Huawei launched two of its premium flagships, Nova 3 and Nova 3i, in India on Thursday in a bid to target the millennials who have been inspired by feature-rich smartphones at competitive prices. Let's take OnePlus 6, Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro as a reference here as Huawei is targeting two important price segments ranging between Rs 20,000-Rs 40,000.
Huawei Nova 3 is the company's response to the popularity of handsets like OnePlus 6 and Asus Zenfone 5Z. Unlike these flagships, Huawei Nova 3 sets its own rules while competing against the known rivals and we had the chance to test the handset during its launch event in New Delhi.
Huawei highlighted some important aspects of the Nova 3, which makes an attempt to stand out in the niche crowd. But how well does it fare against its rivals is best left unanswered until we thoroughly test the Nova 3. Until then, take a look at our first impressions of Huawei Nova 3.
AI's big play
Huawei prides itself in using AI diligently in its smartphones and not just slapping the AI label to make the product sound cool. Some of the most important features in the Nova 3 smartphone are built around AI and users will actually reap its benefits.
AI in Nova 3 plays an important role in the camera department, which we will discuss shortly, but there are other aspects such as AI Shopping, AI photo gallery, AI chipset and AI Assisted Composition.
We will be testing these AI interventions in the Nova 3 as a part of our detailed review to asses its use case in our daily lives. But let us move on to what we did the test during our hands-on at the event.
Cameras
Huawei Nova 3 boasts AI dual cameras on both sides of the phone. That's right! There are four cameras on the Nova 3 in total and they're powered by artificial intelligence in order to bring your photos to life.
The rear camera is made up of a 16-megapixel primary sensor and a secondary 24-megapixel sensor with PDAF and f/1.8 aperture and the front camera boast a 24-megapixel primary sensor, with f/2.0 aperture, and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor.
Our brief hands-on the Nova 3 reminded us of the Huawei P20 Pro flagship that we had tested a while ago. The camera interface, complete with various modes, such as photo, portrait, aperture, and more are picked directly from the P20 Pro. This is good news for Nova 3 buyers, but there's more to it than the camera UX.
A few sample photos shot on the Nova 3 showed some detailed photographs. There were colourful props at the demo zone, which we used to test the Nova 3's camera and the results were not disappointing. But our tests were limited to the demo zone, which was well lit and ideal for the camera to perform at its best. We'll be testing the camera outdoors and in low-light to get a better understanding of its performance.
Selfies weren't too bad, provided the beauty and AI modes were enabled. The portrait mode worked fairly well on both sides of the camera and we are yet to test the other features.
3D Qmoji
While all the camera modes were identical to the P20 Pro, there was one extra mode called 3D Qmoji, which is Huawei's answer to Apple's Animoji feature. We tested out the cute Qmojis that were available on the Nova 3 and they performed really well.
For those unaware, 3D Qmoji is a feature that uses augmented reality (AR) to create emojis. Users can enact in a certain way and the AR-based emojis will replicate it and help users create GIFs or short videos. When we tested with a few Qmojis - penguin, robot and more - the replication was accurate and it was able to pick up subtle expressions as well as head movements, smiles and eyebrow raise.
GPU Turbo technology
GPU Turbo technology by Huawei has been widely reported of late as it hit many smartphones, including Honor 10 and others. The Nova 3 also comes with GPU Turbo, which was one of the key USPs of the phone. To show the feature in action, the company had set up a booth for Nova 3 with PUBG and Asphalt games.
We tried out the PUBG on Nova 3, and the gameplay as good as any other high-end smartphone. But we were unable to get any special vibrations for different actions in the game, such as shooting and being shot at. We will be extensively testing the GPU Turbo on Nova 3 and explore all the hidden features for our upcoming review.
Since the Nova 3 was played by many before me, the phone had heated up. We will also see if the same happens in our single-handed testing. But the GPU Turbo seems to be smoothing things out for an uninterrupted gaming experience.
Looks
Finally, let's address the elephant in the room. Huawei Nova 3 is a beautiful looking smartphone, and our vote goes to the Iris Purple, which is a mix of purple and blue in the most beautiful form. We had no doubts about the phone's looks as it can cast a spell on the onlookers. The notched display and the glass back with vertically-stacked rear cameras and the fingerprint scanner is smartly designed to resemble the flagship P20 Pro and yet have its own unique elements. But the challenge of fingerprint smudges and the slippery grip is a valid concern.
Overall, the phone's looks had us impressed and the feel of the phone did not let us down completely despite being slippery. While we are on our quest to test other features, we can safely say the design is something users will find appealing in the Nova 3.
