Review of Huawei nova. Workhorse

Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer compact models of smartphones, so we could not pass by Huawei Nova, even though it has been on the market for a long time. This is a lightweight 5-inch smartphone that is equipped with a SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, good main camera, USB port Type-C and NFC module, besides there is an FM radio. We got a sample for the Chinese market for testing, which by and large differs from global version only absence NFC support as well as the "China Mobile" lettering on the lid. All other differences (lack of Google applications, hieroglyphs in the pre-installed software) can be easily eliminated.

Specifications

Appearance and usability

The front side of the smartphone is quite reminiscent of the Huawei P8 Lite 2017, which we recently tested. But unlike the more affordable solution, Huawei Nova is enclosed not in plastic and glass, but in metal, and the back and sides of the case are made of a single piece, due to which the thin device under test has high torsional rigidity. When tapping on the body, the keys do not rattle. The front side is covered with a protective Corning Gorilla Glass with a pronounced 2.5D effect, which is why an additional protective glass is available as options from third party manufacturers looks like a saddle on a cow on a smartphone. However, there is no urgent need for it, because the display surface is resistant to scratches, and after a week of active use, including transportation in a pocket along with a bunch of keys, not a single scratch appeared on the screen.

In front of the display is the sensor unit, the front camera window, and the earpiece. At the bottom, under the display, only the Huawei inscription is visible. On the back side, at the bottom and top of the aluminum panel, there are small areas of plastic inserts that hide the antennas.

It is noteworthy that the inserts are not symmetrical, and not only the shape differs, but also the color. In the tested modification, the bottom insert is painted in the same color as the rear panel, and the top one is white. On the back there is a camera, a flash, consisting of one LED, as well as the familiar round fingerprint sensor. The latter allows you to control the notification curtain, take a photo, flip through the footage, control the alarm and respond to incoming call... In general, everything is standard for Huawei smartphones, but it's still pretty damn convenient. In addition, the sensor is very sensitive and fast.

On the left side surface, only the tray for installing two SIM-cards is noticeable, one of which can be replaced with a microSD data carrier. On the right side surface are the volume and lock keys. The latter is highlighted along the perimeter with a red stripe, which in the photo is perceived as LED backlighting, but in fact it is just a coating.

Above is a mini-jack 3.5 mm headset / headphone jack, as well as a microphone. Installed at the bottom end USB connector Type-C as well as system speaker. Unlike Huawei P8 Lite 2017, the manufacturer did not add a second grille for symmetry, so that less dust gets into the case.

All smartphone photos

Software

Out of the box, the smartphone works under Android 6.0 with EMUI 4.1 shell, but immediately after connecting to the network, the smartphone offers an upgrade to Android 7.0 and EMUI 5.0. The update process takes place in full automatic mode... The EMUI 5.0 add-on has already been reviewed in the review. We got a version for the Chinese market with the model code CAZ-TL10 for testing, so we had to install google apps(which can be done from the pre-installed Huawei HiApp app store), and also uninstall all Chinese apps with characters.

Display

The smartphone uses a display with FullHD resolution, which is even redundant for 5 inches, because with such a diagonal it is extremely difficult to see individual points even at HD resolution. By the way, in the settings of the power saving modes, a transition to HD resolution is provided, and, as practice has shown, it is almost impossible to notice this change, so this setting can be activated immediately. The screen supports up to 10 simultaneous touches and also recognizes knuckle control. With the maximum brightness of the tested smartphone, the situation is not the best - at the maximum brightness of the backlight, only 377.58 cd / m2 was recorded, while the more affordable Huawei P8 Lite 2017 - 537.6 cd / m2. In this case, the brightness of the black field is 0.47 cd / m2, which is an average indicator for IPS-matrices. The color gamut is significantly larger than the standard sRGB color space, and, importantly, it completely covers it. Delta E color deviation is relatively large. On the gray wedge, the deviation ranges from 2.7 ... 20.8, and on the primary colors (RGBCMY) - 3.7 ... 9.6. Recall that for non-professional consumer technology, a deviation of up to 10 is considered normal, and the human eye cannot catch a deviation of up to 3 at all. The color rendition is also not the best - with a noticeable dominance of blue shades and a lack of red. The color temperature in the entire luminosity range is in the range of 8146 ... 8522 K, which is essentially a familiar phenomenon for smartphones. As in all modern Huawei smartphones, the Nova provides the ability to adjust the color temperature, but not by specifying a specific color temperature, but by choosing a preset (by default, warm, cold) or by shifting the slider on the color field. Also worth noting is the eye protection function that reduces UV radiation. This function can be activated either manually or on a schedule.

Sound

The work of the microphone is not satisfactory - the interlocutor hears speech well even when speaking in a whisper. The speaker sounds loud and clear, without any significant distortion. Unfortunately, this speaker is not used as a system speaker, so there is no stereo sound without headphones. The system speaker is, frankly, not the best. The sound is flat, without bass at all, and the high-frequency range is barely noticeable. However, with a well-chosen melody, it will still be difficult to miss an incoming call, because the speaker is loud enough. When reproducing a sinusoidal signal with a frequency of 1 kHz, the sound pressure level at a distance of 1 meter was 77 dBA, which is a very good result.

