It's been a long time coming, Huawei Nova 8 is now in the Philippines. The company finally drops a smartphone after a series of IoT product releases. And what a better way to do it is by releasing the fan-favorite Nova series.
The Huawei Nova 8 is the more powerful handset released from the series. Alongside it, we have the Nova 8i which caters to the lower midrange category. The Nova 8 promises a frenzied design with its curved-glass display and powerful internals. We had a chance to spend an ample time with this shiny new smartphone. Here's our unboxing and first impressions of the Huawei Nova 8.
Huawei Nova 8 Unboxing
The Huawei Nova 8 is packaged in a familiar white box with the Huawei Nova 8 branding on the center. Below it is the logo for Huawei's AppGallery that instantly tells consumers that this phone is using Huawei's official app market, since the Google Play Store is no longer available in the brand's ecosystem especially for recent and new releases. Good thing is, in a short span of time, Huawei has made the AppGallery lucrative enough to host the most important apps to keep your device running.
 |
| Huawei Nova 8 out-of-the-box items |
Opening the box, we are greeted with the Huawei Nova 8 unit. It comes with a screen protector pre-installed. We have the very stylish Blush Gold color for our unit which I actually like.
Another box houses the silicon case, which is also where the SIM ejector tool is attached. Underneath are two compartments which house the USB-C charge cable and the 66W Huawei SuperCharge adaptor.
What we do not have here is the earphones. Of course, Huawei's growing ecosystem includes smart devices like earphones, which basically is directing consumers to avail of good quality sound from the company's line of IoT products.
Just a quick recap of what's inside the box:
- Huawei Nova 8 unit
- Screen protector (pre-installed)
- Silicon case
- USB-C charge cable
- 66W SuperCharge adaptor
- SIM eject tool
Design and Construction: Svelte and Premium-looking
Upfront, I am quite impressed with the build quality of the Huawei Nova 8. Before I give you more of my impressions, here's a quick rundown of the smartphone's ports and placements:
- Top: SIM tray with two SIM slots, secondary mic, earpiece
- Right: volume rocker and power button
- Bottom: microphone, USB-C port, and speakers
To be specific, the SIM tray does not have a dedicated slot for microSD card. Button placements are good, and they are easy to access even when you handle the phone with one hand.
On the rear panel, we have a polycarbonate plastic material which is in blush gold paint job. This backing easily reflects light from your environment thereby giving off different gradient of colors. In turn, this makes it look cool and stylish. It is also very smooth to the touch but it can also attract fingerprints that you can easily wipe off.
On the lower part of the panel, you'll see the brand's transparent logo and on top left side is the AI quad camera trimmings. I am actually quite pleased with the design of this module. Of course, Huawei is capitalizing on the capabilities of this camera as evident by this imposing design.
All in all, I love to rock this smartphone in the wild. The Blush Gold hue complements the exquisite design that I could rarely find in a smartphone at this price.
Display: 3D Curved Glass is now in Nova series!
The front panel features a 3D curved glass design which is something I can only see in flagship smartphones before. There are tolerable bezels on top and the handset's chin, while the side bezels are barely noticeable when you look at the phone's display without tilt.
We have a punch-hole design that houses the front camera. It is situated on the top center instead of the usual far left corner that we have seen on other smartphones that makes the selfie camera less conspicuous. I fairly think it is strategically placed there at the center to easily focus and capture selfies.
We also have an optical fingerprint reader which means it is already integrated with the OLED display. The Harmony OS also brings sleek customization, fonts, as well as new ways of interacting with the smartphone.
The display registers crisp images; and in my initial usage of the phone, I am instantly hooked with the quality of the display. I'll tell you more about this in my review.
Related: HUAWEI Nova 8, 8i with 64MP AI Quad-camera now in Pre-order
The Wrap
The Huawei Nova 8 is quite impressive so far. Some of my favorite features are the 3D curved glass screen, OLED display, and design. It's light and easy to use, and the new Harmony OS is quite clean.
The phone is priced at Php 19,990. In my initial impressions, I think it could retail more than that. I'm telling you, this is a good time to be a Nova fan.
Huawei nova 8 Specs
160.12 x 74.1 x 7.64 mm, 169 grams
6.57-inch FHD+ (2340 x 1080p) OLED display
90Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate
Huawei Kirin 820E (7nm) SoC
Hexa-core (3x2.22 GHz Cortex-A76 & 3x1.84 GHz Cortex-A55)
Mali-G57 (6-core) GPU
8GB RAM + 128GB ROM
Quad rear camera:
64MP main (f/1.9 aperture)
8MP ultrawide (f/2.4 aperture)
2MP depth (f/2.4 aperture)
2MP macro (f/2.4 aperture)
32MP selfie camera (f/2.0)
Dual-SIM
4G LTE
WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth v5.0
USB Type-C
Type-C earjack
NFC
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS
Fingerprint sensor (in-display)
EMUI 12
3800 mAh battery, with 66W Huawei SuperCharge
Blush Gold
SRP PHP 19,990
