In 2016, the management of Huawei's mobile division decided to pay more attention to devices in the mid-price segment by introducing a new series of smartphones. Thus, the Nova line replaced the G-series, becoming its logical continuation. Huawei Nova Plus differs from the younger version with a larger display diagonal, increased battery capacity and an improved camera. The key features of the device are the metal body, decent hardware and emphasis on shooting quality.
Packaging and accessories
The smartphone is packaged in a flat square box made of cardboard. The contents of the package are neatly divided into three separate sections. The following components are included in the package:
- power adapter (with output current 2A and voltage 5V);
- USB-TypeC cable;
- branded headphones;
- metal “key” for removing the SIM tray;
- technical documentation, user manual.
Design, build quality and ergonomics
The model is presented in dark gray, silver and gold body colors. In the first color option, the additional frame is invisible, since it merges with the black front panel. In fact, there is nothing unusual in the design of this device, but thanks to the excellent assembly and attention manufacturer's attention to detail, you get the feeling that you are holding in your hands a truly high-quality, reliable thing.
The body of the smartphone is almost entirely made of metal, with the exception of two plastic inserts on the rear panel, under which the antennas of the network modules are hidden. The front panel is covered with abrasion and scratch resistant glass with rounded edges (2.5D). A high-quality oleophobic layer is applied to the protective glass. The back of the case has a slightly sloping shape, facilitating a more comfortable grip.
The dimensions of the device are typical for a phablet in a classic form factor: 151.8 x 75.7 x 7.3 mm. The case is not heavy (160 g), and lies relatively comfortably in the hand. The arrangement of all elements is well thought out to ensure maximum comfortable use.
Above the screen there are sensors, an earpiece, a notification/charging LED indicator and a front camera module. To control the OS interface, there are soft navigation buttons displayed on the active screen.
Power and sound volume are controlled using mechanical buttons located on the right side. The power button is easily identified by touch even in a pocket, or in the absence of lighting, due to the textured notch on its surface.
A tray of a hybrid design is placed on the left side edge. It contains slots for installing two SIM cards in nano format, or a MicroSD drive in combination with one SIM card.
On the bottom edge in the central part there is a symmetrical USB Type-C port that supports OTG technology. To connect USB devices (flash drives, printer, external SSD, etc.), you will need an appropriate adapter.
The upper part of the rear panel is occupied by the main camera module, the metal rim of which protrudes slightly above the body, and an LED flash. Just below there is a recess for the touch panel of the multifunctional fingerprint sensor.
Fingerprint scanner
To ensure the appropriate level of security for protected content, the manufacturer installed a 3D sensor with a high-precision fingerprint recognition system in the smartphone. In addition, the scanner is characterized by high operating speed: unlocking is carried out instantly, since the user identification process takes a split second.
The main task of the built-in scanner is to serve as a means of unlocking the device using a fingerprint. However, the firmware in Huawei Nova Plus allows you to use the fingerprint sensor as a kind of biometric “lock” to protect individual applications from unauthorized access.
The sensor's touch panel can serve as a compact touchpad to control the device using gestures. For example, using swipes on the scanner, you can expand and collapse the notification panel and flip through photos in the gallery. One touch is all it takes to answer an incoming call and turn off the alarm. In the Camera app, the sensor can act as a shutter button, which is especially useful when taking self-portraits. Additional scanner features are available without the need to register your fingerprints.
Sound
The earpiece speaker transmits the voice of the other party loudly and clearly. The main “multimedia” speaker, which is located to the right of the USB-C connector, has a sufficient volume reserve and produces clear sound, without rattling or other interference. A row of holes on the left side of the connector serves for symmetry and also hides the main microphone, which demonstrates good sensitivity during phone calls. Using the standard Voice Recorder application, fairly high-quality audio recordings are obtained.
The smartphone has an additional noise-cancelling microphone, the hole of which can be found on the top edge, next to the 3.5 mm audio jack for connecting standard headphones.
The branded complete headset, equipped with a volume rocker and a microphone, is suitable not only for telephone conversations. Thanks to the headphones transmitting the full spectrum of frequencies, the user will hear fairly deep and spacious sound of musical compositions. In addition, the standard Music application supports playback of lossless audio in the popular FLAC format.
Display
Huawei Nova Plus is equipped with a 5.5” IPS screen with Full HD resolution (1080×1920) and high pixel density (401 ppi). The touchscreen recognizes up to 10 simultaneous touches. There is no air gap in the display design. Thanks to good anti-glare properties, a high margin of maximum brightness and excellent contrast ratio, the screen content remains readable even outdoors, in bright daylight conditions lighting.
The color gamut is slightly oversaturated, but in general, we can note the good factory calibration of the display. Among the settings there is a section designed to correct color temperature according to individual preferences. Due to wide viewing angles, image shades are not inverted even when the view deviates significantly from perpendicular to the screen.
Users have at their disposal a set of special tools that greatly simplify interaction with the device. The Eye Protection mode allows you to reduce the intensity of blue light. Using the “View Mode” section, you can adjust the size of interface elements and fonts. There's also a Glove Operation feature that makes the screen's touchpad more sensitive to the touch of a gloved hand.
Performance, memory
The Huawei Nova Plus hardware platform is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (MSM8953) SoC, made using a 14 nm process technology. The chipset includes a 64-bit processor with 8 Cortex-A53 cores, the maximum frequency of which reaches 2 GHz. Snapdragon 625 is far from a flagship solution. However, this chipset is a prime example of a successful combination between optimal performance, low heat generation and economical power consumption.