It should be noted right away that it was not possible to test the sound quality at the analog audio output using the Right Mark Audio Analуzer package due to strong signal processing, which could not be turned off. The signal level at the analog output turned out to be quite high. When playing a sinusoidal signal with a frequency of 1 kHz, the level was fixed at 362.4 mV, which will allow the headphones to swing with an average impedance.

Performance

The smartphone is based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, made on the 14 nm FinFET LPP process technology, which in theory should provide low battery consumption. This is an 8-core solution based on the Cortex-A53 architecture, with all cores operating at up to 2 GHz. The video subsystem is based on the Adreno 506. The volume of a single-channel random access memory type LPDDR3 933 MHz is either 4 GB or 3 GB, as in the test sample. The volume of ROM in the tested modification is 32 GB, but there are also versions with built-in storage with a capacity of 64 GB.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

System performance was measured in synthetics PCMark, 3DMark, Geekbanch 4 and AnTuTu v6. Memory speed was evaluated using the AndroBench application. The following smartphones were taken as opponents:
: Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, 8 cores (8 × 2 GHz), 5.2 inches, 1920 × 1080 pixels;
: HiSilicon Kirin 655, 8 cores (4 × 2.1 GHz + 4 × 1.7 GHz), 5.2 inches, 1920 × 1080 pixels;
: Qualcomm Snapdragon 617, 8 cores (4 × 1.5 GHz, 4 × 1.2 GHz), 5.2 inches, 1920 × 1080 pixels

Testing was also carried out in cross-platform javascript tests (Mozilla Kraken JavaScript and SunSpider). The results of these tests significantly depend on the browser used, therefore, to minimize the impact, all reviews will use Google chrome as the most common.

Camera

The main camera is based on a Sony Exmor RS IMX386 CMOS matrix. It is a sensor with a physical size of 1 / 2.9 ", a pixel size of 1.25x1.25 microns and a resolution of 12 megapixels. This model Chinese manufacturers like to install sensors in their top models. For example, it can be found in Xiaomi Mi6 and MiMix 2, as well as in the whole brood of smartphone models from Meizu (MX6, Pro 6s, Pro 6 Plus and X). The lens aperture is standard - f / 2.0.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

V manual mode settings, the following parameters can be changed: metering mode, exposure compensation, shutter speed, focusing mode, white balance setting (including manual setting of color temperature in the range of 2000 ... 8000 K in 100 K increments), as well as sensitivity in the ISO range 100… 3200 in one-third stop increments. It is noteworthy that in automatic mode the minimum sensitivity level is limited to ISO 50. The built-in flash based on one LED turned out to be very powerful - at a distance of 1 meter from the smartphone, a level of 42 lux was recorded. This is not a record, but the indicator is very good.

Transferring camera control using the Camera 2 API is not possible. Shooting in RAW is not provided, therefore, it was not possible to assess the noise of the matrix due to the significant software processing pictures. To assess the image quality, the test pattern was captured with all available sensitivity values. Below are the crop fragments.

Sample pictures

Macro photography

Low light shooting

Illumination 50 lux	Illumination 50 lux + flash	Illumination 3 lux + flash

The front camera is based on the Sony Exmor RS IMX219 sensor. The physical size of the sensor is 1/4 ”, the pixel size is 1.12x1.12 microns, and the resolution is 8 megapixels. This sensor is often found in Chinese smartphones costing $ 100 or less, but in place of the main camera. Lens aperture f / 2.0. The settings provide a retouching mode with the ability to specify the level of activity of this function, as well as the "Makeup" mode.

Video recording mode

The smartphone is capable of recording not only the usual FullHD video, but also clips with a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels. Of course, the stream is limited to 25 frames per second. The bitrate of clips with FullHD resolution is 20.4 Mbps, and when recording 4K video - 42.2 Mbps. Electronic stabilization is available, but not available when recording 4K clips.

Example of 4K video recording

Example of FullHD video recording

An example of recording FullHD video without stabilization

Example of FullHD video recording with stabilization

Autonomous work

The smartphone is equipped with a 3020 mAh battery, which, according to the manufacturer, is enough for two days of operation. In practice, without games, the smartphone is really able to hold out for two days, but by the evening of the second day, charging will be required. The settings for power saving modes are very flexible. In addition to the preset "power saving mode" (limiting background activity, disabling synchronization Email, decrease visual effects) and "ultra" (only selected applications are available), the function of downgrading the display from FullHD to HD is provided. On a relatively small screen, the difference between these resolutions is almost impossible. But for the purity of the experiment, measurements of the duration autonomous work v different modes the work was carried out at the maximum screen resolution. All the same smartphones were chosen as opponents, as when comparing performance.

