Huawei Nova 9, between flagship for the young generation and mid-range premium [Tech Review]

I had about two weeks available, and after launch I took a lot of pictures and videos with him through Vienna.Some pictures will be found below in the review.

What does Huawei Nova 9 look like?

A thin smartphone (7.77 mm) and easy (175 grams) with a youthful, attractive youth design.The smartphone is available in Europe in two color variants: Starry Blue and Black.I tested the model with blue-violet back, slightly shiny and with the "Nova" logo in 3D.

The back does not keep fingerprints, but although I have not happened, I suspect you can scratch and recommend a case.6 -screen diagonal.57 inches makes NOVA 9 can be used with one hand.

The rear camera module has a design that partially resembles the one on the Huawei P50 and P50 Pro, but I heard that some resemble Nova 9 with the Honor 50, created by a former company that belonged to Huawei.Although the frame of the phone seems metal is plastic, and the back and face are covered with glass.From the point of view of appearance and ergonomics it is a successful smartphone, even beautiful.

The OLED screen has 1 billion colors, HDR10, a 1080x2340px resolution with 392PPI and report 19.5: 9.The 120Hz refresh rate makes the interaction feel fast and 300 Hz tactile sampling helps in games.The screen is bright, I do not know the value in some, it has good contrast and bright colors, but not exaggerated.

Main specifications of Huawei Nova 9, model tested NAM-LX9: EMUI12 interface over Android 11, Qualcomm SM7325 Snapdragon 778G 4G (6 Nm) processor, Adreno 642L graphic processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB UFS storage memory.Dual-Band 802 wireless connectivity.11 A/B/G/N/A/6, Bluetooth 5.2 with A2DP and Le, positioning A-GPS, Blonass, BDS, Galileo, Qzss, Navic and NFC.Port USB-C 2.0 with otg.

About the operating system, there are enough press articles in which he writes that Nova 9 comes with Harmonyos 2.0, but Harmony is only available on the China market.

How does Huawei Nova 9 move?

He's fast in whatever you do with him, I didn't feel any difference in use between him and P40 Pro.Music, movies, gaming, productivity, all move well.

Rooms - photo -video segment

Huawei continues the partnership with Leica and the lenses on Nova 9 are produced by the German company.The Ultra Vision camera system, rear, consists of:

- Wide main room (23mm) of 50 MP, with f/1.9 and PDAF;

- an 8MP ultrawide with f/2.2;

- a 2 MP deep sensor with f/2.4;

- 2 MP Macro camera with f/2.4.

The selfie camera is a wide (26 mm) 32 sqm, f/2.2 and has AF.

The main Wide camera is of excellent quality and according to specifications it could be the same on the Huawei P40 Pro.What does excellent mean?Quick focus, abundance details, natural colors, wide dynamic range, good contrast, etc..Very good.

If you activate you have, on any of the rooms the colors will be automatically oversaturated and will add HDR at will.

This is how the camera menu looks like

The Ultrawide camera is priceless for "urban landscapes", but it is not as good at night or in a weak light as the main one.

The 2x to 10x zoom in the main camera is digital and can be used with good results up to 5x, on daylight.At night I do not recommend passing 2x.

Day Image - 2x zoom, you are in the lunch break.

Interior image on the Wide camera, photographer Alex Galmeanu in a shooting with Lidia Buble.

Night image on the ultrawide room, Melia hotel in Vienna.

Images in portrait mode.Portrait mode has zoom up to 3x.In the left image Portrait default frame (1x), to the right portrait with zoom 3x.

4K / 30 FPS day shooting, SF Cathedral.Stefan from Vienna.

Night shooting, 4K/30 FPS, Vienna State Opera.

Photo and video images say more than I could in words.You can form your own opinion if you rise to your expectations or not.

On the audio side we have a single speaker at the bottom of the phone, the volume is very strong and the clear sound.The bass is not very accentuated, the high are clear, as well as the voices.I would have preferred two stereo sound speakers, but I can't say the phone is suffering from this chapter.

Gaming - Huawei Nova 9 responds very well to this chapter, although it does not have the strongest hardware on the market.It does not warm up and is fast.

Call of Duty: Mobile

Asphalt 9 with graphic settings on high 1.

Synthetic tests: Antutu Benchmark, 3dmark and Geekbench.

I did network tests on wireless and battery, but at the last one gave error - the PCMark battery test that I usually use.So I'll tell you from direct experience how it is with the battery.

I use a battery test so I don't have to watch the phone as they behave, but in Vienna I posed and filmed with it a whole day, starting from 10.00 in the morning until the evening at 19.30.The next day, at 3 o'clock.00 had 35% of the battery.Huawei says the 4300mAh battery lasts 8.9 hours of intense use and I appreciate that for ordinary use it lasts over 10 hours of lit screen.

The loading is excellent due to the 66W fast charger, which is in the box.Loads from 0 to 100% below 40 minutes.A loading up to 50% lasts a little more than 10 minutes.

The package contains smartphone, charger, sim key and manuals / use guide.

Nova 9 is a beautiful, fast and powerful smartphone, but there are some shortcomings:

- it has no 5g;

- has no Google services;

- has no optical stabilization on the rooms;

- He has no resistance to water and dust.

Some users will not see these shortcomings as a problem, others yes.It depends on the expectations of each one.For example, Huawei Nova 9 is a variant for those who avoid Google services or are not interested in 5G.

What's with the flagship smartphone for the young generation?This is what Huawei regional president, Derek Yu, named him during the Vienna presentation - "Flagship Smartphone for the Younger Generation."

Due to the design, screen, rooms and performance as a whole, I would define it as a mid-range premium.

For those interested, until October 31, Huawei Nova 9 is sold together with a pair of Free Buds 4 headphones, at the price of 2500 lei.