internet - another 5%. The “Camera” application brought the most “losses” - during a half-hour shoot, the charge dropped by 9%.

The smartphone's battery supports fast charging technology, and these are not empty words: the gadget charges really quickly - from 10 to 100% in 90 minutes. But the Nova 3 does not have a wireless charging function, but this cannot be called a significant drawback.

True, the newcomer, compact by ZenFone standards, still remains unreasonably wide and thick, the operating system is disappointing with its outdated design, and the pre-installed applications will break the hell out of you. But the screen in ZenFone 3 is much brighter and calibrated no worse than in nova, battery life is even slightly better (with a less capacious battery), the camera shoots rather stupidly in fully automatic mode, but is capable of producing nice picture in manual. The choice between these two models essentially comes down to taste and depends on personal sympathies towards Huawei or ASUS.

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)

Surprisingly, even a year after its release, the “glamorous” Galaxy A5 does not look outdated - it is still beautiful, reliable and boasts a now scarce, perfectly calibrated AMOLED display. Last year, this Galaxy was so good that it crushed all competitors by a huge margin.

True, the years and months take their toll, so in comparison with the new “classmates” it is no longer so fast, is poorly adapted to overgrown applications (2 GB of RAM is not enough for a middle-class model today), takes photos worse and is very seriously behind in the quality of selfies. cameras. That is, the A5 (2016) is no longer suitable for geeks who are tired of the performance race, but it is still suitable for purchase as an inexpensive “eto-Samsung”.

Huawei Nova dual sim is one of the main new products of the end of 2016 from a well-known manufacturer. There is an opinion that initially 2 new Nova series smartphones were supposed to become new Nexus, or perhaps the company simply decided to pleasantly surprise its fans with excellent mid-price devices.

The characteristics of the Huawei Nova smartphone are far from the only advantage, because they offer us a very stylish gadget. It is distinguished by its compact size and bright metal body. You can purchase models in grey, gold and silver.

Huawei Nova is pretty compact smartphone in a metal case. The model is slightly smaller than the flagships Huawei P9 and Galaxy S7, and is available in gray, gold and silver body colors.

Huawei Nova design

While reviewing the Huawei Nova, we noticed that in its appearance it is very similar to the Huawei Nexus 6P, but due to its smaller size it is perceived completely differently. The edges of the case are rounded, and the chamfers on the metal are made in such a way that the device fits well in the hand and nothing digs into the user’s palm. The smartphone is essentially the optimal solution, because it has a medium weight, impressive design and compact size, which makes it an excellent option for the maximum number of users.

While preparing the review of the Huawei Nova smartphone, we did not notice anything unnecessary in its design.

The front side is decorated with a company logo, and plastic inserts on the back side improve the quality of signal reception. They fit very harmoniously and do not attract attention special attention. Regardless of the color of the case, the frames around the display seem small and barely noticeable. In this regard, the colors turned out to be successful, which allows everyone to choose a device to their taste.

Huawei phone Nova 32 GB review showed that the appearance is still not without features. The smartphone is perfectly highlighted by the red chamfer on the power key, which looks very impressive. Of course, the build quality, location of control keys and ergonomics do not cause any complaints. A big plus is that there is a notification indicator.

Above the display there is a front camera, sensors, a notification indicator and a speaker. Below it is the company logo. The panel is covered with 2.5D glass.

The back side is made in the style of Nexus 6P. There is a glass insert on top that contains the main camera module and flash. A little lower is a fingerprint scanner recessed into the body, chrome-plated around the edges. The company logo appears at the bottom, trademarks, as well as a compact silver insert.

The power and volume keys are located on the right side. They are comfortable even when operated with one hand. There is an antenna strip in the upper part of the right end.

There is a SIM card and flash drive tray on the left, which can be removed using a paper clip. The main strip of the antenna runs a little higher.

At the bottom end there is a USB Type-C port, a multimedia speaker, a pair of antenna strips and two screws.

On the top edge there is only a microphone hole and a 3.5 mm jack.

Huawei Nova review in Russian did not reveal any elevators or other defects in the case. By the way, its weight is 146 grams and its thickness is only 7.1 mm.

The only drawback will be the screen coating, which literally attracts fingerprints. Fortunately, thanks to the oleophobic coating, they are easy to remove.

Display Huawei Nova

Huawei Nova smartphone display characteristics are very impressive. We have a 5-inch IPS screen with FullHD resolution. The contrast is 1:1500 and the brightness level is 450 nits. The Huawei Nova display boasts a wide color gamut and a slightly higher color temperature. Using a smartphone is a pleasure, because its screen displays bright and natural colors that are pleasant to perceive.