The processor has sufficient power to ensure fast and stable operation of the device when performing any trivial tasks, as well as to run any 3D games. For example, Asphalt 8 and Modern Combat 5 demonstrate stable fps at maximum graphics settings. The lack of power of the integrated GPU (Adreno 506) is felt only in the most resource-intensive games. By the way, it’s not difficult to get a smooth picture when launching World of Tanks Blitz - just set the graphics quality to medium.
Huawei Nova Plus has 3 GB of LPDDR3 RAM. The built-in storage capacity is 32 GB; approximately 22 GB is available for installing software and storing user data. You can increase the storage capacity using microSD/HC/XC cards (up to 128 GB).
Main camera
The developers paid special attention to the quality of shooting, as well as the software that ensures the functionality of the camera. The smartphone is equipped with a 16-megapixel photo module with f/2.0 aperture and a dual-tone LED flash. The application interface contains a number of proprietary modes: “Text recognition”, “Delicious food”, “Night photography”. Special mention should be made of the “Light” mode, programmed to shoot at any given shutter speed, as well as the “Professional” mode, which gives access to full manual settings.
In daylight conditions, you can safely rely on the auto mode, resulting in contrasting images with good detail and a fairly wide dynamic range. The camera does an excellent job of determining white balance not only outdoors, but also indoors. Fast and accurate focusing is ensured by a system that combines phase detection and contrast detection autofocus technologies. With a significant lack of lighting, the “automation” sometimes makes mistakes with the selection of settings, and the work of the noise reduction becomes more noticeable. But in general, even in difficult conditions it is possible to achieve decent image quality.
The smartphone uses a lens with a built-in optical image stabilization system (OIS), which functions both when taking photos and while recording videos. The maximum resolution of recorded videos is 2160p (30 fps). The resulting image is characterized by good sharpness and good detail. Thanks to the OIS system, there is a noticeable increase in the smoothness of video footage captured while driving. Slow Motion (120 fps) and Timelapse recording in 720p resolution is supported.
Thanks to the excellent automatic operation, the camera in Huawei Nova Plus is ideal for users without special skills in the field of digital photography. At the same time, the smartphone is quite capable of attracting the interest of more experienced amateur photographers, given the wide functionality of the camera combined with support for manual settings.
Front-camera
The device is equipped with an 8-megapixel front module with wide-angle optics, fixed focus and support for 1080p video recording (30 fps). The camera is great for shooting so-called “groofies” - panoramic self-portraits, since several people can easily fit into the frame at the same time. During the day, the expected high-quality images are obtained, with good sharpness, color rendition and detail.
The application contains such branded features as Beautiful Skin 3.0 and Beauty Make-up 2.0. Using mode “Decoration” can even out the tone of the face, hide skin defects by setting the optimal intensity of application filters. The Makeup mode algorithms automatically recognize individual facial features to ensure the correct application of cosmetic effects in real time.
Autonomy
By default, the system is configured to “freeze” background processes when the screen is turned off, in order to minimize power consumption in standby mode. To manage the list of exceptions, the “Protected applications” section is provided in the settings. Using the advanced power saving mode, the user can switch between the Performance, Smart and Energy Saving profiles. As a result, due to the energy-efficient chipset and convenient software tools for controlling energy consumption, very good autonomy results are achieved in various scenarios use.
The built-in battery with a capacity of 3340 mAh is capable of providing the smartphone with energy for two days, with moderate use, or from morning to late evening in active load mode. One charge is enough for continuous video playback for 8 hours, at maximum backlight brightness. The continuous playback time of YouTube videos increases to 13 hours if the brightness level is reduced to the minimum value required for comfortable viewing indoors. In games, the smartphone will last from 5 to 7 hours.
operating system
The device runs on a 64-bit version of Android 6.0 OS. The EMUI 4.1 shell is installed on top of the system, with a set of proprietary software. EMUI is a thoroughly thought-out shell, with a redesigned interface, extensive customization options and the presence of useful add-ons. These include support for changeable themes, one-hand control function, various gestures, the ability to create extended screenshots and screen video recording, dual-window mode, improved energy saving profiles and much more another.
Wireless interfaces
The MLA-L12 modification supports operation in 2G GSM, 3G UMTS (Band 1/5/8) and 4G LTE networks, in the frequency bands 1/3/5/7/8/28 (FDD) and 38/40 (TDD). The set of wireless communications includes Bluetooth version 4.1 and a Wi-Fi module standard 802.11 b/g/n (2.4 GHz). NFC technology is not supported in the MLA-L12 modification.
The built-in navigation module is capable of connecting to GPS, GLONASS and Beidou satellite systems. The device supports A-GPS - cold start acceleration technology, and is also equipped with a magnetic field sensor that ensures the functioning of a digital compass. There are no comments regarding the launch speed of the navigation module, the efficiency of searching for satellites and the accuracy of location determination.
Advantages and disadvantages
Main advantages of Huawei Nova Plus:
- excellent cameras;
- optical stabilization, which functions when shooting photos and videos;
- high-quality display;
- decent indicators of autonomy;
- build quality and body materials;
- good set of headphones;
- fast fingerprint scanner with gesture support;
- proprietary shell from Huawei;
- good level of software optimization.
The disadvantages of the model are the lack of support:
- NFC interface;
- Wi-Fi frequency range 5 GHz;
- fast charging technologies.
Review results
Huawei Nova Plus is a solid, reliable model from a company that is in the TOP 3 of the world's leading smartphone manufacturers, second only to such giants as Samsung and Apple. The device has not a flagship, but quite balanced “filling”, the capabilities of which meet most of the requirements of a modern user. Ultimately, the Nova Plus will be a great option for those looking for a reliable 5.5-inch smartphone. paying special attention to the quality of shooting and display, autonomy, as well as software optimization provision.
