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Huawei has pulled the wraps off 3 new smartphones destined for the Chinese market, despite being told by Google that it will lose access to Android OS updates and the Play Store.
The new phones include the Nova 5, Nova 5i and Nova 5 Pro. It’s unclear just how long they will stay ‘proper’ Android devices or if Huawei has found a way around the ban on Android services.
The US Government handed out the ban, after disagreements with Huawei over privacy. Another contributing factor is the ongoing trade battle between US negotiators along with Donald Trump, and the Chinese Government.
Here’s a brief look at the three mid-range phones below. It’s not clear whether or not these blowers will ever land on our sandy shores (and if they did, in what state they’d be in).
Nova 5
Much like Huawei’s current Nova 3 range of smartphones, these put mid-range specs in a high-end chassis. The Nova 5 features a 6.39-inch OLED display, a fingerprint reader under the glass, and comes powered by a Kirin 810 chipset. Elsewhere, you get 6GB of RAM, 128GB or storage and it will cost around US$400 (AED1,500).
It will come out the box powered by Android 9, but it’s unclear when the device will lose access to updates.
Nova 5 Pro
Very similar to the Nova 5 (right down to screen size, camera, battery and operating system), but with the same processor behind Huawei’s flagship P30 and Mate 20 – the Kirin 980.
That means it should run faster, helped in part with a bigger 8GB or RAM, 256GB of storage. It’s yours for around US$430 (AED1,650).
Nova 5i
The 5i is essentially a re-skinned model of the brand’s P20 Lite device, which was launched earlier in the year. You get a 6.4-inch LCD display, a Kirin 710 processor and a rear quad-camera setup.
The 5i is the most budget of the bunch, with a lower-grade version of Android Pie, a fingerprint reader on the back of the device, and 128GB of storage.
It will cost US$291 (AED,1200).
