➤ Huawei Nova 5T, the review 🎮

It has often happened to us to refer to a part of Android smartphones defining them as "all the same": either for the appearance in many cases approved to the standards imposed by the current industry, or for technical data sheets that are largely overlapping, the fact is that it is actually complicated in certain situations to distinguish some models from each other. Huawei Nova 5T it is perhaps the plastic representation of what has just been said, since it is an almost identical copy of Honor 20, a brand belonging as many will know to the same Chinese giant. So what should be the meaning of a new smartphone that is now making its debut on the market, practically the same as another already available since last June? Let's try to understand it together in our review.

Appearance and display

In reality it is useless to go around it so much, given that the motivation is purely commercial and of exploitation to the maximum of a successful project: Honor 20 was in fact one of the most popular products of the year, which is why there is still a basis very solid to start with. There is also a factor that is anything but marginal: the list price it is in fact € 429,90, against the € 499 of the twin Honor, which however can currently be easily found around € 350-380 given the time elapsed since the release. It will therefore be necessary to wait a few weeks for both terminals to place themselves on similar figures, making the comparison more sensible. It must be said that at the moment, and until November 24, buying the Huawei through a promotion you can also get the Freebuds Lite headphones (value € 80-90), a cover and a capsule Collection sweatshirt, thus making the package more interesting. Closed the parenthesis, we can therefore focus on the actual features of this new Huawei model, which obviously does not invent much on an aesthetic level: the front area is almost entirely occupied by the large 6.26 "display with 2340x1080 resolution, while the back has a smooth surface. interrupted only by the photographic body, located in the upper left corner. Among the usual keys, USB type C sockets, Dual SIM trolley and speaker grids, the placement of the fingerprint sensor, placed right on the same side frame, represents a rather original solution. and which also acts as an ignition key. An intelligent and practical positioning, which does not compromise in any way speed of release, accuracy and reliability. Obviously there is also the possibility, for those who prefer it, to choose face recognition , which however has a lower safety factor. Unfortunately, the 3.5mm audio jack is missing, an element to be taken into account for those who usually use wired headphones. The speaker is mono, but still capable of guaranteeing a good volume and a rather clean sound on speakerphone. The dimensions are quite generous, as is obvious having a screen over 6 inches: 73.97 x 154.25 x 7.87 mm for 174 grams, practically identical to the Honor 20. The battery it is 3750 mAh, something less than the proposals of some of the direct competitors; however we remain on excellent autonomy values thanks to the very low energy-consuming processor, and arriving at the end of the day should not represent a problem for any user, while those who use it lightly can even aim for two days. Also included in the package is a quick-charge charger, which guarantees about 50% autonomy in half an hour.

Now let's deepen the discussion on the screen, which as already mentioned is a 6.26 "panel with technology IPS LCD. The choice not to mount an OLED is obviously strategic to avoid overlapping and annoying other Huawei smartphones with a higher price, nevertheless it is clear that on the market there are several products on these figures that instead equip an OLED. The weight that this element plays in the overall evaluation is obviously subjective, but it would be foolish not to consider the display a weak point within the Nova 5T package. That said, let's be clear: the mounted LCD is anything but poor, on the contrary it is characterized by well-calibrated colors and a wide chromatic range, correct saturation and optimal brightness to make it fully legible even in direct light. Bella the alternative solution to notch, which in this case becomes a small circular hole in the upper left corner of the screen: a peripheral positioning that makes the use of the almost 100% display area really pleasant, practically without interruptions.

Technical Data

The Huawei Nova 5T data sheet speaks of a processor Kirin 980 + 6GB of RAM and 128GB of non-expandable storage, even here the same in all respects to the Honor 20. Thanks to the good work of optimization and the maturity of EMUI 9.1, everything flows quickly and smoothly without any kind of hesitation, even with heavy applications and extreme multitasking. The Kirin 980 cannot properly be defined as very recent, given that it made its debut over a year ago and that the successor, the 990, has just come out, while we are already talking about the Kirin 1000 at 5nm. So if it is not a brand new processor, the Kirin 980 is still fully capable of responding to the needs of the vast majority of users. The combination with the Mali G-76 GPU then allows you to keep up with the Games more challenging, like the "usual" Asphalt 9 or the excellent Call of Duty that run smoothly and without uncertainty. Very complete connectivity with Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, LTE and infrared port. The photographic system, on the other hand, can rely on four goals, the main 48MP and the 16 + wide-angle one 2MP for depth and another 2MP macro, exactly like on the Honor 20. The transition from the main to wide angle is quite visible and evident, and despite the results between them are similar, it is a certain difference in colors and brightness is noticeable. The shots in general are good, not great, and as often happens the best results are obtained in good light conditions. Artificial intelligence does a good job of compensating for some limitations, but in certain situations it appears all too invasive. The video recording reaches 4k at 30fps, the results are also good in this case even if the stabilization it's not flawless. Finally, the selfie cam is a 32MP, more than appropriate for the purpose for which it is dedicated.

Where there is some difference compared to the Honor 20 is in the Android customization, which on the twin obviously rested on the Magic UI 2.1 while at Huawei there is the always valid and well-tried EMUI 9.1 with security patch on September 1st. In reality, in practice, name and brand apart, there are very few elements of distinction between the two offers, which is quite understandable given the identical origin. Since we are talking about Huawei, it deserves to underline how the Nova 5T is a Google certified smartphone and can therefore have the guarantee of both the Play Store and all the applications of the Mountain View house, and of future support. Furthermore, the arrival of the EMUI 10 with Android 10 is already assured, which should finally bring some news to the customization of Huawei and solve some of the "historical" limitations, as well as guaranteeing an actually necessary graphic refresh. Finally, a final note regarding the absence of any IP certification, quite atypical element.

Comment

Price 429 €

Resources4Gaming.com

7.8

Huawei Nova 5T is a balanced smartphone, without obvious defects and which can count on the excellent, albeit not very fresh Kirin 980 and on a truly remarkable autonomy. The main problem lies in the fact that it is practically identical to the Honor 20 released last summer, with the latter currently being found on the market at a lower figure than the Nova 5T. If the exploitation of a successful project is therefore perfectly legitimate on the part of Huawei, it is inevitable that for the final consumer the choice of this smartphone must go through some important analyzes, not least the very fierce competition in this price range.