Automatic brightness adjustment works correctly, accurately adjusting settings to suit current lighting conditions. In the sun, the image is easy to read due to a good reserve of brightness, but the contrast is slightly lost.

In the settings menu, you can set the color temperature, customizing the picture to suit you. IN cold weather The “With gloves” mode will help out, increasing the sensitivity of the screen. We also added a special “Eye Protection” mode, which will be useful when working with a smartphone for a long time. When it is turned on, the picture becomes warmer and turns into a yellowish tint. Huawei Nova review shows that the price of the device is 100% justified.

Huawei Nova technical specifications

The smartphone is based on a modern Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, built on an 8-core architecture. Cortex-A53 cores operate at frequencies up to 2 GHz. The Adreno 506 video accelerator is responsible for 3D graphics. The Huawei Nova phone's characteristics and price fully correspond to the average price category. This combination turned out to be very productive in games and everyday use. All this is complemented by 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory.

The device has a hybrid tray. Each user will have to decide to use two SIM cards, or one SIM card and microSD card. The main difference of the new processor is that it is built using a 14 nm process technology. As a result, the case does not heat up as much even under intense loads, and in addition, battery life has improved. Huawei Nova dual sim review has an NFC sensor, radio and a fingerprint scanner with good accuracy.

Smartphone Huawei Nova gray specifications were discussed in detail as part of our review. The multimedia speaker has an excellent volume reserve, so it’s comfortable to listen to music, watch movies and play games on the phone, and you definitely won’t miss a call.

The sound is clear, all frequencies are transmitted well. The conversational speaker has an average volume and perfectly conveys the voices of the interlocutors. The Huawei Nova lte gold review included testing with headphones, where clear and very loud sound was also observed. It is worth highlighting the DTS equalizer, which can make the sound more interesting and spacious. And with the help of a pre-installed application, you can make adjustments to different headsets.

Autonomy Huawei Nova

The device has a 3020 mAh battery, which provides autonomy for two days with average use. Under intense loads, including watching videos via 3G and Wi-Fi, frequently turning on the camera and navigation, the battery lasted for a day. The Nova Plus version has slightly better autonomy, but here we get more compact dimensions and less weight.

But the lack of fast charging is a huge drawback, because with the modern pace of life, no one can afford to wait a long time for their phone to charge.

Cameras

Huawei Nova phone camera review showed that this is one of the strengths devices. The main module has a resolution of 12 MP with a non-standard pixel size (1.25 microns), as well as an aperture of F/2.2. It uses a hybrid focusing system and has a flash, but it consists of a single LED. Like most of price competitors, the gadget takes good pictures during the day in normal lighting conditions. Photos are taken with natural color reproduction, focusing works quickly and accurately. But in poor lighting conditions, the quality of the images degrades greatly.

Noise reduction works automatically and reduces detail. Sometimes the shots turn out to be sharp, but the camera copes with color reproduction with a bang. Huawei Nova 32 GB smartphone camera review demonstrated that it is good by modern standards, but you should not expect anything revolutionary from it.

The video is shot in a maximum resolution of 4K, but in any mode the quality is at an average level. The camera is somewhat inferior to the older Nova Plus, which is certainly disappointing.

Huawei Nova's review of the front camera did not disappoint - the pictures come out beautiful, especially in good lighting. An 8 megapixel resolution, f/2.0 aperture and a huge variety of shooting modes are what sets the device apart from its competitors. Special modes automatically improve photos by removing skin imperfections. When you turn on the “Makeup” mode, the camera will complete one of the user-selected makeup effects.

Interface

While conducting a review of Huawei Nova gray, we studied in detail its EMUI 4.1 shell, based on Android 6 version. The EMUI 5.0 shell update, built on Android 7, is expected to be released soon. Not everyone will like the interface design and the original list of active applications, but you quickly get used to it. IN general outline The shell is very beautiful, comfortable and functional. The manufacturer continues to improve it, offering users more and more new features as updates are released. The smartphone notifies you about applications that consume a lot of battery power in the background.

There are proprietary applications for clock, calendar, dialer and messages. Using the manager, you can configure many aspects related to operation installed programs. For each of them, you can set the types of notifications displayed or disable them altogether. You can also restrict application access to the network.

A review of Huawei Nova 32gb showed that many Android features have migrated to the shell, but there are also a lot of original solutions.

