Huawei’s new handset is aimed to take on the new era of midrange smartphones today. It’s the new Huawei Nova 2i, a smartphone that sports a notorious 18:9 aspect ratio display and a quad-camera setup.
First off, the Huawei Nova 2i comes in a standard, but unique Huawei packaging. Sliding out the cover reveals its contents that are stacked vertically. There’s the actual unit in the middle, sandwiched by two boxes.
Huawei Nova 2i unboxing video
The first box has the free hard plastic case while the other one houses the micro USB cable, wall adopter, included headphones, and a SIM ejector tool.
Right off the bat, you can already tell that the Nova 2i is made from premium materials. There’s a certain heft that you can feel when you lift it up, and it was due to its all-metal build. It also feels really nice in the hand thanks to its tall build, which is a result of the 18:9 display.
The front is dominated by the large 5.99-inch screen, with very little bezels on the top, bottom and sides. There’s no capacitive buttons in sight, as Huawei opted for on-screen buttons to maximize the screen size.
Huawei Nova 2i also has rounded corners and edges, helping it sit in your hand perfectly. The two cameras at the back are stacked vertically, with the LED flash positioned on top.
The display itself also looks really good. Besides being really sharp at 1080p, it appears that the display panel is also well-laminated in the glass. You can also admire its sharpness by looking at small text icons, which still looks visible and crisp no matter how small the font size is.
It’s tall 18:9 aspect ratio is also perfect for reading web pages. You can read an article with minor swiping as more content is shown on the screen.
The cameras are really good and we’re actually surprised by its results. However, it’s still too early to judge as we just updated the software to its official retail OS so there could still be improvements along the way. We’ll talk more about its camera capabilities and give samples on our review.
Huawei Nova 2i Specs
- Android 7.0 Nougat, EMUI 5.1
- Dual SIM, hybrid
- 5.9-inch 18:9 IPS display, 2160 x 1080 resolution, ~409ppi
- 2.36GHz HiSilicon Kirin 659 octa-core processor
- 4GB RAM
- 64GB internal storage, expandable via microSD card up to 256GB
- 13-megapixel + 2-megapixel dual front cameras
- 16-megapixel + 2-megapixel dual rear cameras, LED flash
- Fingerprint scanner
- 4G LTE
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth 4.2
- GPS, GLONASS
- NFC
- Dimensions: 156.2 x 75.2 x 7.5mm
- Weight: 164g
- 3340mAh battery
The interface looks fast and responsive. However, we still have to put its Kirin 659 processor through its paces to further know its capabilities. But as far as I can tell, it seems like a pretty good performer. I’ve tried the games that I usually play and I had no problems so far.
Well, that’s it for now. Make sure you stay tuned so you don’t miss our full review when it comes out.
The Huawei Nova 2i will be available beginning October 21 for a price of Php14,990. Early buyers will also receive a FREE JBL Flip 3 bluetooth speaker worth ~Php6,495.