In this guide

  • Review
  • Details
    • Pricing & Availability
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Huawei Nova 3i review: Pricing | Features | Specs

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Huawei Nova 3i
3.5
★★★★★
Finder score
  • Battery Score 3.5
  • Camera Score 3.5
  • Design Score 3.5
  • Performance Score 4

Summary

The Huawei Nova 3i fulfils the mission of a mid-range smartphone all but perfectly.

In this guide

  • Review
  • Details
    • Pricing & Availability

Details

Pricing & Availability

Launch price (RRP) $599
Launch date 2018-08
Huawei Nova 3i

The good

  • The Kirin 710 processor performs well
  • 4 AI-assisted cameras
  • 128GB of onboard storage
  • Eye-catching design

The bad

  • Lacks Near-field communication (NFC)
  • No water resistance
  • microUSB charging
  • Twitchy Wi-Fi performance

Huawei's Nova 3i, also known as the Huawei P Smart in some markets, is the first phone to use Huawei's new Kirin 710 system-on-a-chip (SoC). It's a processor built for the mid-range market and is designed to replace the older Kirin 659 series as well as continue Huawei's stated mission of moving well away from existing Qualcomm or MediaTek processors.

Huawei's hype around the Nova 3i is that it delivers a premium experience at a mid-range price point. Given how aggressively Huawei typically prices its high-end handsets like the Huawei P20 Pro and the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, the Nova 3i has its work cut out for it to simply stand out.

Huawei Nova 3i: Design

  • Large notched display screen
  • Eye-catching design
  • Somewhat slippery in the hand

Huawei Nova 3i: Camera

  • Four cameras gives you a lot of scope
  • AI leads to punchy, often oversaturated shots
  • The Qmoji animations are jittery and dumb

Huawei Nova 3i: Performance

  • Kirin 710 compares well to other mid-range processors
  • Impressive 128GB of onboard storage
  • Huawei's EMUI interface is still an acquired taste
  • Lack of near-field communication (NFC) is a pain point
  • Patchy Wi-Fi support

Huawei Nova 3i: Battery life

  • Big battery capacity, but...
  • Poor overall battery life.
  • MicroUSB charging feels very old school.

Huawei Nova 3i: Should you buy it?

  • Good value overall
  • Make sure you're happy with the style if you opt for purple

The Huawei Nova 3i is an interesting handset. It's not quite perfect, but nobody should expect that of a mid-range phone anyway. However, it does represent the kinds of value we're seeing in mid-range phones because the combination of its style, the power of the Kirin 710 processor and its generally impressive camera array gives it a lot of potential value. If you're looking for a mid-range handset to buy in 2018, it should definitely go on your comparison list.

Pricing and availability

Compare Huawei Nova 3i plans

Huawei Nova 3i specs

Display

Display Size
6.3 inches
Resolution
1080 x 2340px
Pixels per inch (PPI)
409 ppi

Camera

Rear camera megapixels
16MP + 2MP
Rear camera aperture size
f/2.2 + f/2.2
Video recording
1080p
Front camera megapixels
24MP + 2MP
Front camera aperture size
f/2.0 + f/2.0

Physical Dimensions

Dimensions
157.6mm x 75.2mm x 7.6mm
Weight
169g

Connectivity

NFC
No
Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n
Network category speed
Category 12

Power, storage and battery

Processor
Kirin 710
RAM
4GB
Operating system
Android 8
Internal storage
128GB
External storage support
Up to 256GB
Battery capacity
3,340mAh

Device features

Headphone jack
Yes
Fingerprint sensor
Yes
Water resistance rating
N/A
Wireless charging
No

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