Huawei nova 9 review, the beauty of independence
Huawei nova 9 review
There are many adjectives and feelings that I feel and read on the web today, when it comes to Huawei devices. Many criticisms, many comments regarding the "uselessness" of the brand's products following the now distant American ban imposed under the Trump legislature.But do you know what most have in common (not to say almost all) of these comments? The fact of coming from people who have never tried and touched a product of the "new era" brand.
A new course that today sees the protagonist Huawei nova 9, an important device that under many points of view could mark the definitive end of the many stereotypes born in recent years regarding the Chinese company and its future. Let's find out together in this review the strengths and weaknesses of this terminal, and of the Huawei ecosystem, to find out which of the criticisms can be considered valid and which are now only a legacy of the recent past.
Huawei ecosystem, in waiting for HamonyOS here is the EMUI 11 and all your favorite apps
I overturn the usual pattern of reviews, deciding to give prevalence and greater importance to the software theme compared to the usual hardware analyzes (which however will come later in the course of this review so don't despair). Because if it is true that many people have moved away from Huawei once the company's devices have lost access to Google services, on the other hand it is correct to indicate that the company is no longer in a (normal) phase. readjustment, and now comes up with reliable and well thought-out solutions, in order to offer the user an experience without sacrifices.As a great technology enthusiast, and as a user who "abuses" Google services on a daily basis (whether we are talking about Drive, as well as Gmail or YouTube), in the past few months I wanted to test myself to several shots with the Huawei experience, first with a P40 Pro and now with this Huawei nova 9, discovering how many of the prejudices were dictated by my ignorance rather than by real limits during use.
On the one hand In fact, I have witnessed the constant growth of the proprietary Huawei AppGallery store with more and more officially supported applications, while on the other hand I have seen the company engage in offering the user a whole series of alternatives, one above all the Petal research with the possibility to install applications from the web but in any case verified by Huawei, to allow everyone to be able to use their desired applications.
A convincing reality tested by the facts that has highlighted how critical the u I know of a Huawei device (even including in the speech the use of Google applications that can still be replaced almost completely with the respective web-apps), are only the result of a little attitude to change on the part of us users. A strange form of flattening to novelties, in which we feel forced to use technology as few companies have thought of it for us. A reality, however, a frightening thread, can't you find?
By this I don't mean that comfort is an evil to look for when you want to use your smartphone, but on the other hand we should ask ourselves about the cost of this convenience, that we have too often taken for granted or just not considered.
In this light, therefore, I absolutely want to reward the efforts of Huawei, which with its proprietary store as well as with the possibility given to the user to download applications also from third-party store, try to reshuffle the balance in the field, all in a style that now appears much more complete and professional, compared to those like me who saw this new course born only a few months ago.
Nell 'waiting to be able to try HarmonyOS on smartphones even in our latitudes, this Huawei nova 9 bases its user experience on the recent EMUI 11 based on Android 11. If for some this data might seem strange in relation to all the themes touched in the lines above, it is enough to know that on a visual and aesthetic level this new version of the EMUI customization almost perfectly follows what is seen with the Harmony versions installed on Huawei smartphones in China. .
A sort of "aesthetic bridge" capable of not upsetting the user experience, with many changes that will however come under the hood, to introduce the whole new idea of Huawei regarding the use of smartphones , seen as a hub for the entire digital life of the user and as a central hub for all the accessories within which HarmonyOS will be installed, which we remember will be much more than a simple operating system for mobile phones.
An elegant smartphone
Entering instead the hardware field, one cannot but start from the constructive and aesthetic chapter of this Huawei nova 9. A smartphone that certainly does not do anything a to hide the similarities with another smartphone recently protagonist of our tests, which however proved to be as elegant as it was solid in my days of use.On the usefulness and pleasure of inserting the curved edges on the display of a smartphone, I think we will never stop "discussing" on the web. If on the one hand I can confirm that in fact now I too am increasingly inclined to have a device with flat edges as the main one, on the other hand the aesthetic and wow effect that these curves on the front are able to give is undeniable. .
The back features this particular camera block, which Huawei has decided to make a distinctive feature of its latest smartphones, combined with a treatment on the back cover which in my "blue" unit gives a really pleasant effect. to the eye as to the touch, completely excluding the problem of fingerprints during use while maintaining the presence of glass as a material.
