Huawei Nova 5T is the second Huawei Nova terminal released during the year, which aims to meet all the needs of those who want a top of the range in their hands, but are not willing to spend money on their own. With its affordable price point, the Nova 5T really seems to succeed. Here's why.
Design
The Nova series has renewed its brand and the work done is clearly visible starting from the style of the logo and the colors of the terminals. This 5T is available in sparkling colors, including the Midsummer Purple on trial, which offers bright and sparkling shades.
The part that will most attract the user's eye is the rear, covered with 2.5D glass where the Nova logo is located both in large, which then repeated in small for the entire extension of the rear. Net of personal tastes, this is a choice that greatly personalizes the terminal, and which differs it from many other competitors on the market. It will like it, or it will not like it, but the move is still innovative.
As we will see later, the rear of the terminal does not attract only for the new graphic pattern, since the back cover houses a quad camera configuration, which certainly suggests that the multimedia department is one of the main attractions of this device. Positioned vertically, the lens setting closely resembles that of the Huawei P30 Pro, with three main lenses and flashes on a single line, with a small sensor on the side. Moreover, the room is really much more discreet than that of Honor 20 Pro, much larger and with a more pronounced bump.
On the front side, on the other hand, there is a large 6.26-inch display, with well-optimized frames, slightly more evident on the lower part. There is no notch, because among the peculiarities of this Nova 5T there is also the 4.5 mm hole in the upper left corner, which houses the selfie camera and which allows the terminal to reach a screen-to-body ratio more than 90%.
Again, particular is the positioning of the fingerprint sensor, located on the right side, below the volume rocker. We will return to this sensor later, anticipating from now that, as per Huawei tradition, it is one of the best appreciable on a terminal. The bottom houses a USB-C port, next to a speaker grill, with no headphone jack. The package does not include a pair of USB-C headphones but there is a USB-C headphone jack dongle, so you can use your own headphones.
The design of Huawei 5T is really appreciable, being a compact smartphone, well assembled, aesthetically valid and manageable at the right point. It has all the cards on the table to be considered a top of the range from this point of view.
Screen
Huawei 5T, of course, will have to save some money. The panel is an IPS LCD type, which is more evident than the average price of the Nova 5T. It won't be as good as the OLED and AMOLED panels found in the more expensive terminals, but if this allows the user to save on the final price, and have a real top in their hands, the choice of the manufacturer is certainly spot on.
The colors on the LCD panel aren't as vivid as on an OLED display, the contrast just as much, and the blacks aren't truly black. Beyond these data, however, the Nova 5T panel is still appreciable from many points of view. It offers a Full HD + resolution at 2340 x 1080p, with a density of 412 ppi, which offers the user clear images and videos.
The panel is embellished by the absence of a notch, since it offers a cutout for the selfie camera at the top left. After a couple of hours of use it will be difficult to notice it, managing instead to blend in better. It is only noticeable when using full screen apps with controls present in the area where the chamber hole is located. In this case you can reduce the full screen display mode and choose to hide the hole, with black borders at the top and bottom, as if it were a smartphone with wider bezels. To tell the truth, during our use, we have never felt the need to resort to this stratagem.
Overall, therefore, the display is the element that most justifies the low price, but which in any case does not impoverish the qualities of the terminal, which still remains a valid product, even from the point of view of the screen.
Performance
No compromise on performance. Huawei Nova 5T is equipped with a Kirin 980 processor, the same chip that powers the AI capabilities of Huawei's Mate 20 and P30 series, which increases performance and battery life. The weight of the CPU is felt when you use all the apps, which run smoothly in everyday life, without any hesitation. The 6 GB of RAM available also make multitasking of equal value.
The CPU seems to lose the direct comparison with the Snapdragon 855 proposed, for example on the OnePlus 7 series, but beyond the data on paper, Nova 5T is a lightning-fast terminal in everything it does, and in everyday use it does not you will hardly notice any slowdown problems. Everything flows smoothly, from apps to games. For the more demanding, then, a Performance mode is hidden among the menus, which gives the phone a marginal increase in performance, which in any case weighs heavily on the battery. We do not feel like recommending this mode, also because it is not necessary: the terminal is already fluid with the default settings.
