“Killer.” “Beast.” “Monster.”
If you’re a tito like me, and this article had been written in the 1990s, I’d probably be using those words to describe something evil like a convicted criminal, or perhaps a villain in some horror movie. But nowadays, these same words are being used over and over to describe and generate hype for a new smartphone.
“Flagship Killer.” “Beast in Class.” “Monster Specs.” Repeat.
I know they sound more more badass than, say, “contender,” and “beast” seems way more tempting to click; but a “camera beast” that makes you look beautiful just sounds a bit too contradictory for me.
To be clear, I’m not telling you to stop reading reviews, because I write a lot of them, too, and it’s always good to be informed. But let’s admit it, some sites make it even more confusing, especially those who just love to oversell every single gadget that comes out, just because they got first dibs and are looking to drive more traffic to their web sites. They change favorites as often as they transfer their SIM cards using the same superlatives to describe each and every single new phone that’s coming out.
FROM VICTOR TO VICTIM?
I’m telling you this because this particular review is about the Huawei Nova 3i—one of the most searched phones on Google Philippines the past couple of months, and what many consider as the current midrange smartphone king with its P15,990 price tag.
It was undoubtedly one of the most anticipated phones, based on the leaked specs and proven by more than the 20,000 people who lined to get it on launch day. But as they say, uneasy is the head that wears the crown, and the Nova 3i is facing an increasing number of challengers—from other brands that dropped the prices of their earlier 2018 models, to newer models like the Oppo F9 that are all looking to end the Nova 3i’s reign.
Some of those phones may have even become more attractive alternatives, but isn’t it a bit annoying that after driving you to buy the Nova 3i, these same reviewers are also the ones making you think about whether you made the right purchase, or if you should have waited a bit for their new favorite “beasts” with “unbelievable specs for the pricing”?
And if you’re still undecided, you probably want to know if the Nova 3i is still the best value phone for its price range, right?
So here’s my take on the Nova 3i, the James Reid phone and the heir to Huawei’s Mid-Tier Kingdom.
TWO IN A ROW FOR HUAWEI?
The Nova 3i is the company’s follow-up to their highly successful Nova 2i, which gained attention for its quad camera setup at a time when three cameras were already impressive. The Nova 3i furthers the series’ reputation of setting new standards for the midrange price category, retaining the quad camera setup, but with updated internals and a look that stands out and literally outshines all other phones in its price range.
It has a nice heft and feel to it as it settles comfortably in your hand, but because the phone is encased in glass, it can be very prone to fingerprint smudges and slippery without a case.
On the back is a slightly protruding dual camera module that’s vertically oriented with the words “Dual Lens” and its aperture indicated beneath it. The fingerprint scanner is also at the back of the device and it’s as snappy as ever. There’s also the option of using it for gestures, such as sliding down to view notifications, swiping it from left to right to browse photos, touch and hold to take photos, stop alarms or answer calls. You can access this by going to Settings > Security Privacy > Fingerprint ID.
Moving to the right side, there’s the volume rocker and power button while on the left is the hybrid nano SIM tray. Up top is the secondary mic while the bottom houses all the device’s ports including the 3.5 mm audio port, main microphone, loudspeaker and a micro USB port. Yes. I was hoping for USB Type-C, as well.
Power the device on and you’ll be treated to a nice 6.3-inch FHD+ FullView Display 2.0 with a 2340 x 1080 resolution equal to 409 ppi and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It has a hideable notch that houses the dual 24MP + 2MP cameras, the earpiece and LED notification light. Users can lower the resolution to HD+ (1560 x 720) or switch to Smart Resolution to save power. For a phone with its price, it has quite an impressive display, bright with good viewing angles, sharp text and images, and the colors when watching videos or playing games are vivid and punchy.
Sound quality, on the other hand, is just average. It’s loud and crisp enough when listening to music and or playing games or answering hands-free voice calls, but you can only do so much with a single speaker. Good thing it has a new Party Mode feature.