Conclusion

In general, the smartphone left a positive impression. It has compact dimensions, so it fits comfortably in the hand, both male and female. With a modest thickness, the body of the smartphone has high torsional rigidity. In addition, Huawei Nova has a rather powerful sound on the analog audio output, a very good camera with the ability to record 4K video, and you shouldn't forget about a good battery life. The only disappointing thing is the far from the best display calibration, as well as the low performance of the system-on-a-chip used. The version for the Chinese market does not support NFC, so if you like Huawei Nova, then you should turn your eyes to the global version.
Let's briefly go over the merits and demerits.
Minuses:
- relatively low display brightness;
- display calibration;
- no support for Wi-Fi 5 GHz;
- the performance of the system-on-a-chip used.
Pros:
- thin and durable metal case;
— high quality assemblies;
- USB Type-C;
- NFC (not available in the version for the Chinese market);
- FM radio (for some, this can also be a plus);
- powerful sound on analog audio output;
- relatively powerful LED flash;
- the ability to record 4K video;
- long enough autonomous work.

If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.

Editorials gg I really liked the compact handsome Huawei Nova, which was presented at the IFA 2016 exhibition and has been on sale in our market for some time, so we nevertheless decided to review it, albeit not at the start of sales.

What is it?

Huawei Nova is one of the representatives of the still small line, which also includes a larger and more powerful version of Nova Plus, which is not for sale in our country (at least for now). Nova - compact smartphone with 5-inch IPS-screen 1920 × 1080, eight-core Qualcomm mid-range processor, 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory. There is a fingerprint scanner on the back that can be used for some actions and navigation. The body is made of metal and the battery capacity is 3020 mAh.

How does it look and is assembled?

From the front, the smartphone looks like a typical modern representative of Huawei: 2.5D protective glass with rounded edges, a logo on the "chin" and only on-screen navigation buttons. The bezels on the sides are quite narrow, and the rounded edges of the glass enhance this effect. Above the screen there is a thin slot with a mesh for the earpiece, sensors, front-camera and a bright LED for notifications:

The metal frame has bevels and a rounded shape. In the upper part of the side faces there are small plastic inserts for the antennas. The power and volume buttons have the usual placement:

Additional microphone and headphone jack - on the top edge:

The tray is located on the left:

Most modern Huawei smartphones (and not only) are equipped with a hybrid tray. Nova is no exception. Either two nanoSIMs, or a memory card and nanoSIM:

At the bottom end there are two more plastic inserts, a symmetrical USB Type-C connector, slots for an external speaker and microphone:

Despite the family affinity with the Nova Plus, in terms of design, it has much more in common with the Nexus 6P. The back panel is very similar: in the same place is a round fingerprint scanner. At the bottom there is a small plastic insert for the antennas:

At the top there is a glass insert similar to the Nexus 6P with the main camera module:

Thanks to its compact size and rounded shape, the smartphone is very comfortable, you can use it with one hand without any problems. Everything is fine with the build quality, all the parts fit well, and there is nothing to wobble about. The golden color is not for everybody, I think the girls will like it. I would prefer gray or silver.

How good is the screen?

Huawei Nova is equipped with an IPS-screen with a diagonal of 5 inches and a resolution of 1920 × 1080, the pixel density is about 440 ppi. The manufacturer does not indicate the type protective glass, so there is no point in making any assumptions about its durability. Oleophobic coating is present. The screen itself is of very good quality. Of course, you can't see the pixels. Color reproduction is very good, although some inaccuracy of the factory calibration is visible to the naked eye. The stock of brightness is very impressive, with viewing angles things are not bad either, but at large angles the brightness drops significantly, and the picture goes even more blue:

In terms of brightness and contrast, there are no complaints about the smartphone. Measurements with a colorimeter showed the maximum brightness value of 432.057 cd / m2, black field brightness 0.397 cd / m2, contrast ratio: 1088: 1. Factory calibration is not the best, there is a significant bias towards blue:

There is a traditional patching utility that is almost unchanged in every version of the EMUI shell:

Comparison with other models:

What about performance and autonomy?

Despite the presence of its own SoC HiSilicon Kirin systems, Huawei also actively uses third-party solutions, in particular Qualcomm. The Huawei Nova has a 64-bit eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 with a clock speed of up to 2.0 GHz. Typical and common solution in the middle price range. RAM of 3 GB is enough for comfortable work. Games run without problems:

The smartphone has 32 GB of internal memory. This volume is quite enough, if you do not install a lot of "heavy" games and upload music in large quantities. The slot is hybrid, as indicated above. Wireless modules: Wi-Fi b / g / n (2.4 GHz only), Bluetooth 4.1 LE, NFC, FM radio and GPS. All this works fine, although now there may be some problems with this, except in the cheapest Chinese smartphones of little-known brands. The battery capacity is 3020 mAh, which is not bad considering the comparatively small screen and an energy efficient processor. A smartphone with a fairly active scenario of use lives for two days. This is syncing over Wi-Fi / 3G, 30 minutes of calls, web surfing and about an hour of games. A very decent indicator.