A small note is a must on the touch ID: the lateral positioning is really effective, an excellent solution not to completely eliminate this unlocking method or insert it below the display: this key with built-in sensor is even faster and more effective than those in-display.
Camera
While Nova 5T has “saved” on some elements, such as the LCD display, it certainly has not compromised on the camera department. The terminal sports, in fact, an impressive and versatile quad-camera configuration reminiscent of the one in force on the Huawei P30 Pro, even if they remain a step below these, but the results can be comparable to those of many higher-end terminals. .
As for the front. Huawei Nova 5T offers a 32 MP sensor, housed in the hole on the front of the phone. It is flanked by support for artificial intelligence, which through software improvements manages to make the selfies elaborate. Probably a little too much. Where, on the other hand, the AI is particularly useful is in the shots in the dark.
The real protagonist, however, is the four-camera configuration on the back, characterized by a 48 MP main sensor with f / 1.4 aperture, with optical image stabilization and laser autofocus. This is the same 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor found on the OnePlus 7 Pro And in fact, the photographic results are very similar to the latter. Accompanying this main sensor, also a 16 MP wide-angle lens with f / 2.2 aperture, with 117-degree FoV, as well as an 8 MP (f / 2.4) telephoto lens with OIS and 3X lossless and 5X hybrid zoom capabilities, and finally a 2 MP macro lens with f / 2.4 aperture.
The main sensor is the 48MP sensor which is about 1/2 inch in size. It is larger than most major sensors on smartphones, which allows it to capture more light and color. Ultimately, the Nova 5T offers good quality high-resolution shots – the result is a 12MP image, although you can manually choose to capture 48MP photos. The latter, however, is only recommended in optimally lit scenes.
Like most smartphones, the best photographic result is obtained in well-lit scenarios, therefore in full sunlight. In general the images are clear and bright, with the right exposure, able to bring out the details. Also supporting the result is the Kirin 980 with its dual NPU, which powers the AI capabilities and the camera of this Nova 5T. Artificial intelligence is enabled by default in the camera. We have noticed that AI tends to process images too much. For some, this AI aggression might produce better shots, but in general the photos look not too natural.
Obviously, in some areas it is better to use AI, which gains sharpness and which certainly helps the night mode, allowing you to add details to the shot in the dark, capturing more light and more
Video footage on the Nova 5T is smooth and stable. The terminal allows you to record 1080p video, with images that retain details and colors. However, there is a lack of OIS, which requires the user to keep the device as stable as possible. 4K recording support available, naturally not stabilized. The result is however appreciable.
We leave you with a gallery of images taken directly with the terminal, so you can evaluate the goodness of the shots.
Autonomy
The battery of the Nova 5T is 3,750 mAh, but beyond what is written in black and white, what interests the user is the autonomy of the terminal. During our tests we always arrived in the evening with a residual charge dose of just under 20%. This allows the device to cover a day of normal use, therefore with push notifications, use mostly reserved for web browsing and messaging, social control, and automatic brightness. Unfortunately there is no support for wireless charging, but fortunately it supports fast charging thanks to the 22.5 W charger included in the package. It is not as fast as OnePlus or Xiaomi technology, but it is able to bring the terminal to 50% in just 30 minutes.
Conclusions
Nova 5T is truly an important competitor on the scene. Low price, but certainly among the so-called top of the range. Very nice design, compact shape, the fact that it can be used well in one hand and is still really light, with its 164 grams well distributed. The displays are the only compromise, which is felt more if you read the data on the card, than in real use. Too bad also for the absence of the audio jack and support for wireless charging. If we exclude these elements, Nova 5T is really a terminal that has its say in the current landscape.
A note cannot be missing on the software: at the moment there still seems to be uncertainty about Huawei's future software support, but the Nova 5T comes with full support for Google applications and with all Big G services installed.
Ultimately Nova 5T is a terminal that we liked a lot, right from the opening of the package, and for all use in everyday life. With this smartphone, Huawei demonstrates that there is room for a new category of smartphone: the top of the range at a very competitive price.
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Price and availability
On Amazon it costs just 429 euros and is available at this address in all three color variants.