Party Mode is a first for the Nova series and lets you can connect up to seven Huawei phones (via WiFi) and sync your music across the phones to create a surround-sound experience. It’s fun and easy to use, but the downside is that there is a bit of a loading time for each song to sync with the other phones. Once a song is loaded, you can play it instantly; just don’t quit the app or you’d have to reload each song again.
The Nova 3i is the first Huawei phone to use its proprietary new midrange chipset called the Kirin 710. This octa-core chipset clocked at 2.2GHz is paired with a 4GB RAM and Mali-G51 GPU. It can pretty much handle all the apps I often use—for Web browsing, checking out my social-media feeds, e-mail, photo and video editing, and for updating my blog. The Nova 3i also supports an AI gaming mode that pushes the performance of the SoC to the absolute max, while blocking noncritical notifications and calls that could diminish the gaming experience.
Now for the most important feature of the Nova 3i—its four cameras.
The Nova 3i has a pair of 16MP + 2MP rear cameras, and 24MP f/2.0 + 2MP front cameras. The 2MP secondary sensors are used to give you that “bokeh” effect that used to be possible only with DSLRs.
The camera app is rich with plenty of modes. There’s your standard Aperture, Portrait, Photo, Video and the fun new AR Lens. Tap on “More” and you can access PRO, Night, Panorama, HDR, TimeLapse, 3D Panorama, Filter, Watermark, Document Scan, Slow-Mo (1280x720p 120fps) and Artist Mode if you want to turn your picture into an artwork instead. The cameras are equipped with AI scene recognition and it will automatically adjust the color depending on the object you are focusing on.
This is where the debates begin, as some say that AI mode can be a bit too aggressive. For me, it depends on your subject and lighting condition, as there are some instances when that AI boost makes a lot of difference. Another comment I often hear about is that the Nova 3i applies too much beauty effects when taking a selfie.I actually agree with this, because even with beauty level turned to zero, there is still going to be some smoothening.
New to the Nova 3i series is the AR Lens, which is actually fun to use, especially for younger users. While you can find stickers in a lot of apps, the Huawei Nova 3 series stands out for adding backgrounds (with music), a few 3D Objects and Huawei’s 3D QMoji, which is similar to the iPhone X’s Animoji. The selection includes a chameleon (that changes colors), a blowfish, wolf/dog, cat, rabbit, robot (my favorite), penguin and a cherry that’s wearing headphones. You can either do a 10-second video or create a GIF using this QMoji. It works pretty accurately (best in well-lit environs) and if your QMoji looks a bit angry, just move the phone a bit farther from your face.
As expected, the Nova 3i takes really good photos during daytime and in well-lit environments. Images are sharp and detailed, and the color is pretty accurate. Low light is also pretty decent but if you are not taking photos of people, I suggest you switch to Night Mode (but you’ll need a tripod for this mode). The Nova 3i’s photo quality is still one of the best in its price category. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for taking videos, as there is no video stabilization whatsoever in any resolution.
MIDTIER BATTLE ROYALE
So how does the Nova 3i compare to the other phones?
Check out our comparison chart below.
When the Nova 3i came out last July, its closest competitors were the Samsung Galaxy A6, Vivo V9 and the Oppo F7, but now that the Oppo F9 is out, there are those who are trying to compare the Nova 3i even with the higher-priced F9.
DESIGN AND BUILD This can be a bit subjective, as there are those who’d prefer a metal back than glass. I still prefer metal but there’s no denying that the glass back of the Nova 3i makes it look more expensive. The trendy Nova 3 Series Iris Purple color is inspired by the Pantone color of 2018, Ultra Violet. Exuding strong techno vibes, the Iris Purple gradient color is perfectly realized on the textured film underneath the curved glass. The process to create this color is complex, and it took Huawei more than a year to develop the gradient color and is created by what is called the NCVM process. The entire process of coating takes four times as long as the industrial standard, and with only a 30-40 percent yield—this means one in three pieces of glass is discarded for failing to meet the quality standards.
