Huawei is going after other Chinese brands that dominated the Philippines smartphone market in the previous year. One of these brands is Vivo, who is currently getting a lot of market share with their midrange offering — the Vivo V7.
To go against Vivo, Huawei launched the Nova 2 Lite. If you haven’t noticed, Huawei has been trying to show off in the smartphone industry for the last couple of years. The new Mate 10 targets the giants like the Galaxy S8/S9, while the Nova series is positioned in the midrange arena.
Clearly, the Nova 2 Lite’s main competitions are the OPPO F5 Youth and Vivo V7. We’ve already compared this device with OPPO A83, which you can check out here. Now, let’s see how it stacks up with the V7.
| Huawei Nova 2 Lite | Vivo V7 | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Android 8.0 Oreo EMUI 8.0 | Android 7.1 Nougat FunTouch OS 3.2 |
| SIM | Dual SIM Dual Standby | Dual SIM Dual Standby |
| Display | 5.99-inch HD+ IPS display 1440 x 720 resolution, ~268ppi 18:9 aspect ratio | 5.7-inch HD+ IPS display 1440 x 720 resolution, ~282ppi 18:9 aspect ratio |
| Processor | 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core | 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 octa-core |
| RAM | 3GB RAM | 4GB RAM |
| GPU | Adreno 505 GPU | Adreno 506 GPU |
| Storage | 32GB internal storage Expandable via microSD up to 256GB | 32GB internal storage Expandable via microSD up to 256GB |
| Front Camera | 8-megapixel front camera Toning flash | 24-megapixel front camera F/2.0 |
| Rear Camera | 13-megapixel + 2-megapixel LED flash | 16-megapixel LED flash |
| Security | Facial Recognition Fingerprint scanner | Facial Recognition Fingerprint scanner |
| Connectivity | 4G LTE Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n Bluetooth GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS microUSB | 4G LTE Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n Bluetooth GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS microUSB |
| Dimensions | 158.3 × 76.7 × 7.8mm | 149.3 x 72.8 x 7.9mm |
| Weight | 155g | 139g |
| Color | Matte Black, Blue, Gold | Champagne Gold, Matte Black |
| Battery | 3,000mAh battery | 3,000mAh battery |
The Vivo V7 has obviously overtaken the Nova 2 Lite in a few key areas. For one, the V7 has a new and higher-clocked processor. It also has a bigger RAM, a better front camera, and rear camera with more pixels.
The Huawei Nova 2 Lite might have a dual-camera setup at the back. But those are only 13-megapixel and 2-megapixel sensors, with the latter only used for the Bokeh mode feature.
However, the Huawei Nova 2 Lite has the lead in two critical areas. It has a larger 5.99-inch display and it offers more flexible design choices. The Nova 2 Lite will be offered in a shiny Blue and Gold variant. But if you want to go subtle, a Matte Black option is also available.
Lastly, the Nova 2 Lite runs on the latest Android 8.0 Oreo, which I believe is one of the most important parts of a midrange device like this.
But then again, it will be up to your priorities. If you’re really into selfies and taking pictures, then you might be better off with the V7. But if user-experience and a shiny design is your flavor, then the Nova 2 Lite might be the one for you.
According to Huawei, the “indicative” price of the Huawei Nova 2 Lite is Php12,990. Meanwhile, the Vivo V7 is currently priced at Php12,990.