Conclusion

Huawei Nova 32gb is the best phone in its price category. When you take it in your hand, there is no feeling of being on a budget; you can see that it is well-built. The smartphone is very close to the flagships, offering users good technical characteristics combined with a high-quality display, cameras, a comfortable shell and a bright design. This is an ideal option for those who want to get a high-quality device in all respects, but without overpaying for an expensive flagship.

Advantages:

Premium case materials and design;
Good display;
Excellent filling for its price level;
Good autonomy indicators;
Cameras.

Flaws:

There is no support for fast charging and 5 GHz Wi-Fi.

Where can I buy? Subscribe to our Zen channel, there are many more interesting things waiting for you there.

Your rating for the smartphone:

Huawei Nova (G9) occupies a niche in the mid-segment of smartphones. This device was announced at the IFA 2016 exhibition in early September. This gadget was the first in a completely new line of the Chinese manufacturer. The main emphasis here is on appearance, which can be called premium.

Design and ergonomics

Huawei Nova (G9) looks truly impressive. The aluminum body has a slightly curved shape. as well as neatly rounded corners. In terms of overall design, the smartphone is very similar to the Nexus 6P. At the same time, the new product has more advanced and high-quality materials. A round fingerprint scanner is located on the back side. It can also be used as a smart touch key. The side frames near the screen are 1.5 mm thick, which is almost invisible. It is worth noting that the display occupies 76% of the area of the front of the device. This makes the device extremely compact and stylish. The impressive 2.5D glass completely covers the screen, and the power button is illuminated in red. All this together looks really beautiful. Moreover, the gadget fits perfectly in the palm of your hand and evokes only positive emotions during use. Inside there is a non-removable 3020 mAh battery. Dimensions of Nova (G9): height - 141.2 mm, width - 69.1 mm, thickness - 7.1 mm, weight - 146 g. Case color - pink, gold, silver, gray.

Display

The high-quality IPS matrix has increased brightness and very rich colors. Therefore, the 5-inch screen stands out with rich colors. The Full HD resolution with the highest pixel density per inch (441) also plays in favor of this display. The picture has incredible detail and contrast. The anti-reflective coating is not bad, but I would like better results in the sun.

Hardware and performance

Good performance of the Nova smartphone (G9) is guaranteed by the Snapdragon 625 processor. This fresh chip with eight cores can be overclocked at maximum loads up to 2000 MHz. Avid gamers will be pleased to know that the advanced 3D accelerator Adreno 506 is located here, which allows you to run the vast majority of games at maximum graphic settings. For better performance, there is 3 GB of RAM. Another 32 GB are allocated for file storage needs. With MicroSD cards this volume can easily be increased to 256 GB. It is noteworthy that the second SIM slot is combined here. Android 6.0 is operating system, which is greatly modified by the proprietary EMUI 4.1 interface.

In the AnTuTu test, the new Huawei Nova (G9) scores more than 62,000 points, which seems to be an excellent indicator for a mid-level smartphone. In GeekBench 3: multi-core mode - 4500 points, single-core mode - 800 points. The device can handle 99% of programs without any problems. Everything is also excellent in games, so this gadget is almost ideal for such entertainment.

Communication and sound

During a conversation, the interlocutor can always be heard really clearly. You can freely connect to 3G, 2G or 4G networks. The musical side of the device pleasantly surprises with its sophistication the smallest details. It uses DTS Headphone X technology, which makes the sound in the headphones deep and rich. You need to have a truly advanced headset to unlock the potential of your smartphone. The speaker is very clear and has clear sound.

Camera

The Huawei Nova (G9) has a main 12-megapixel camera that can shoot video in 4K and also has phase detection autofocus. There is a dual LED flash for efficient shooting at night. Big size pixels allows you to capture a lot of light, so even in low light, the pictures are quite decent. The updated camera interface is very convenient and attractive. The front 8-megapixel camera also leaves a good impression.

Conclusion

For its $400 price tag, the Nova (G9) turns out to be an interesting smartphone with an attractive design and progressive materials. In this regard, it easily competes even with recognized flagships. The balanced filling makes it possible not to experience discomfort during intensive use. As for the equipment, it is quite ordinary for this class of devices (cable, charging, instructions).

Pros:

Chic appearance.
High quality display.
Two good cameras.
Great sound.
Excellent performance from an energy efficient chip.

Minuses:

No NFC and some functions.