For those who want to know more

The smartphone has a 14nm 64-bit Qualcomm processor Snapdragon 625 with eight ARM Cortex A53 cores (2 blocks of 4 cores), which are clocked at up to 2 GHz and GPU Adreno 506 with a clock frequency of 650 MHz. RAM - 3 GB LPDDR3. We have repeatedly reviewed smartphones with a similar configuration, so there are no discoveries, typical indicators for a modern smartphone of the mid-price segment (although the benchmarks are slightly higher than those of the Moto Z Play with the same filling and display resolution). Benchmark results:

Is the interface user friendly?

At the time of use, the smartphone was running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS with its own EMUI version 4.1:

We have already considered it several times in different reviews, so there is no point in focusing too much attention. Moreover, an update to Android 7.0 Nougat with EMUI 5.0 should arrive soon (if it has not yet arrived). So we recommend that you get to know her at. The 4.1 shell unloads all applications and widgets to the desktops, there is a simplified version. In 5.0 it is possible to enable a separate application menu:

The shutter consists of two tabs for notifications and switches:

The panel of navigation buttons can be selected, including adding a button to call the curtain:

Additional screenshots:

What's with the camera?

The main camera has a resolution of 12 MP, f / 2.2 aperture, hybrid autofocus and is equipped with an LED flash. Can write 4K video [email protected] fps. Front camera: 8 MP, fixed focus. There is different modes shooting. The mode settings are called by swiping to the right, and the settings of the camera itself - to the left:

The smartphone focuses quickly. Pictures at good lighting are obtained of very decent quality. In the dark, the situation is worse, the pictures are slightly blurry, although you can get something sensible if you try:

In the dry residue

Huawei Nova is a very pleasant and easy-to-use compact smartphone, which is not so common these days given the trend towards larger screen sizes. He looks decent and well built. The filling capacity is enough for any daily tasks, while the smartphone is quite capable of living on a single battery charge for a couple of days. The smartphone is equipped with a very fast fingerprint scanner with additional functionality and a good screen with an impressive margin of brightness. Imperfect calibration can be corrected without any problems with the proprietary utility. A potential buyer may not be satisfied with a hybrid tray, which suggests a choice between a second SIM card and a memory card and an outdated Wi-Fi module (which looks especially strange considering the cost of UAH 10,000).

4 reasons to buy Huawei Nova:

• compact, comfortable body and nice design;
• long battery life;
• fast and multifunctional fingerprint scanner;
• a good screen with an impressive margin of brightness.

2 reasons not to buy Huawei Nova:

• hybrid tray;
• outdated Wi-Fi module.

Huawei Review Nova - metal smartphone from the mid-price segment with a design from the Nexus 6P.

Specifications Huawei Nova:

• Display: IPS, 5 inches, 1920 × 1080, 441 ppi, Gorilla Glass
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 MSM8953, 8 cores (8x Cortex-A53 2.0GHz), Adreno 506 graphics
• RAM: 3 GB
• Built-in memory: 32 GB, microSD support up to 200 GB
• Main camera: 12 MP, aperture F / 2.2, Sony IMX286 sensor, 4K video
• Front camera: 8 MP, F / 2.2
• Communication: 4G, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS, Glonass
• Connectors: USB Type-C, 3.5 mm
• Battery: 3020mAh
• Body material: aluminum
• Colors: white, black, gold
• Operating system: Android 6.0 Marshmallow
• Dimensions: 141.2 x 69.1 x 7.1 mm and weighs 146 grams

The review is written based on the use of Huawei Nova (CAN-L11) 32 GB.

Design. Almost Nexus

In the pictures, the Huawei Nova seemed to me almost a complete clone of the Nexus 6P, a premium Googlephone of 2015, adjusted for budget.

Taking the phone in hand, these feelings faded, but a certain resemblance to a more expensive ancestor is here on the face.

Huawei Nova follows the same design concept. Full aluminum body, glass insert for camera and flash, circular fingerprint reader, antenna insert. Well, very similar to the Huawei Nexus 6P.

All these borrowings have benefited Huawei Nova. The smartphone does not look clumsy, but stylish. For such a mass model, this is definitely a plus, because buyers love it when inexpensive models are "no worse" than flagships. WITH appearance Huawei Nova is just such a case.

The front of the phone also looks good - 2.5D glass with a good oleophobic coating, neatly located front camera, earpiece, proximity and lighting sensors, as well as a very bright LED indicator.

After all these advantages, regretfully, you have to scold the control and power buttons. Yes, they are metal and are in convenient places, but they are pressed with a loud click, similar to a creak. Plus, they dangle noticeably at the slightest finger pressure. I don't know, maybe this is the problem of my particular sample, write in the comments how are you doing with the buttons.

The red edging of the power key seemed redundant to me. Why is this selection? The user will not guess about its purpose? As if the boss came to the designer and said “I want a red button, like the P9! I don't care that she's out of the question here! "

Photos Huawei Nova from all sides:

Ergonomics.

Huawei Nova has a very solid body. The all-metal chassis does not respond in any way, even to active bending or twisting attempts. The phone seems to be made from a single piece of aluminum. V inexpensive smartphones this is rarely seen.

