MANILA - Huawei's Nova 2i goes on sale this weekend, the latest entrant in the market for mid-priced handsets that offer near bezel-less displays. Here's how it stacks up against the competition.
DISPLAY
The Nova 2i and the Vivo V7+ both offer 5.99-inch displays that occupy almost the entire front of the device. LG's Q6 has a smaller 5.5-inch display. All panels are in full HD.
CAMERAS
There are 4 cameras on the Nova 2i, a 16MP lens on the back and a 13MP shooter on the front, each paired with a 2MP lens that captures depth of field. Vivo's V7+ has a 24MP front camera for clearer selfies and a 16MP rear camera. The Q6 has a 13MP rear camera and its front camera allows face recognition to unlock the device.
PRICE
The Nova 2i retails for P14,990, less expensive compared to the P17,990 V7+ but pricier than the Q6 at P12,990.
OTHER SPECIFICATIONS
The Nova 2i and the V7+ have nearly identical battery capacities at
3,240 mAh and 3,225mAh, respectively. The Q6 has a 3,000 mAh cell.
The Huawei and Vivo phones have rear mounted fingerprint sensors.
Samsung brought the near bezel-less design to the mainstream earlier this year with its Galaxy S8 and S8+, as it sought to rebuild its reputation after it recalled the Galaxy Note 7 in late 2016 due to faulty batteries.
The Korean electronics giant followed it up with the Galaxy Note 8. Apple will release its own full screen phone later in the year, the iPhone X.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
There was literally no connection between me and Huawei's Nova 2i on our first night together.
Exhausted from touring Huawei's campus in Shenzhen, China's answer to Silicon Valley, I rolled into my hotel bed and attempted to charge it on my nightstand. The device still uses micro USB and all I had were Type C and lightning cables.
The next morning, a journalist colleague who juiced up her unit said she didn't miss using her P10 Plus, Huawei's pricey, photo-centric flagship. She was largely right.
The Nova 2i cuts corners but not big enough to take away from what matters most to average consumers -- a good screen, a good camera and a battery that lasts a full day on a single charge.
At P14,990, the Nova 2i becomes an even more attractive proposition for a mid-range phone with a near-bezel less design, undercutting the Vivo V7+ and slightly more expensive than LG's Q6, which has a smaller screen.
At nearly P50,000 for a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 or iPhone X, you can buy 3 Nova 2i phones in all colors (black, blue and gold) and still have P5,000 to spare. This phone won't vaporize your Christmas bonus.
The Nova 2i's biggest selling point is its nearly 6-inch screen, which Huawei calls FullView in FHD+. The panel occupies 83 percent of the device's front face, which looks like a Samsung Galaxy S8, minus the exaggerated curves on the side.
The display color leans towards the cool side. It's bright enough for web browsing and video streaming even at 50 percent brightness. It's not too far from the quality of the Mate 9, Huawei's late 2016 flagship.
It will be unfair to compare the Nova 2i's LCD panel with Samsung's quad HD AMOLED since they're 2 different technologies, but the Huawei panel can hold its own against the iPhone 7 Plus or 8 Plus, which is among the best LCD screens on a smartphone. It's much brighter than the LG G6.
The camera captures rich greens and reds, a Huawei signature, but the Nova 2i struggles with whites, which tends to get a bit washed out. If you're taking flat lay food shots make sure to crop out as much as of the white plates as you can.
The back camera uses a main 16 megapixel lens, while a second 2MP lens captures depth of field to create that portrait or "bokeh" effect. Like Apple's implementation, the phone will tell you how far you should be to effectively blur the background.
The front camera uses the same set up, except the main shooter has a 13MP lens. Huawei claims the front flash is smart enough to create soft lighting even in pitch black conditions.
Aimed squarely at selfie-takers, the Nova 2i has 18 "make up" filters pre-installed and allows gesture-activated selfies with a 2-second delay.
The build quality on the Nova 2i feels much more expensive than its price tag, with the glass front that curves gently into the aluminum chassis. Viewed from the side, it almost looks like a matte black iPhone. The "Aurora Blue" stands out in a sea black and gold metal mid-rangers.
The rear-mounted finger sensor rests where you would naturally place your index finger, unlike the clumsy implementation on Samsung's S8, S8+ and Note 8. The phone is a bit slippery though but a bundled clear case should add some grip.
