Huawei nova 9 review, the beauty of independence Huawei nova 9 review, the beauty of independence

There are many adjectives and feelings that I feel and read on the web today, when it comes to Huawei devices. Many criticisms, many comments regarding the "uselessness" of the brand's products following the now distant American ban imposed under the Trump legislature.

But do you know what most (if not almost all) of these comments have in common? The fact of coming from people who have never tried and touched a product of the “new era” brand.

A new course that today sees Huawei nova 9 as its protagonist, an important device that from many points of view could mark the definitive end of the many stereotypes born in recent years regarding the Chinese company and its future. Let's find out together in this review the strengths and weaknesses of this terminal, and of the Huawei ecosystem, to find out which of the criticisms can be considered valid and which are now only a legacy of the recent past.

Huawei ecosystem, waiting for HamonyOS here is the EMUI 12 and all your favorite apps

I overturn the usual pattern of reviews, deciding to give prevalence and greater importance to the software theme compared to the usual hardware analyzes (which, however, will come later in this review so do not despair). Because if it is true that many people have moved away from Huawei once the company's devices have lost access to Google services, on the other hand it is correct to indicate that the company is no longer in a (normal) phase. readjustment, and now comes up with reliable and well thought-out solutions, in order to offer the user an experience without sacrifices.

As a great technology enthusiast, and as a user who "abuses" Google services on a daily basis (whether we are talking about Drive, as well as Gmail or YouTube), in the past few months I wanted to test myself several times with the experience Huawei, first with a P40 Pro and now with this Huawei nova 9, discovering how many of the prejudices were dictated by my ignorance rather than by real limits during use.

On the one hand I have witnessed the constant growth of the proprietary Huawei AppGallery store with more and more officially supported applications, while on the other hand I have seen the company undertake to offer the user a whole series of alternatives, one above all the Petal research. with the ability to install applications from the web but still verified by Huawei, to allow everyone to take advantage of their desired applications.

A convincing reality to the test of facts that has highlighted how the criticalities in the use of a Huawei device (even including in the discourse the use of Google applications that can in any case be replaced almost completely with the respective web-apps), are only the result of a lack of aptitude for change on the part of us users. A strange form of flattening to novelties, in which we feel compelled to use technology as few companies have thought of it for us. A reality, however, a frightening thread, don't you think?

This is not to say that comfort is a bad thing to look for when you want to use your smartphone, but that on the other hand we should ask ourselves about the cost of this convenience, which we have too often taken for granted or just not considered.

In this light, therefore, I absolutely want to reward the efforts of Huawei, which with its proprietary store as well as with the possibility given to the user to download applications even from third-party stores, tries to reshuffle the balance in the field, all in one style. which now appears much more complete and professional, compared to those like me who saw the birth of this new course only a few months ago.

While waiting to be able to try HarmonyOS on smartphones even in our latitudes, this Huawei nova 9 bases its user experience on the recent EMUI 12 based on Android 11. If for some this data might seem strange in relation to all the topics touched in the lines just above, it is enough for you to know that on a visual and aesthetic level this new version of the EMUI customization almost perfectly follows what has been seen with the Harmony versions installed on Huawei smartphones in China.

A sort of "aesthetic bridge" capable of not upsetting the user experience, with many changes that will however come under the hood, to introduce the whole new idea of ​​Huawei regarding the use of smartphones, seen as a hub for the entire digital life of the user and as a central hub for all the accessories in which HarmonyOS will be installed, which we remember will be much more than a simple operating system for mobile phones.

An elegant smartphone

Entering instead in the hardware field, one cannot but start from the constructive and aesthetic chapter of this Huawei nova 9. A smartphone that certainly does nothing to hide the similarities with another smartphone recently protagonist of our tests, which however proved elegant how solid in my days of use.

On the usefulness and pleasure of inserting curved edges on the display of a smartphone, I think we will never stop "discussing" on the web. If on the one hand I can confirm that in fact by now I too am increasingly inclined to have a device with flat edges as the main one, on the other hand the aesthetic and wow effect that these curves on the front are able to give is undeniable. .

