Is Kirin making a comeback?
Huawei is in a position where they are not exactly vulnerable but also not very successful either, at least in the eyes of the West. Ever since it got destroyed by US sanctions, the company’s global plans changed drastically and suddenly. Now, it has since made a great comeback back at home but still has a long way to go if it wants to meet global audiences again.
Huawei’s biggest strength is its R&D, allowing them to adapt and aggressively compete with its fellow Chinese brands, including its former division, Honor. The Nova series has since changed from a mainstream phone to experimental and luxurious devices. That’s quite a long departure.
Huawei Nova 12
Starting off with the base Nova 12, this phone features a 6.7″ 120Hz OLED screen with a 2412x1084px resolution which is just a tad higher than FullHD+. It comes with 10.7 billion color support.
Now, the most interesting part of the series, the chipset. You see, Kirin is Huawei’s chipmaking division and it was hit hard when the US sanctioned them. Many of Kirin’s chipsets use architecture made by British-based Arm, known for their Mali GPUs and Cortex CPUs. When the Nova 11 launched, Huawei was able to secure local manufacturing without the need to base off Arm’s architecture, and here we are today with the Nova 12.
Inside the Nova 12 is the peculiar HiSilicon Kirin 8000 but only up to 4G connectivity. Huawei is blocked from using 5G technologies and so have to settle with 4G, but things are looking brighter as Ericsson and Huawei partnered up and the future of the company looks bright. The phone comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB ROM. No MicroSD Card extension of course.
The Nova 12 features a 50MP+8MP+2MP setup at the back. The main 50MP lens is actually an RYYB sensor used to enhance color effects with scene recognition. The 8MP is an ultrawide and the 2MP is the useless macro sensor. A whoppingly large 60MP front camera is present here so now you can see straight to your pores!
The phone uses a 4600mAh battery with 100W fast charging. To compensate for the lack of 5G, the Nova 12 features satellite connectivity which even Qualcomm gave up. As with other connectivity features, you know the ones. These are Bluetooth 5.2, dual-band Wi-Fi, USB-C port, and an optical fingerprint scanner.
Initially, the phone is priced at CNY 2,999 (~PHP 23.3K) for the 12/256 variant. The phone is not out yet in the Philippines.
Source: Huawei China
Huawei Nova 12 Pro
All three phones feature a similar design and colour scheme. This includes a faux leather variation with the “Nova” logo etched at the back which makes for a pleasing visual.
The Nova 12 Pro is more similar to the Nova 12 Ultra which we will get on later, including a dual selfie camera. Unlike the Nova 12, the Nova 12 Pro features a higher-res 6.76″ OLED screen (2776x1224px) with 1-120Hz refresh rates, and 2160Hz PWM dimming.
As with the Nova 12, the Pro’s chipset is just as peculiar and as interesting. It is the familiar Kirin 8000 which was discussed earlier. Yes, it still does not have 5G connectivity. The phone carries up to 512GB ROM and 12GB RAM.
According to tipsters, the Kirin 8000 uses a 1+3+4 architecture consisting of a single 2.35GHz Taishan Prime core, 3x 2.15GHz Taishan Big Cores, and 4 1.53Ghz Arm Cortex-A510 sufficiency cores which comes as a surprise as Huawei still has some hold to some Arm CPUs. As for the GPU, it uses a Mali-G610 clocked at 864MHz. Device Info apps did not disclose its nanometer process.
The triple camera setup consists of a 50MP Primary, a 12MP Ultrawide, and a 2MP macro. a 60MP + 8MP combination is found at the front wherein the 8MP serves as an ultrawide so that you can fit your group of 200 friends in one frame.
It has the same 4600mAh and 100W fast wired charging as the Nova 12. It comes in Faux Blue, Black, White, and Pink. They all have distinct patterns and designs.
As with the Nova 12, the Nova 12 Pro is not available yet for Filipino users. Gotta wait until 2024 which is surprisingly not a long time from now.
Source: Huawei China
Huawei Nova 12 Ultra
The main reason why you’re reading this is probably because of the Huawei Nova 12 Ultra. Hence why we saved it up for last. The phone’s most interesting feature is again its chipset which is a HiSilicon Kirin 9000L. It’s been a while since we heard of a very competitive Kirin chip.
Before we get to that though, let’s discuss the display, cameras, battery, and other important features. Here, the display is an LTPO3 OLED with a variable 1-120Hz refresh rate, 2160Hz PWM Dimming, and AI HDR.
Next are its cameras which are again a 50MP + 8MP + 2MP setup. You know the rules (and so do we). The primary camera is an f/1.4 RYYB sensor coupled with an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro. The front is more interesting anyway as it features the same 60MP + 8MP combination as with the Nova 12 Pro. The primary camera is unique in that it can switch apertures between f/1.4 to f/4.0
It comes with a 4600mAh battery with 100W fast wired charging charged via a USB-C port. As always, the same faux blue is present here, as well as Bluetooth 5.2 and dual-band Wi-Fi. Only the 5G connectivity was lost. It also has an in-display fingerprint scanner.
Now, let’s get back to the chipset. According to Sparrows News and individual tipsters, the Nova 12 Ultra is equipped with a HiSilicon Kirin 9000SL chipset, which is designed to compete against the likes of the MediaTek Dimensity 9200 and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It consists of the following:
- 1x 2.35GHz Taishan Core
- 2x 2.15GHz Taishan Performance Cores
- 3x 1.53GHz Arm Cortex-A510 CPU
- Maleoon 910@750mHz GPU
Again, the chipset does have 5G connectivity but it’s deactivated at the time being.
All four phones have satellite connectivity via Baidou as well as 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6/6e, and Bluetooth 5.3. All of them also run HarmonyOS 4.0
The Nova 12 Ultra consists of Faux Blue, Black, and Silver colorways. All three feature the “Nova” logo pattern etched straight to the phone’s back.
None of the phones are available in the Philippines nor globally. Expect none as the satellite connectivity is exclusive for Chinese users only.
Meanwhile, the Huawei Nova 12 Lite will be discussed in another article.
Source: Huawei China
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