Technical specifications of Huawei Nova (G9)

General characteristics
Model	Huawei G9, Huawei Nova, CAN-L02 CAN-L12, CAN-L01 CAN-L11, CAN-L01 CAN-L13
Date of announcement/start of sales	September 2016 / October 2016
Dimensions	141.2 x 69.1 x 7.1 mm.
Weight	146 gr.
Case color range	Prestige Gold, Mystic Silver, Titanium Gray
Number and type of SIM cards	One SIM (Nano-SIM) or two SIM (Nano-SIM, simultaneous operation)
operating system	Android OS, v6.0.1 + EMUI 4.1
Communication standard in 2G networks	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2CDMA 800
Communication standard in 3G networks	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 - CAN-L01 and CAN-L11HSDPA 800 / 850 / 2100 - CAN-L02 and CAN-L12HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 - CAN-L03 and CAN-L13
Communication standard in 4G networks	LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 8(900), 20(800), 38(2600) - CAN-L01 and CAN-L11LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 18(800), 19(800), 28(700), 38(2600), 40(2300) - CAN-L02 and CAN-L12LTE band 2( 1900), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 28(700), 12(700), 17(700) - CAN-L03 and CAN-L13
Display
Screen type	IPS LCD, 16 million colors
Screen size	5 inches
Screen resolution	1080 x 1920 @441 ppi
Multitouch	yes, up to 10 simultaneous touches
Screen protection	Gorilla Glass 3
Sound
3.5mm jack	There is
FM radio	There is
Additionally
Data transfer
USB	Type-C 1.0 reversible connector
Satellite navigation	GPS (A-GPS), GLONASS
WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth	v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
Internet connection	LTE, Cat4; HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, EDGE, GPRS
NFC	No
Platform
CPU	Octa-core Qualcomm MSM8953 Snapdragon 625 (2.0 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU	Adreno 506
RAM	3GB
Inner memory	32 GB
Supported memory cards	microSD up to 256GB (uses a combined SIM/microSD slot)
Camera
Camera	12 MP, phase detection autofocus, LED flash
Camera functions	1.25 µm pixel size, geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama
Video recording	2160p@30fps
Front-camera	8 MP
Battery
Battery type and capacity	Non-removable Li-Po 3020 mAh
Additionally
Sensors	Light, proximity, gyroscope, compass, accelerometer, fingerprint scanner
Other	- MP4/H.264 player - MP3/eAAC+/WAV/Flac player — Document viewer — Photo/video editor
Equipment
Standard equipment	Huawei Nova: 1 USB cable: 1 User manual: 1 Warranty card: 1 Charger 5V/2A: 1

Prices

Video reviews

The two main new products of the end of the year from Huawei are the Nova line of smartphones. There are rumors that initially they were supposed to be the new Nexus, or maybe the company just decided to please customers good smartphones middle price segment. Previously, we managed to get acquainted with , but only the small Nova entered the Ukrainian market - the company’s compact devices are in great demand. Let's try to figure out why.

Design and usability

Huawei Nova is a fairly compact smartphone with a metal body. The model is slightly smaller than the flagships and Galaxy S7, available in grey, gold and silver body colors.

The appearance is reminiscent of last year's Huawei Nexus 6P, but thanks to its much smaller size, the device is perceived differently. The corners of the case are slightly rounded, the chamfers on the metal are made correctly, so nothing digs into the palm. I would like to call Huawei Nova optimal - it has an average weight and a fairly neutral design that will suit the maximum number of buyers.

The only accent with which Huawei is trying to flirt with the user is the red chamfer on the power key.

There are no complaints about formal things like assembly, accuracy of fitting of parts, location of controls and convenience of keys; everything is done well. There is an indicator of missed events.

Display

The entire front panel is covered by a protruding protective glass with rounded edges and an oleophobic coating. Underneath it lies a 5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. The manufacturer claims that the display has a contrast ratio of 1:1500 and a brightness of 450 nits.

Our measurements showed that the backlight brightness varies from 3 to 403 cd/m², and the contrast is 1 in 1080 - these are also good indicators.

In terms of color quality, the display boasts a slightly expanded color gamut and slightly higher color temperature. The gamma curve deviates from the norm, but this cannot be called critical, since no problems with color rendering are observed by eye. The display pleases with rich natural colors, the image is pleasing to the eye.

Automatic brightness adjustment works quite accurately and sets the backlight level to match the ambient light. In the sun, the image remains readable and distinguishable, but loses contrast.

You can also change the color temperature in the settings to customize the image to your liking. There is a “With Gloves” control mode that increases the sensitivity of the touch layer, which is especially useful in winter. They also added an “Eye Protection” mode. It can be useful when reading from a smartphone screen for a long time, because the image becomes warmer and acquires a yellowish tint.

Hardware platform, operating time and multimedia capabilities

Like the older Nova Plus, the regular Huawei Nova is built on the current Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 hardware platform. The chipset includes eight Cortex-A53 processor cores operating at frequencies up to 2 GHz and an Adreno 506 video core.