We used the Nova 2i on a mundane work day, checking emails and browsing, a weekend out taking food snaps and streaming video, and on an overseas trip, taxing its battery with roaming and the 3,240 mAh battery got more through the entire day without needing a lunch hour top up.
The Nova 2i feels like the big screen phone that the Mate 9 should have been in terms of build and ergonomics and it looks like a smartphone from 2017.
I wish it had the P10 Plus pin-sharp screen, Leica dual cameras and the diamond-cut texture on the back that makes the phone stand out. Most importantly, if I were going to use the Nova 2i as my daily driver, I also wish it had Huawei's Super Charge.
But for its price, the Nova 2i gives you enough of that full-screen, photo-centric, all-day smartphone experience.
It also gives us a hint of what to expect from Huawei's Mate 10 series, which will be announced in Berlin this week. The Nova 2i, after all, was rumored to be the Mate 10 Lite. Imagine what the Mate 10 Pro would be like?
source: news.abs-cbn.com
MANILA - Chinese electronics giant Huawei on Monday announced its first near bezel-less handset that packs four cameras, joining a slew of mid-priced offerings that offer a flagship experience.
Viewed from the front, the tall, nearly 6-inch screen of the Nova 2i is similar to the 5.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S8 with tiny top and bottom bezels.
The Nova 2i has dual cameras on the back and the front, promising clear and rich-colored selfies that Huawei's twin camera setups have been known for since 2016's P9 series.
See an unboxing of the Nova 2i in the slideshow below:
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Huawei loaned ABS-CBN News a black version of the Nova 2i, which also comes in gold and blue.
The device feels solid in the hand, though as with aluminum phones, it can be a bit slippery.
It comes with a clear frosted plastic case. The cases that came
bundled with premium Huawei phones get scratched easily and this one
appears to be of the same quality.
The fingerprint scanner is typically fast for a Huawei phone and is easier to reach compared to Samsung's most recent flagships.
The screen is very bright even at just half its full capacity and the tall screen provides immersive viewing. If you're coming from a high-end Samsung phone or a newer iPhone though, the screen's lower quality is noticeable.
Performance was zippy with no noticeable lag, notwithstanding EMUI, Huawei's skinned version of Android. The device can easily go for more than a day on a single charge.
While there is no Leica branding, the dual cameras produced rich colors, deep contrasts even in low light and are comparable to the photo-centric P series.
It tends to oversaturate colors, which is not a bad thing if you like your Instagram posts in vivid color.
CAMERA SAMPLES
The purple tint on this flower arrangement shot looks overblown, but it keeps the details on the stems and the chicken wire that keeps the blossoms in place.
The camera takes very decent indoor shots with dim lighting. In this
shot of Huawei's Beijing headquarters, you can still see light
reflections on the near mirror-polished floor with some noise.
The Nova 2i's shooter is almost flagship quality in good lighting. In
this hotel lobby shot, the details on the chandelier, wall carvings,
staircase and carpet are visible.
Here are the Nova 2i's key features
Height: 156.2mm
Width: 75.2
Depth: 7.5mm
Weight: 164g
Colors: Graphite Black, Prestige Gold, Aurora Blue
Build: metal
Screen: 5.9 inches
Screen Type: IPS
Resolution: 2160 X 1080 (FHD+)
Screen colors: 16 million
Screen Pixel Density: 407 PPI
Processor: Huawei Kirin 659 CPU, Octa-core 4* Cortex A53 2.36 GHz + 4*Cortex A53 1.7 GHz
Operating system: EMUI 5.1, Android 7.0
RAM: 4GB
ROM: 64GB
microSD: supports card up to 256GB
SIM 1：nano SIM Card
SIM 2：nano SIM Card or microSD
Front camera: 13MP+2MP, F2.0 wide aperture
Rear camera: 16MP+2MP, F2.2 wide aperture
Data interface: micro USB
Capability: 3240mAh (Minimum value), 3340mAh (Typical value)
Charging time: less than 150 Mins
Talk time: up to 20 Hours
Standby time: up to 550 Hours
Huawei said the Nova 2i will be available starting Oct. 21 for P14,990. Those who purchase on launch day in any of 6 concept stores will get a free JBL speaker.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