The back features this particular camera block, which Huawei has decided to make a distinctive feature of its latest smartphones, combined with a treatment on the back cover that in my "blue" unit gives a truly pleasant effect both to the eye and to the touch, completely excluding the problem of fingerprints during use while maintaining the presence of glass as a material.

The display on the front is an OLED unit that has almost symmetrical perimeter edges, with the addition of a central hole at the top for the front camera. On a functional level, the addition of the 120Hz refresh rate represents the icing on the cake as we usually say, for a panel that I absolutely feel I can promote in its price range and that has not presented any problems during use, with the absence of aesthetic artefacts and with a reactivity to the touch always guaranteed in any context.

Data sheet with some shadows but also many lights

If the display is completely consistent with the tag requested by Huawei, on the pure technical sheet side perhaps something better could be done, especially looking at the increasingly fierce competition that certainly does not stand by.

Because if it is true that this Huawei nova 9 thanks to the adoption of the Snapdragon 778G almost never shows obstacles in any use scenario, perhaps expecting a better processor at this list price would have been a legitimate request from users. And the processor is not the only area where some waiver is visible when using this smartphone ...

The size of the rear camera compartment almost naturally leads the user to have very high expectations in terms of photographic and multimedia yield. The truth is that this "rule" is applied halfway, with the main 50MP sensor capable of giving really important shots (this is the same performance as the P40 and P40 Pro as regards the main camera), but with little support from the auxiliary lenses.

A shame because in a context in which attention also to the photographic sector is dedicated to details (whether it is macro cameras or ultra-wide-angle lenses of increasingly quality), this nova 9 loses the opportunity to stand out from the crowd, remaining in the end "one of many", despite a very high quality at times, also guaranteed by a proprietary software able to get the most out of the available lenses.

Absolutely more interesting is the performance of the front camera, in a world increasingly focused on VLOGs and selfie videos, with 32MP and the ability to shoot videos in 4K that could be pleasantly positive notes for all creators.

66W, a "revolution" for many

Although the fast charging theme is now to be considered on everyone's lips, there are still few users in possession of a device capable of offering extremely fast data when it comes to charging.

This Huawei nova 9 brings as a gift, in addition to an internal unit from 4300mAh, just the 66W charging technology (charger offered in the package), able to offer a recharge of over 50% in just 20 minutes, and a recharge complete in less than 50. Incredible data that will make low battery anxiety a distant memory and will allow you to enjoy one of the most interesting features implemented in the smartphone market in the last period.

For those of you who are still interested in the data and statistics of use, although it is objectively difficult to standardize the different uses that each of us has of their smartphone, I can indicate how in over 5 hours the active screen data in the context of data connection , with even 7/8 hours of mixed Wi-Fi / data network use spread throughout the day.

Our standard battery life test performed on PCMark Work 3.0 with display brightness locked at 50% returned a result of 11: 16h, almost an hour longer than the Honor 50 "twin" which stopped at 10: 04h .

Conclusions and price analysis

To all of you who have come this far in the review, I can only recommend this Huawei nova 9. It is clear that now practically all the sacrifices represented by the American ban are more anxieties of the past than a real obstacle to everyday life, as it is clear that the Huawei ecosystem is on the path of right and correct growth with the coming months which will represent even more a step towards the evolution of the brand and the company.

499 euros, something less if you choose to pre-order the product on the Huawei website in November, could certainly represent a not very aggressive price and out of line with the competition. However, with the Freebuds Pro as a gift, still today one of the best TWS earphone models with active noise cancellation on the market and one of my favorites, it represents a not so out of market proposal for a well-built device, with an excellent OLED display. high speed, a long-lasting battery with the plus of ultra-fast charging and a pleasant software experience, satisfying in terms of aesthetics and smart functions scattered here and there.

Of course you will not have the best photographic yield and you will not have the best processor on board, but in general you will have a reliable device in your hands in every context of use. And then to conclude, do you want to put the telephone and reception quality of a Huawei smartphone? Really priceless!