Available in the coming days, but already the subject of a pre-order offer, the new Huawei Nova 9 smartphone is a mid-range model. Offered at a price of 499 €, it is mainly intended for young people who want to have in their hands a phone that has style and that allows them to capture the most beautiful moments of a life while offering balanced performance.
Two finishes and a very thin profile
The Huawei Nova range has a rank of its own. It has its own newly created logo, which symbolizes two people seated open to discussion. To appeal to as wide an audience as possible, the manufacturer wanted to offer bold colors. Thus, the Nova 9 is available in two models.
The first is classic since in black, very shiny and leaving no chance for fingerprints. It can almost serve as a mirror because the image is reflected in it (see photo below).
The second is more original since it benefits from a special slightly bluish finish with a very special coating, very soft to the touch and which reflects all the light sources placed on its back in different colors, depending on the viewing angle.
Extremely thin, the Nova 9 is only 7.77 mm thick where the iPhone 13, for example, measures 7.65 mm in profile. It is also quite light since it weighs 179 grams while the average is more like 190 grams. In hand, it gives an impression of lightness and is very pleasant to handle, in particular thanks to its finesse.
Its design and lines are reminiscent of a more upscale model, particularly because of the curved nature of its screen. It has the classic touches one would expect from such a device. No audio jack here, but a single USB-C connector to charge and synchronize the mobile or possibly connect headphones via an adapter.
The Nova 9 offers mono sound with a single speaker located at the bottom. The device is unlocked using facial recognition, a pattern or a fingerprint. The reader is placed too low for us since barely more than a centimeter from the bottom of the mobile which can cause a little thumb gymnastics to reach it.
The Nova 9 from the back gives pride of place to photo lenses
On the back, the Nova 9 sports a distinctive sign: the strapping of the photo sensors which are here divided into two poles with, on the one hand, the main module, a 50 megapixel that can be seen on the Huawei P40. In the other circle there is an 8-megapixel sensor and two others of 2 megapixels each.
The optical block protrudes very slightly from the rest of the back. The main sensor uses the RYYB filter technology developed by Huawei, which allows it to say that it is able to let in up to 40% more light compared to a classic RGB sensor. In addition, we can also count on a large sensor size measuring 1/1.56 "while that of the iPhone 12 Prox Max is 1/1.87".
In addition, one can also rely on image processing based on consultation of object image banks in order to optimize the rendering, as can be done for the recognition of scenes to be photographed and the adjustment of the parameters corresponding to each situation.
For photos in wide-angle mode, it often happens that the edges are distorted. Here, Huawei has provided an algorithm that will automatically straighten objects located on the ends that need to be straight.
For selfies, the Nova 9 has a 32-megapixel sensor opening at F/2.0 capable of filming with Ultra HD definition.
For the video part, you can count on a stabilization system as well as the possibility of simultaneously filming what is happening in front of and behind the mobile thanks to the Dual View function. For editing videos, Huawei offers the Petal Clips app. This allows the editing of sequences as well as the addition of background music, effects, titles and even image overlays to create a real edited video directly from your smartphone without the need for software. editing on a PC, for example. It's very useful. The use is quite intuitive. Models and tutorials (in English) are offered to start from an example and follow the advice on the operations to be carried out. On the Camera application, in video mode, it is possible to have a very wide, wide-angle image and to zoom (digitally) in a rather fluid way.
A very beautiful screen that lacks nothing
The Nova 9's screen uses a 6.57-inch diagonal 10-bit AMOLED panel with a refresh rate of 120 Hz and a sampling rate of 300 Hz. It has nothing to envy to the highest models of range especially since it is curved, like them and offers excellent responsiveness. Its side edges are quite thin, and the thickest are those at the top and bottom. Huawei has provided the possibility to activate the eye comfort mode or the dark mode from the settings. An eBook mode is also possible. The definition may be different depending on usage or set in automatic mode to save energy. It is the same for the refresh rate which can be blocked on 60 or 120 Hz or on an automatic mode. For more accuracy in the display, note the possibility of playing on the color temperature, although the settings offered by default are quite relevant.
No Google Mobile Services inside, but Petal Search to your aid
Like the brand's other smartphones, the Nova 9 cannot use Google services and instead uses Huawei Mobile Services and its Harmony OS interface with an EMUI 12.0.1 software overlay at the time of our review. handling.
Several applications are pre-installed in the mobile and during the initial setup, others are also pushed for you. Overall, the interface is quite similar to that of classic Android except that the installation of applications goes through the AppGallery platform. It concentrates more and more applications, particularly local ones, developed by the teams in France, in an attempt to provide a maximum of relevant services. However, it must be recognized that all the favorite applications are not there. In this case, one must go through the Petal Search search engine to try to locate the installation files, if any, download them and install them on the device.
Huawei is making considerable efforts to bring its store as close as possible to the applications available on the Google Play Store. Another disappointment for this Nova 9 is the inability to connect to Google Home or control connected objects in the house. The Gmail, Photos or Calendar services, for example, can go through the Internet browser with, for each, shortcuts to the home page of the smartphone in order to get there almost as if it were a a classic app.
Overall, with the Nova 9, you have to accept a new application experience with success in many cases, but also frustration in others when you can't access one of your favorite applications or services that we used to use on other smartphones with the ability to use Google services.
A 4G Soc, but sufficient for the required experience
Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor in 4G version, with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage space, non-expandable, the Nova 9 offers a rather fluid and pleasant experience for the few moments we were able to spend with it. . Further testing will be conducted, but first impressions are pretty good to very good. Finally, note that the Nova 9 supports 67-watt charging on its 4300 mAh battery. Count on a gain of about 80% after 30 minutes of charging with the supplied power supply.
Our full test of the Huawei Nova 9 smartphone will be online soon. Currently, the Nova 9 is available for pre-order until November 1 for a price of €499.