It leaves an imprint during use, the smartphone feels reliable. The weight of 146 grams only adds points.

Small size and smooth 2.5D glass have a positive effect on ergonomics - the phone is comfortable to hold in one hand, even in the pockets of tight jeans or light trousers.

I liked the round fingerprint scanner on the back. Thanks to the indentation, it is easy to find it with your finger. It is fast and accurate, from budget phone you don't even expect this. According to my observations, the Huawei Nova scanner is only 10-15% slower than the top-end Huawei Mate 9.

I am glad that Huawei is pushing the USB Type-C transition in all of its products without making the new port an option for premium smartphones.

Screen. Regular IPS

Huawei Nova's screen doesn't surprise, it just works. Medium 5-inch IPS screen with FHD resolution and 441 ppi density. The display does not cause negative emotions.

Of the pros:

• Brightness at 450-500 cd / m2. Enough even for sunny weather
• Contrast about 1000: 1, like expensive matrices
• True color reproduction, nearly 100% sRGB coverage
• Excellent viewing angles

Cons:

• incorrect white balance. Cool shades prevail in my Huawei Nova
• Large bezels around the screen. It is conspicuous if the front panel is white.

Camera. There are no miracles

The main 12MP camera of the Huawei Nova is based on the Sony IMX286 image sensor, a very popular solution found in the Huawei P9 or Honor 8.

Considering the price segment, Huawei Nova shoots well. The shots are sharp and juicy, especially in the daytime, everything is worse at night, the shots are “noisy”, but bearable.

Due to the hybrid autofocus, shooting is fast, the photos are saved on the fly.

Despite the simplified interface and stripped-down capabilities of the camera application, Huawei Nova has a manual "Professional mode" shooting. It is not as advanced as that of the Mate 9 or P10, but it can help "squeeze all the juice" out of the main camera.

I was surprised that the smartphone even has 4K shooting. Most of the classmates do not. Overall quality is average, not enough optical stabilization, noises are noticeable.

If the user is not mobile photo enthusiast then quality Huawei cameras Nova will be enough.

Examples of photos taken from Huawei Nova. 12 MP, 4: 3 ratio:

Download photo in original resolution:

Examples of filming Huawei Nova. 4K 30 fps resolution:

Software. Wait for Nougat

Devices from some regions of the world have already begun to receive the Android 7.0 Nougat update with EMUI 5.0, but the sample that I had on review did not deign to be updated to the new firmware. The manufacturer promises to send out the update by the end of April.

Despite the lurid icons and odd design, I liked the Huawei shell. It has a lot of tweaks and features that enhance the Android user experience.

Fingerprint scanner gesture control, vision protection mode, power saving mode - all this makes life easier for the average user.

Take a look at the EMUI 5.0 review on Android 7.0 Nougat to see what to expect on the Huawei Nova:

Performance + autonomy. Everything is stable

The computing "heart" of Huawei Nova is the Snadpragon 625 chipset, which is based on 8 Cortex-A53 cores with a maximum clock frequency of 2 GHz and the Adreno 506 video accelerator.

The main advantage of the chipset lies not in its performance, there are no surprises here, but in energy efficiency and stability. Huawei Nova functions quickly as Sony Xperia X with the more powerful Snapdragon 650.

Only in demanding games Huawei Nova loses ground, in everyday tasks it is difficult to notice the difference.

The benchmark results of Huawei Nova demonstrate the performance on the level of smartphones with Snapdragon 808:

Autonomy.

The battery life of the Huawei Nova is okay. A smartphone with a 3000 mAh battery easily lives for a day and a half with the following use case - a lot of Twitter and VK, instant messengers, constant synchronization and Push notifications, at least an hour of YouTube, a couple of hours of music via Bluetooth, Chrome 30 minutes, some photo shooting, calls 20-40 minutes.

In this mode, Huawei Nova was enough for 30-34 hours of operation, the screen was on for about 4.5 hours. The main thing is not to forget to rearrange in the energy saving settings from the item "Productive" to "Smart".

Communication, sound, competitors

The quality of voice transmission from Huawei Nova does not raise any questions. The device supports two Nano SIM cards. The slot is hybrid, you won't be able to put two SIM cards and a memory card, you have to choose.

The compact dimensions of the case facilitate long and comfortable conversations. Once again, I repeat that Huawei has been a leader in communications and voice data transmission for a long time.

The sound of the only external speaker located at the bottom end is loud, on par with the iPhone 6S. Distortion appears at maximum volume. I liked the sound quality in the headphones. Subjectively, the Huawei Nova on the Snapdragon 625 sounds better than the Honor 8 on the Kirin 950.

Competitors.

