Recently, a new segment of devices has emerged on the mobile market, which can probably be described as "budget premium". They are smartphones that have many features in common with flagship models from the top shelf, but at the same time are much cheaper than them. 
The representatives of this segment include, for example, the Realme GT 5G, One Plus Nord 2 5G or OPPO Reno 6. Now Huawei with the latest smartphone from the Nova series is also joining the race for the title of the "king of the middle class".
>>> You can see the smartphone's photo gallery by clicking the "Open gallery Na Gazeta.pl" button
Huawei nova 9, a medium with aspirations
Nova is another series of Huawei smartphones that has entered Poland. Until now, it has been popular primarily on the domestic Chinese market. As the manufacturer emphasizes, it ranks slightly below the flagship "Mate" and "P" series, but draws a lot of solutions from them.
The presented Huawei nova 9 is to be the first, but not the only phone from this series that will soon come to the Vistula River. Okay, but what does the nova 9 really do? After a few days in the company of this device, I can say that quite a lot, although it is worth noting that the manufacturer has decided to make some compromises that I do not understand.
Let's start with the design , which is definitely a strong point of the device. The screen covers almost the entire surface of the front panel of the device, and the backs are covered with glass with an interesting matte texture that does not collect fingerprints, and at the same time makes the smartphone fit well in the hand.
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On the back panel we find the nova series logo and the camera island , which - unfortunately - protrudes very much from the back of the smartphone. Some doubts are raised by the frame surrounding the device. Huawei claims that it was made of aluminum, but I have the impression that it is plastic. Perhaps the truth lies in the middle - the top of the frame is covered with plastic, under which the aluminum frame is hidden.
The slimness of the device is also impressive. Its dimensions are 160 x 73.7 x 7.8 mm (!) According to my "investigation" it is (next to the nova 8 model) the slimmest smartphone in the history of Huawei . If I was wrong then I would be grateful for correcting me in the comments.
Huawei nova 9 has an OLED screen with a diagonal of 6.57-inch and a resolution of 2340x1080. A very positive surprise here is the variable refresh rate of the screen on the level of up to 120 Hz. Until now, the flagship Huawei models had a 90 Hz refresh rate.
The display looks great. Anyway, it could not be otherwise . The use of the OLED matrix is practically a guarantee of infinite black and excellent contrast. In addition, there is also great color reproduction and full support for the HDR standard.
Snapdragon 778G on board, but only with 4G
The heart of the smartphone is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G chip , which today ranks among the top ten most efficient mobile processors on the market. Although it is far from the Kirin 9000 or Snapdragon 870, the nova 9 performs flawlessly in everyday use. The processor is supported by 8 GB RAM and 128 GB memory for user data.
It is surprising, however, that although the Snapdragon 778G has a 5G module, it has been blocked in this case. Huawei nova 9 only has 4G / LTE connectivity. Reason? The producer does not reveal him. We also do not know if we can expect the 5G module to be unlocked in the future. I bet dollars against nuts, however, that this will not happen.
If we are already at connectivity, Huawei nova 9 supports the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard , and we also have a standard set, i.e. Bluetooth 5.2 and an NFC module. The smartphone also has a fingerprint reader hidden in the screen and a face scan unlock function. Both solutions work flawlessly - everything works quickly and efficiently.
When it comes to compromises, apart from the already mentioned lack of 5G, the lack of water resistance (at least officially) and QI wireless charging should also be mentioned, which should already be standard even in the case of slightly cheaper smartphones. As a consolation, Huawei offers us a battery with a capacity of 4300 mAh and charging with a power of up to 66W (!) . Importantly, in the box with the phone we will find the appropriate "cube", which has recently not been a standard.
Huawei nova 9 - CAMERA photo by Huawei
The camera, i.e. the possibilities of the flagship in the middle class?
Huawei has already proven that, next to Apple and Samsung, it makes the best mobile cameras on the market. Nova 9 is to be another confirmation of this thesis. The smartphone is equipped with a quad AI Quad Camera, and the specifications of individual lenses are as follows:
Huawei boasts that the nova 9 has a larger sensor (1 / 1.56 inches) than, for example, the iPhone 12 Pro Max (1 / 1.87). The use of the RYYB color filter is also important, thanks to which the camera is to cope better in night conditions and the XD Fusion Engin e engine, which improves the clarity of the frames.
In addition to the main camera, of course, we also find a selfie camera - a 32 MP lens with f / 2.0 light that can record video in HDR standard (4K @ 30fps or 1080 @ 30 fps).
I will write more about the camera's capabilities in the review that will appear soon. Below are some sample photos taken by Huawei nova 9.
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No, Google services haven't come back
Of course, the biggest problem with Huawei smartphones remains the lack of access to Google services. There is no indication that this will change in the near future. Huawei nova 9 works therefore under the control of a truncated pure Android with the EMUI 12.0.1 overlay.
We download the applications from the AppGallery store, which the Chinese are still consistently developing. Huawei at every step emphasizes that the number of applications in the store is consistently increasing, thanks to cooperation with over 4.5 million registered developers.
Well, what about the promised and awaited transfer to HarmonyOS? (I would like to remind you that Huawei is currently developing its proprietary mobile system , which is already available on tablets from this manufacturer). So far, silence on this matter. It is a pity, because the introduction of a new series of smartphones to the Polish market would be an ideal moment to launch the new system in parallel.
Huawei nova 9 was priced at PLN 2 299. Until November 11, the smartphone will be offered at this price along with the Huawei FreeBuds 4 wireless headphones. Is PLN 2 299 adequate to the capabilities of the device? I will try to answer this question in the review that will be available soon.
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