Comparing the phones side by side, the Nova 3i is the clear winner with its elegant metal frame and glass back, plus the Iris Purple gradient is simply mesmerizing. If you want something that easily stands out, go for the Nova 3i. My next favorite is the newer Oppo F9 as the blue to black gradient finish is also cool and more masculine, followed by the Oppo F7, Vivo V9 and, lastly, the Samsung A6.
DISPLAY The Nova 3i, V9 and F9 all have 6.3-inch displays, while the F7 has a 6.23-inch display and Galaxy A6 a 5.6-inch display. As mentioned earlier, the Nova 3i has an IPS LCD full view display with resolution of 2340×1080 pixels, 19.5:9 aspect ratio and 409ppi. The F9, meanwhile, has a 6.3 FHD+ screen with the same 2340×1080 pixels and 409ppi. The F7 also has FHD+ (2280×1080) display and 405ppi pixel density but uses Gorilla Glass 5 up front for maximum screen protection. The Vivo V9 comes in with a similar 19:9 aspect ratio with a Full HD+ or 1080×2280 pixel resolution and 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for screen protection.
All of them have good displays and there’s little to complain about, but Vivo and Oppo wins this category for their Corning Gorilla Glass protection.
CAMERAS For me, comparing cameras is a bit like doing so with processing speeds as there are a lot of factors to consider. I wasn’t able to try out the Samsung Galaxy A6 and I had already returned the Vivo V9 and Oppo F7 when I got the Nova 3i, so I really can’t compare the same photos.
On paper the Nova 3i easily beats the competition if the number of camera lens were our only basis. All of them have 16MP rear cameras but, unlike the Nova 3i and F9, which have a 2MP secondary rear camera, the Vivo V9 has 5MP. The A6 and F7 only have a single rear camera.
But after using the V9, F7 and Nova 3i, I think the Nova 3i still takes the best photos using the rear cameras. I also prefer its camera layout since you don’t have to go to the settings menu to make adjustments like the Oppo F7, and the AI does help in producing better photos.
Complaints about over saturation can be remedied by turning off the AI, but I do prefer sharper photos than dull-looking ones. The addition of the AR QMojis, AR stickers and background make it more enticing for younger users who love adding effects to their photos. I just wish they’d add more via OTA updates as Vivo and Oppo have more choices currently.
As far as the front camera is concerned the V9 and Oppo F7 beats the Nova 3i because the 3i seems a bit too eager to make you look flawless.
STORAGE What sets the Nova 3i truly apart from the competition is its combination of a 4GB RAM and a 128GB of storage—something you only see in flagship models. A good 64Gb microSD costs around P2k above so that already saves you a lot of money. Think of all the photos you could take, and the movies and music you could save on your phone.
FINAL WORD Just like the Nova 2i, it’s clear that Huawei again shook the market and “shookt” the competition with the release of the Nova 3i. Whether they admit it or not, the initial sales of the Nova 3i is reason enough for the sudden price drop of other midrange models to somehow minimize the intensity of Nova 3i’s impact in the market. It may be priced P1,000 higher than the 2i upon release, but the updated cameras, improved specs (especially the 128GB storage) and added features more than make up for slight price bump.
If you’re a Huawei user looking to upgrade your phone, the Nova 3i is an easy recommendation: the screen is larger, the performance is better, the body is more premium, it has double the storage, and the four cameras with a higher resolution will not disappoint.
Now, if you’ve been using another brand and are looking to try a Huawei phone, again the Nova 3i is a good buy, especially if you are looking for something eye-catching.
So, despite the price drops and increased competition, is the Nova 3i still the midrange smartphone to beat? For now, I’d say it still is, and you’ll have no regrets if you’re using one right now to read this piece.