Huawei Nova has enough analogs in abundance. There are very strong competitors in the price range up to 20,000 rubles. Here are some of the worst:

• Meizu MX6 32Gb Ram 4Gb. Average price in Yandex.Market - 15,000 rubles
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016). Average price - 19,000 rubles
• Xiaomi Mi5S 64Gb. Average price - 18,500 rubles
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017). Average price - 20,000 rubles
• Sony Xperia XA Dual. Average price - 17,500 rubles

Huawei Nova at the time of writing the review balanced at an average price around 20,400 rubles. With so many analogs, Nova can offer only one-piece aluminum body of serious advantages. The same Xiaomi Mi5S or Meizu MX6 offer more and cost less.

This is the main problem of Huawei Nova - competitors are too strong.

***

After three weeks of communication with Huawei Nova, I formed an unambiguous opinion about the device: “it would cost less than 15k - it would become a bestseller”.

Nova turned out to be balanced and comfortable in everyday use. Compact, ergonomic, with high-quality screen, with a battery for 1.5-2 days of work and a good camera.

The controversial shell, which will soon be updated, as well as the inflated price, can scare off the Huawei Nova. It is clear that Huawei is already an A-brand, but other well-known "Chinese" are sold cheaper.

Our review: Huawei Nova - stylish, compact, powerful

We continue to publish device tests under the heading "Our Review". Today we have a recent novelty on the test -. Let's get to the description and tests without further ado. Go!

Specifications Huawei Nova

• Screen: TFT IPS, 5 ", 1920x1080, capacitive, multitouch
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 64-bit Octa-core 2 GHz Cortex-A53
• Graphics Accelerator: Adreno 506
• Operating system: Android 6.0
• RAM: 3 GB
• Built-in memory: 32 GB
• Memory card support: microSDXC (combo slot)
• Communication: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz || UMTS 900/2100 MHz || LTE: 1, 3, 7, 8, 20
• SIM: 2x nano-SIM
• Wireless interfaces: Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.1
• Navigation: GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
• Cameras: main - 12 Mp (flash, autofocus), front - 8 Mp
• Sensors: illumination, proximity, accelerometer, microgyroscope
• Battery: Li-Polymer 3020 mAh, non-removable
• Dimensions: 141.2x69.1x7.1 mm
• Weight: 146 grams

Appearance and assembly

Traditionally, Huawei devices come to us without packaging and packaging. Therefore, let's proceed to assessing the appearance.

With a screen diagonal of 5 inches, it has a fairly compact dimensions of 141.2x69.1x7.1 mm ... The front side is completely covered by 2.5D glass with a neat cutout for the speaker above the screen. There, under the glass, there is a front camera and light and proximity sensors, as well as a light indicator. The bezels around the screen are quite compact.

The front panel, both in appearance and in sensations, reminded Meizu MX3 mini, I decided to take a picture for example

As for the downside, here we have a great similarity with our other guest Nexus 6P. In general, they are completely identical.

In the upper part there is a strip of glass with a camera and LED flash, a little lower in the center is a round fingerprint scanner.

At the bottom, there is a plastic insert for wireless interfaces, which is almost identical in texture to metal.

Let's walk around. On the right, the volume rocker and the power button with an inconspicuous red edging are traditionally located.

On the left is a tray with two slots for nano-sim, or one nano-sim and a microSD card (the second slot is combined).

On the bottom edge there is a modern and rare USB Type C input, as well as a stylish grille for an external speaker and a spoken microphone.

Above is a 3.5mm headset jack and a second microphone.

Overall, it looks and feels great. Interesting appearance, rounded 2.5D glass, stylish metal back cover, pleasant to the touch coating. Perhaps one of best works Huawei in terms of design, at the same time, is not a unique design. The downside is almost identical to the Nexus 6P. The build quality is top notch, no squeaks or other problems were noticed during use.

The smartphone is compact, fits perfectly in the hands, does not slip and leaves a definitely positive impression.

Screen

A 5-inch TFT IPS display with a FullHD resolution of 1920x1080 pixels is responsible for displaying the picture. According to its characteristics, the screen can be classified as advanced - high pixel density of 443 ppi, LTPS and OGS technologies, and anti-glare and oleophobic coating.The viewing angles are large, But at the same time, even compared to cheaper Huawei Honor 5C, the decrease in brightness is more noticeable at higher tilt angles. Colors are slightly warmer than other IPSs, but cooler than SuperAmoled.

The sensor is traditionally capacitive with multitouch up to 10 simultaneous touches. It works very smartly, and at the same time with a pleasant smoothness, which not everyone has.

In general, the screen is unambiguously good and high-tech, but subjectively it feels at the level of more "average" Huawei models.

Cameras

Main 12 MP smartphone camera Huawei nova has a pixel size of 1.25 μM, has a wide aperture with an aperture of F2.2 and a special lens coating.

The camera app is pretty much the same as on the Huawei Y6 II. The set of functions is typical for all devices of the manufacturer, you can read about them in other reviews. There are a number of interesting shooting modes, in particular "Professional", which allows you to change almost all possible shooting parameters manually.

Focusing is very fast, which is provided by a combination of phase (PDAF) and contrast (CAF) focusing technologies. This is what I like about all Huawei smartphones.

In daylight, good detailed shots are obtained, with correct exposure and white balance.

