Huawei Nova 4 Specs and Price

As a big player in the Chinese and global smartphone scene, it’s safe to say that no mediocre product ever carries the Huawei emblem. The newest piece of mobile tech from the brand isn’t just like any other smartphone you have seen before (save for the Samsung Galaxy A8s); it has a HOLE in the screen. No, the screen isn’t perforated or something, but to hand your smartphone’s screen more real estate on the front, Huawei embedded the selfie camera in a punch-hole on the Nova 4.
Previously, the predecessor to this device used a rectangular notch above the display to house its selfie camera and other sensors. The Huawei Nova 4, however, handles the front-camera problem in a better way. In addition, it also sports features that puts it way ahead of competition in the upper midrange smartphone ecosystem. This might as well just be Huawei’s last smartphone release for 2018.

Huawei Nova 4 Key Specifications

• Dimension: 157 x 75.1 x 7.8 mm (6.18 x 2.96 x 0.31 in)
• Weight: 172 grams
• Display: 6.4-inch Full HD+ 19.25:9 display ~398 ppi
• Front-facing (selfie) camera: 25MP f/2.0
• Rear camera: 20MP + 16MP + 2MP
• Memory (RAM): 8GB
• ROM: 128GB
• Processor: HiSilicon Kirin 970 octa-core (4x Cortex A73 2.36GHz + 4x Cortex A53 1.8GHz) CPU
• GPU: Mali-G72 MP12 GPU with Huawei GPU Turbo
• Battery: 3750 mAh non-removable battery with 18W fast charge
• Sensors: Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope, Fingerprint sensor (rear-mounted)

Design and Build

On the outside, the Huawei Nova 4 is all shades of premium. Huawei almost never disappoints with the design of its smartphones. The Nova 4 is available in four different colour variants (Blue, Black, Pearl white, and Bright Red) which are all coated in a special nano-texture layer which gives the device the reflective appearance it boasts of when it comes in contact with light. The slimness (7.7 mm) and light-weightedness (172 grams) of this device is also another aspect to love about its overall build.

The screen takes about 94% of the front’s real estate with the selfie camera embedded in a circular punch-hole and the tiny front-facing earpiece still sited at the top-edge of the display. The volume rockers and power button are on the right-hand side while a triple camera setup is at the top-left corner on the rear. Two of the three rear-facing sensors are grouped together in one panel while the third sits alone, just above the LED flash.

Display

There are other good sides to the Huawei Nova 4 (there are a lot of them actually) but the display is one of the most talked about. The display quality, the edge-to-edge design, the ultra-slim and almost non-existent bezels are some of the screen properties that makes the Nova 4 worth trying.

Huawei Nova 4 (left) vs Huawei Nova 3 (right)

The device comes with a 6.4-inch display with FHD+ (1080 x 2310 pixels) resolution and pixel density of 398 ppi all fitted into an aspect ratio of 19.25:9. Its predecessor, the Nova 3, has a slightly longer (19.5:9) screen aspect ratio. The device also has an on-paper screen-to-body ratio of 86%.

Processor and Storage

The Huawei Nova 4 isn’t powered by the company’s latest HiSilicon Kirin 980 that powers its 2018 flagship (Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro) but the Kirin 970 that this device comes with, coupled with the Mali-G72 GPU (with Huawei’s GPU Turbo) and massive 8GB of RAM should be enough to produce flagship-level performance either during light usage like multitasking or for heavy tasks like playing graphic-intensive games.
In addition to the 8GB of RAM, users are stuck with the built-in 128GB internal storage as there is no SD card slot for storage expansion.

Camera and Software

Things further get exciting in the camera department if the device. The Huawei Nova 4 comes with three camera sensors on the rear and one up front. You should know that the Nova 4 comes in two different variants based on the rear-facing camera configurations. The base version has a 20MP f/1.8 primary + 16MP f/2.2 secondary + 2MP f/2.4 tertiary sensor on the rear while the higher version has a 48MP + 16MP + 2MP sensor configuration with the same aperture as the base version. The only difference is the primary camera. The Huawei Nova 4 is the first smartphone to ever sport up to 48MP camera.

On the software side, the Huawei Nova 4 will run the Android Pie 9.0 out-of-the-box. However, unlike the Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL or UMIDIGI F1 that run the OS in its unadulterated, pure and stock form, the Nova 4 Android Pie will be laced with Huawei’s EMUI 9.0.1 UI.

Battery

To keep the Nova 4 up and running, Huawei embedded a 3,750mAh Lithium-Ion battery in the device. Also, to ensure you don’t the whole day to charge the device, the Huawei Nova 4 supports 18W fast charging.

Price and Availability

The Nova 4 has been officially announced by the manufacturer. It, however, will not go on sale before January 15, 2019. The OEM is taking pre-orders for the device till the end of 2018. EXpect the base version of the Nova 4 with 20MP primary camera to sell for about $450. The 48MP model, on the other hand, will retail for almost $500.