Huawei has just announced the Nova 9, a mid-range phone that has some of the hallmarks of the brand’s flagship devices.
It’s been somewhat of a fallow year for Huawei phones in the UK and with the P50 Pro now confirmed to not be getting a global launch until 2022, all eyes are on the Nova 9.
Nova has long been Huawei’s mid-tier line of phones, sitting below the more premium P and Mate series. They’ve often focussed on a younger audience and retailed at lower prices.
The Nova 9 is the latest edition to the Nova line and it certainly has a number of features to make it worth a look, but as with any current Huawei device there are downsides which we’ll get on to later.
Huawei Nova 9 specs and features
The display here measures 6.57-inches and like the iPhone 13 and Pixel 6, it has an OLED panel for deeper blacks and punchier colours. Unlike those phones though it has a 120Hz refresh rate and a 300Hz sampling rate. Both are nice to see, especially for a phone that isn’t really a flagship. In terms of resolution, you’re looking at FHD+.
Interestingly, the Nova 9 is powered by a Qualcomm chipset. The Snapdragon 778 used here is a 4G chip, which is disappointing considering 5G is now widely available on far cheaper devices. It should have enough grunt for most tasks though, as it’s an octa-core chip with 8GB RAM. There’s also a 4300mAh battery and snappy 66w charging.
Cameras have always been a big part of the Huawei phone experience and the Nova 9 certainly has cameras. On the back, there’s a 50MP wide with an f/1.9 aperture, an 8MP ultra wide f/2.2 and then a macro and a depth camera. Those last are probably best ignored.
Around the front there’s a 32MP selfie camera that can shoot 240fps slow-mo video.
While price and release date have yet to be announced for the UK in Europe the phone will retail for €499 when it goes on sale from November 2. It is worth noting Huawei phones still come without Google’s service and instead rely on Huawei’s App Gallery. This lacks many big apps and services, like Netflix and many banking apps.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more about the P50 launch soon too, which has been confirmed to not be reaching global markets until next year.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.