Indoor shooting is also on high level... With a lack of lighting, graininess appears.

As for shooting close-up shots with a flash, there is a traditional flare and errors in the white balance.

Front cameras typical for devices Huawei medium and high price range. You can take quite decent selfies, especially with the judicious use of the built-in Beauty Skin 3.0 decorator.

Huawei Nova shoots video at a maximum 4K resolution and a frame rate of 30fps. Detailing and color reproduction are excellent. However, even such a price tag did not fit a normal optical stabilizer.

In general, the photographic capabilities of Huawei Nova can be attributed to the strengths.

Sound

Of all devices of the brand Huawei sound I was only impressed by the flagship Nexus 6P and MediaPad M2. The sound of the Kirin chipset is not enough stars from the skies, the sound is no better and no worse than mid-range smartphones. I expected a little more from Huawei Nova on the Qualcomm platform, but expectations were not met. Yes, the sound is generally clear, without any obvious offsets, but the readability is average, there is not enough depth.

In the sennheiser plugs, the sound seemed good, I liked the high frequencies. But high-quality monitor 64-ohm headphones showed all the shortcomings in sound - there is not enough volume, bass. We have to use "uluchshayzers".

Huawei Nova is equipped with one external speaker located at the bottom. It sounds loud and readable, but wheezing becomes noticeable at maximum volume.

The result is a sound at the level of most smartphones of the middle price segment.

Software

The Huawei Nova smartphone runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with proprietary shell EMUI 4.1. We have already talked about it many times, and anyone interested can read more about it in our review of the Huawei Y6 II smartphone. This time we will not dwell on it in such detail.

Let me just remind you that the shell implies combining the list of applications with the main screen and desktops, has improved mechanisms for managing power consumption, security, memory, and a bunch of other tools, useful and not very.

Iron and performance

Let's go over the technical equipment. Unlike most other models, Nova decided to use a third-party Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 with a 64-bit eight-core 2 GHz Cortex-A53 and an Adreno 506 graphics accelerator instead of the "native" Kirin family chipsets.

Naturally, with such a filling, there are no performance problems. Games Nova"pulls" without problems and at maximum settings. FullHD video playback, navigation, multitasking - no problem.

To store information, there is 32GB of internal memory, of which a little more than 24 are available to the user. You can expand the memory using a microSDXC card only by sacrificing the ability to install two SIM cards.

Benchmarks have shown good results, some even mirrored the success of the Nexus 6P, such as the Antutu.

In other tests, the result is also good and more than decent, lagging behind the Nexus 6P mainly in 3D performance. Of course, we are not talking about records.

Bottom line: Powerful filling, high performance by modern standards.

Work and autonomy

A 3020 mAh battery, an economical hardware filling on a 14-nm process technology, as well as software optimization of energy consumption in total give very decent indicators of autonomy. The smartphone works quietly on a single charge for up to 1.5 days in fairly active use - calls, social networks, a browser, listening to music and a few games.

Charging time from a dual-amp charger to 100% is about 3-4 hours.

There are no special complaints about the smartphone's operation.

Communications and wireless

Two nanoSIMs in Huawei Nova work with one radio module in Standby mode, the main SIM card is selected in the settings, which will work with 4G / 3G networks.The set of 4G frequency bands contains the most popular in Russia - FDD-LTE Band 3 (1800 MHz), Band 7 (2600 MHz) and Band 20 (800 MHz).

In addition, there is a Wi-Fi module 802.11 b / g / n (2.4 GHz), as well as Bluetooth 4.1 and NFC interfaces. As in all Huawei devices, there are Wi-Fi + algorithms - "smart" switching between Wi-Fi and mobile networks data transfer in search of a better connection. But support for only one band (2.4GHz) is still a drawback.

All three world satellite systems GPS, GLONASS and BDS, with A-GPS support, are present for positioning and navigation.

Traditionally, there are no problems with the quality of wireless interfaces and geolocation in Huawei devices.

Conclusion

You can safely call it a successful model. The smartphone attracts with its appearance. Compact and stylish, the Nova "by clothes" leaves a definite positive impression. The smartphone demonstrates excellent performance, autonomy and good image quality, and a high-tech FullHD display complements the picture. The smartphone is equipped with all the necessary, by modern standards, sensors: NFC, dacteloscopic scanner, GPS, Glonass, BDS.

Not without its drawbacks, the main of which, in my opinion, is the mediocre sound in the headphones. For this price tag, I expected a little more. But despite this, we can say that the smartphone fully justifies its cost. Yes, there are quite a few for this price tag worthy competitors on Russian market, but among them Nova takes its rightful place. Of course, there are also cheaper counterparts from Xiaomi, LeEco and Meizu.

pros

• Compact dimensions
• Stylish design
• High-quality screen with high pixel density
• Excellent build and quality materials
• Good picture and video quality
• Decent battery life
• High performance
• Availability of NFC and a fingerprint scanner
• Thoughtful shell with rich tools

Minuses

• Combined slot of the second NanoSIM and MicroSD card
• One 2.4GHz WiFi frequency band
• Mediocre headphone sound quality

Welcome friends on the Arstayl portal.

