Hands-on review: IFA 2016: Huawei Nova

When a brand tells you that its phone is the 'perfect Saturday night device' then it's a lofty claim indeed.

However, despite the fact the product manager tasked with showing off the Huawei Nova claimed it would be normal to switch between three phones in a week, there's more than a sliver of truth in the above statement.

The Huawei Nova is a very capable device, aimed at the more affordable mid-tier – so while it's not going to be cheap enough to buy one and 'just see if you like it', it's definitely got enough going for it to make you wonder whether you need to spend hundreds on a flagship device.

The main thing it lacks compared to a flagship device is innovation – no dual cameras or super battery capacity here, but instead taking some of the education the brand has received from its recent forays into higher-end phones and putting them together well.

(In case you're wondering: Nova is the new name for the Huawei mid-range phone brand, taking over from the G series – despite the spokespeople not overtly confirming that. And yes, it does somewhat cannibalise the phones from the Honor sub brand, which have similar specs and price).

Huawai Nova price and release date

It's always irritating when a brand doesn't give you a price point when releasing a phone, but if we take the Huawei G8 as any indication we can expect this handset to land around £300 / $350 unlocked, and about £10 per month cheaper than high-end phones in the UK on contract.

Similarly there's no word on an actual release date yet, but we're assuming that it'll be available in October 2016, given that's when the G8 was launched.

Design and features

The main thing that comes across when using the Huawei Nova is that you're holding a very refined phone. It's a handset that's got metallic rims and rear, and gently curved glass folding into the sides of the handset.

The buttons on the side have been well-machined to feel more premium than the (likely) price tag would have you believe, with the power button easy to reach and operate when holding it in one hand – and it's only 7mm thin.

That doesn't come across instantly when holding the Huawei Nova in your hand, possibly due to the chamfered edges, but it's certainly smooth in the palm.

The 5-inch display is stretched right across the phone and while it's not curved into the chassis (not a surprise given the cost here) it really does minimise the bezel and allow a larger screen to fit comfortably in the palm.

Sadly it's only Full HD, but there are some clever elements in here too that you're used to on higher-end phones: a blue light filter and ultra-dark mode, meaning you can see it when your partner is in bed sleeping next to you without waking them up.

Again, this is nothing revolutionary, but it's good to see it coming down to more affordable handsets. However, USB-C is a jump forward, meaning you've got a lot more data capability rolling into the phone – and if USB-C headphones take off, an option for that too.

There's also a powerful fingerprint sensor on the back, capable of gesture support and needing a real finger to make it work (meaning images to spoof it just won't be any good).

In terms of power, it's in that slightly strange zone: there's 3GB of RAM, which means the 12MP camera will be able to pump through pictures well. The aperture of f2.2 is OK, if nothing special, but at least you'll be able to keep snapping at speed.

(There's also an 8MP selfie snapper on the front which curiously has a better f2.0 aperture, meaning you'll get better low light photos when you're in the picture too).

The Snapdragon 625 packs an octacore CPU clocked at 2GHz, which a couple of years ago would have been among the fastest out there – however, it's a step below the current flagships.

However, the assumption would be that the average buyer of a mid-range phone like this would care less about raw power to process video, and more about battery life – and there, Huawei is claiming the Nova can last about 30% longer than the Snapdragon 615 and offer 40% more grunt.

That said, loading a game on the sister Huawei Nova+ (the same phone with a larger screen and bigger battery) was a slow process – while the phone isn't quite optimised for sale, that's not something you want to see at this point.

The battery capacity is probably the most impressive part of the phone: in a chassis this small, finding the space to shove in a 3020mAh capacity power pack – that's larger than the Samsung Galaxy S7, which has a larger screen.

Early verdict

The Huawei Nova is a phone that's designed for those that just want a competent device for not much cash, but without skimping too much on decent features.

While we need to delve more thoroughly into it, the speed on offer and battery life could be really decent for the price – the camera we're less sure on, as Huawei still hasn't nailed the snapping experience at the top end, but there are some decent manual modes to play with, at least.

Will this be a smash hit for Huawei? That depends how heavily it's marketed – but the early signs certainly seem good.