The result is a relatively productive solution. Better than last year’s devices on the Snapdragon 615, but simpler than single devices on the Snapdragon 650 and flagships on 800 series chips. In any case, the smartphone is fast in everyday use and the platform's capabilities are sufficient for modern games.

The memory capacity is standard for modern mid-high segment smartphones: 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory. Nova has a hybrid SIM tray, so users' choice is limited to installing one NanoSIM and a memory card or two SIM cards without MicroSD.

But the main thing is hidden inside. Unlike last year's chips, Snapdragon 625 is made using a 14 nm process technology. This made it possible to get rid of the case heating under load (during games, active data transfer via 3G, etc.) and significantly increase the operating time.

With a 3020 mAh battery under average load, the smartphone works without problems for two days showing 6-7 hours of active display. In high load mode, with watching videos via 3G and Wi-Fi, frequent use of the camera or navigation, the device will work without problems for a day with a reserve. The autonomy of the model is slightly less than that of Nova Plus, but taking into account the size of the case and battery capacity, the operating time is still good.

The only thing missing is the fast charging function and support Wi-Fi networks 5 GHz - these shortcomings are common to Nova models. Otherwise, Huawei Nova is a standard solution. There is an NFC module, FM radio, and a fast and accurate fingerprint scanner. A symmetrical USB Type-C connector is used for charging and data transfer.

The only speaker is on the bottom edge. In call mode it is loud enough and in most cases you will not miss the ringing tone. There are also no complaints about the quality - the sound is clear. The earpiece retains the recognition of the interlocutors' voices and has a normal volume.

The quality of music playback is at a level comparable to its competitors. The sound is clear and detailed, with enough power to drive most in-ear headphones. We would like to separately note the DTS equalizer - sometimes it can make the sound subjectively more interesting, detailed, and voluminous. A dedicated application allows you to select the scene mode and adjustment for different headphones, including branded Huawei ones.

Cameras

The main camera of the smartphone is based on a 12 megapixel sensor with an increased pixel size (1.25 microns) and high-aperture optics (f/2.2). A hybrid autofocus system (phase-contrast) is used, and there is a flash from a single diode.

Like most of its competitors, the Nova shoots reasonably well during the day and in normal lighting. Pictures are obtained with natural color reproduction, autofocus works quickly and accurately. The camera copes worse with shooting in low light and at night. Noise reduction reduces detail, sometimes the pictures are not sharp, although in terms of color rendition the camera does a good job. In general, Huawei Nova will not surprise, but it will definitely not disappoint - the smartphone has a normal camera by modern standards.

If time permits, you can try special modes shooting. Huawei has completely manual mode, which allows you to independently configure all shooting parameters. There is a simplified night mode in which you can only change ISO and shutter speed.

A set of “Light” modes allows you to take artistic photographs of a night city (“Lantern Light”), drawings with a flashlight or other point source (“Light Graffiti”), there are modes for shooting waterfalls and the starry sky. They all take long exposure photos or “stitch” multiple photos together, so it’s best to use a tripod to get the best shot. Examples of work can be found in

The smartphone can shoot video in 4K resolution, but regardless of the resolution, its quality is average. The camera is inferior to the older Huawei Nova and this is a little disappointing.

The front module is based on an 8 megapixel sensor with wide-angle optics (f/2.0). The selfie camera is quite good in most situations. A definite “trick” is the special selfie shooting modes. There are the usual modes for smoothing out skin unevenness and removing defects (“Decoration”), as well as a “Makeup” mode. The latter works predictably - it completes one of the selected makeup options, coloring the lips and eyes.

Software platform

The smartphone runs Android 6.0 and the proprietary EMUI 4.1 interface. At the beginning of 2017, the company promises to update Nova to Android 7.0 and the latest version of the EMUI 5.0 shell (presumably in March).

Some may not be satisfied with the interface design or the non-standard appearance of the list of recently running applications, but in general the shell is quite functional. For example, by default, the smartphone updates the screensavers on the lock screen and reports energy-intensive applications that waste power in standby mode. The native calendar, clock, phone and messaging apps are functional. There is support for themes.

"Phone Manager" allows you to configure many aspects related to work third party applications. For each program, you can select the types of notifications displayed or disable them. There is a function to clear memory from unnecessary files cache or applications remaining after deleting. Individual application access to the Internet via Wi-Fi and mobile connections is also configured.

Some of the functionality is standard for Android, some is available using third-party programs, but in Phone Manager everything is initially collected in one place.