The Huawei Nova – A contender in the mid range phone market [Full Review and Unboxing]

Huawei’s latest take at a mid range phone was first introduced at IFA and the device received lots of attention for its high specs but low price. Now that I have had a chance to play with one, does it deserve the attention it received? Let’s find out.

The Nova is simply a pleasure to hold. The curved design ensures that the phone sits comfortably in the hand while looking sleek. The rear shell of the device is made from aviation strength magnesium and aluminum alloy which has been sand blasted with ceramics to create a textured back that provides loads of grip. The Camera and flash are housed in a oblong composite plate giving a sense of contrast. The Nova even has a fingerprint reader at the rear for added security which is well placed to ensure easy unlocking.

The edges of the rear curve up around the device towards the display. Silver metallic lines run on the edges of these curves much like what was seen in older iPhones. This ultra thin design is finished off with a 5 inch curved display which blends effortlessly into the rounded outer edges of the device. At 7.1 mm and weighing in at 146 grams, the Nova is pretty sleek.

You will get 1080 x 1920 pixels out of the display which is actually not bad at all. Most high end devices boast a 4k display but most of us are still watching content in 1080P. The display is rich and colours are clear and vibrant as well as very pleasant to look at.

Huawei have done something very clever with the Nova. Instead of using the common micro USB port, Huawei have given the Nova a USB Type C port. USB Type C is the latest craze and will soon be the standard for all devices. We all have attempted to plug in our micro usb cables only to realise we have once again got the cable the wrong way. A major benefit of a Type C port is that there is no wrong way to plug in the cable. Every way is the right way.

The Nova comes in 4 colours: Prestige Gold, Mystic Silver, Titanium Grey and Obsidian Black. I received the Mystic Silver model and it suits me well but the Nova looks great in any of the 4 colours.

Under the bonnet, the Nova is adequately powered. Making use of a Octa core 2.0 ghz processor and 3GB of RAM, the Nova is pretty quick, for a mid range device. Multitasking is smooth and there is no lag when opening apps.

You get a 12 MP camera with phase detection auto focus and an LED flash which takes very nice photos. You can even take videos at UHD at 24fps or FHD at 24fps. Here are some photos that I took during the day and at sunset. Auto mode did a great job at adjusting aperture/iso settings when the sun dropped!

With 32GB of internal space and support of up to a 256GB MicroSD card, you should not have storage issues.

The Huawei Nova comes loaded with Android Marshmallow but is upgradable to the latest version of Android at present, Android Nougat. The UI is very easy to use and there are many customization options to get the right look and feel. To access your apps, you simply just swipe left or right on the home screen instead of having to open up the app drawer.

The Nova is powered with a non removable Li-Po 3020 mAh battery. You will get about a day of usage depending on what you do on the phone. Note that the display does use a lot of juice if you set your brightness to the max. So it is best to keep your screen brightness lower down to save juice but you can activate stamina mode to get more from the battery. The Nova supports fast battery charging but a fast charger is not included so it is recommended to pick one up. Charging is also done via the USB Type-C port.

In the box you get a charging adapter, USB Type-C Cable, in ear earphones, warranty card, manual and phone clone guide!

The Nova is selling at Vodacom for R6155 which is a really fair price for a device that knocks socks off its competitors. Great build quality, a rich display and overall a great device to use, I am very impressed with what Huawei have pulled off on the Nova.