The display on the front is an OLED unit that has almost symmetrical perimeter edges, with the addition of a central hole in the upper part for the front camera. On a functional level, the addition of the 120Hz refresh rate represents the icing on the cake as we usually say, for a panel that I absolutely feel I can promote in its price range and that has not presented any problems during use, with the 'absence of aesthetic artifacts and with a responsiveness to the touch always guaranteed in every context.
Smartphone Geekbench 5 Geekbench ML 3DMark PCMark Work 3.0 Speedometer 2.0 Jetstream 2 Single-core Multi-core CPU GPU NNAPI Wild Life Wild Life
Stress Test Performance - - Honor 50 783 2974 391 931 613 2508
(15.00 fps) 2514 - 2486
(98.9%) 12349 61.04 ( ± 0.59) 86044 Motorola Edge 20 756 2702 382 955 795 2475
(14.80 fps) 2485 - 2451
(98.6%) 13294 62.56 (± 0, 30) 86363 Huawei nova 9 783 2904 192 954 741 2493
(12.90 fps) 2503 - 2469
(98.6%) 9735 48.2 (± 0.3.4) 60947
Data sheet with some shadows but also many lights
If the display is completely consistent with the tag requested by Huawei, on the pure technical sheet side perhaps something better could be done, especially looking at the increasingly fierce competition that certainly does not stand by.Because if it is true that this Huawei nova 9 thanks to adoption of the Snapdragon 778G almost never shows obstacles in any use scenario, perhaps expecting a better processor at this list price would have been a legitimate request from users. And the processor is not the only area in which some waiver is visible when using this smartphone ...
The size of the rear camera compartment almost naturally leads the user to have very high expectations in terms of photographic and multimedia rendering. The truth is that this "rule" is applied in the middle, with the main 50MP sensor capable of giving really important shots (this is the same performance as the P40 and P40 Pro as regards the main camera), but with little support from the auxiliary lenses.
A shame because in a context in which attention to the photographic sector is also dedicated to details (whether it's macro cameras or ultra-wide-angle lenses that are increasingly quality), this nova 9 loses the opportunity to stand out from the crowd, remaining in the end "one of many", despite a very high quality at times, also guaranteed by a proprietary software able to get the most out of the available lenses.
Absolutely more interesting is the performance of the front camera, in a world increasingly focused on VLOGs and selfie videos, with 32MP and the ability to shoot videos in 4K that could be pleasantly po sitive for all creators.
66W, a "revolution" for many
Although the fast charging theme is now on everyone's lips, there are still few users in possession of a device capable of offering extremely fast data when it comes to charging.This Huawei nova 9 brings, in addition to an internal unit of 4300mAh, just the 66W charging technology (charger offered in package), capable of offering a recharge of over 50% in just 20 minutes, and a full charge in less than 50. Incredible data that will make low battery anxiety a distant memory and allow you to enjoy one of the features in my opinion the most interesting implemented in the smartphone market in the last period.
For those of you who are still interested in data and statistics of use, even if it is objectively difficult to standardize the different uses that each of us has of their own smartphone, I can show you and as in over 5 hours the active screen data in the context of data connection, with even 7/8 hours of mixed Wi-Fi / data network use spread throughout the day.
Our standard battery life test performed on PCMark Work 3.0 with display brightness locked at 50% returned a result of 11: 16h, almost an hour longer than the "twin" Honor 50 which stopped at 10: 04h.
Conclusions and price analysis
To all of you who have come this far in the review, I can only recommend this Huawei nova 9. It is clear that practically all the sacrifices represented by the American ban are now more anxieties than in the past. a real obstacle to daily life, just as it is clear that the Huawei ecosystem is on the path of right and correct growth with the coming months that will represent even more a step towards the evolution of the brand and the company.499 euros, something less if you choose to pre-order the product on The Huawei site in November could certainly represent a not very aggressive price and out of line with the competition. However, with the Freebuds Pro as a gift, still today one of the best TWS earphone models with active noise cancellation on the market and one of my favorites, it represents a proposal not so out of the market for a well-built device, with an excellent OLED display. high speed, a long-lasting battery with the plus of ultra-fast recharging and a pleasant software experience, aesthetically pleasing and with smart functions scattered here and there.
Certainly you will not have the best photographic performance and you will not have the best processor on board, but in general you will have in your hands a reliable device in every context of use. And then to conclude, do you want to put the telephone and reception quality of a Huawei smartphone? Really priceless!