Let's talk about Huawei NOVA, the name of the smartphone says that it is a novelty. Even after a long time, you will think that it is new. Such thoughts may be, since it is unlikely that it will be bad in the foreseeable future in terms of characteristics and design. Everything is especially good for the second indicator, because the design of smartphones does not change much from year to year, therefore it does not become outdated. And according to the first indicator, we suggest studying the technical characteristics of the device:

• Body materials Metal;
• Operating room Android system 6 (EMUI);
• Screen 5 ″ 2.5D LTPS, 1920 × 1080, 441 PPI;
• Cameras 12 Mp + 8 Mp (video up to 4K);
• CPU (processor) Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, 8 cores up to 2 GHz;
• Adreno 506 video processor;
• RAM (random access memory) 3 GB;
• ROM (built-in memory) 32 (free 22.6 GB), + MicroSD up to 128 GB;
• GSM / 3G / 4G communication;
• SIM-cards 2 SIM (combined SIM or MicroSD slot);
• FM radio Yes;
• Broadcast Wi-Fi data, Bluetooth, NFC;
• GPS / GLONASS / BDS Yes / Yes / Yes;
• Battery, mAh 3020;
• Real battery test 7 hours, 06 minutes of video at maximum brightness;
• Dimensions, weight 141.2 x 69.1 x 7.1 mm, 146 grams;
• Features NFC, notification sensor, ability to swap back and menu buttons, advanced gesture control, USB Type-C, rear part aerospace magnesium-aluminum alloy, smartphone scanner control, gloved screen control;

Appearance.

The design of the device is quite good, the thin frames around the screen are especially striking. Yes, now there are generally frameless smartphones, but personally I don't really like them. But the option that Huawei offers is nothing at all. Huawei NOVA is completely made of metal, with the exception of a plastic insert at the top, highlighted in white and at the bottom. The insert looks unusual, similar to the Nexus 6P (which Huawei also did with Google).

A headphone jack is located on top, the sound is not at all impressive. It's amazing how such an eminent company can use smartphones with good technical characteristics, expensive enough, manage to put a lousy sound card... The sound is unpleasant, especially at high volume, but perhaps our focus group is just focused on a different sound quality. An additional microphone is located next to this jack.

On the right side there is a place for the volume and power buttons. On the left is the combined slot.

Below is a speaker, a USB Type C connector. And again, there is nothing to praise for the sound of the speaker. Pretty standard.

In general, the device came out attractive, whatever you say. It almost does not slip in the hands, thanks to what the body is made of, the material is quite rare, it sounds cool, which is actually unknown, it is not possible to check it.

The display is simply gorgeous. According to the characteristics, a sufficient optimum, if I may say so. 5 inches at fullHD resolution is the way to go modern smartphone... The viewing angles are wide, the picture is not distorted. Not everyone is familiar with LTPS technology, so it's worth saying a few words about it. In fact, this is the same IPS, but less resource-intensive. At the same time, the picture is good, bright and juicy. The brightness margin is also good. From software settings you can note the blue filter, due to which the eyes are less tired than usual. And one more feature, which for some reason has long been forgotten by everyone, screen control with gloves, is also available here!

The on-screen buttons have replaced the usual physical ones. What can I say here, fashion, trends, functionality? All together, I suppose.

The website states that Huawei NOVA has almost best camera on the planet. They shoot really well, but they don't show anything outstanding. The only thing that impresses is that a fairly wide functionality is opened by the built-in camera application.

Thanks to the missile defense mode, you can take very good shots. In general, what I'm telling you, it's better to look at the examples of photos yourself:

Our hero also knows how to record 4k videos, so we also invite you to evaluate examples of videos:

Fans of regular fullHD video will be interested in this example:

Autonomy.

Our tested person showed good battery life. At the same time, it cannot be said that the tests show outstanding results. The average result was shown by the video playback test, although the screen does not "eat" much energy in theory. But the device is enough for a day, even with active use, it is difficult to discharge it in a day, so the autonomy really pleased us.

Performance.

This is not a top-end mid-range processor. But the benchmarks gave good results:

NOVA 3 on Huawei NOVA simply could not “go” badly, so it “flies”. It will not be very comfortable to play tanks at maximum settings, but at optimal settings it is also played well. Everything is fine with the memory of the device, 32 GB was allocated by the manufacturer, of which 22.5 GB is available. 3 GB of RAM in the smartphone. Cool after all! We put the productivity of the device in plus and move on.

There is something to surprise here. Firstly, the manufacturer did not abandon the FM radio. Secondly, added to Smartphone NFC, which is rare for metal devices. I was pleased with the work of GPS:

There were no questions regarding other communication standards. It is comfortable to speak on the device, the connection does not disappear, the audibility is excellent.

Shell.

Used here is its own shell based on the "six". The shell includes managing only desktops, there is no application menu. The shutter is made in an original way: a separate page with icons, the second with notifications.