REVIEW: Huawei nova 4

The nova 4 kicks things off for Huawei in 2019, which is expected to be another interesting year for smartphones.

The era of the punch-hole smartphone has dawned upon us. Seriously, it was just a matter of time before something like this actually happened in the never-ending battle for display supremacy (if you still haven't had enough of it).
Huawei is among the first to (finally) bring out this innovation into the smartphone market with the nova 4, its first top-line offering for 2019 that also kicks off another interesting year in the segment (its sub-brand, Honor, also released a similar device, the View 20, which we'll discuss soon enough as well).
As usual, let's kick things off by stacking up this new device against its predecessor from six months ago:
TALE OF THE TAPE

Yes, there is a higher-end version with a 48MP camera. But let's rub that in a little later.
When it comes to upgrades, the biggest bump-up is in the RAM category: the nova 4 has double that of the nova 3. And there's a rather slightest of the slightest increase in screen size.
The cameras, meanwhile, are a mix of both ups and downs. We'll run through that later.
The rest are constants - but of particular note is the processor: it seems to be a head-scratcher that Huawei decided to stick with the Kirin 970 processor. That didn't make sense to me since (a) Huawei's known to put out in-your-face specs and (b) the Honor View 20 has the Kirin 980 chip used in the Mate 20 series. I was told, though, that this configuration was best-suited for the device. So, yeah; we're not going to dive into the technical stuff you may be bored to hear, but I think this is more of a putting-the-right-parts-to-make-it-work decision, as well as a move to bring down costs for the masses.
That said, the little upgrades here and bits of downgrades there may be enough to justify another thing that remained constant: its price.
Design
As always, the power and volume buttons are on the right, the 3.5mm audio jack is on top and the USB-C port is below. The SIM tray, to the left, is capable of holding two nano-SIMs, but it can't hold a microSD card. So you'll have to make to with its 128GB of internal storage, which is pretty much more than enough for all you standard users.

^{Not the slimmest out there, but still light}
Now, arguably the biggest talking point on the Nova 4 is the punch-hole design. That replaces the polarising notch and gives more space to see content. (I remember during the media briefing for the device, Huawei made one very good specific point on one of the cons of notches: on games, it may block enemies just waiting to snipe on an unsuspecting you.)
The entire front is practically an all-screen design, save for that teeny-weeny bezel on top and a rather thick one below. Its crisp FullView screen is listed a generous 6.4 inches, and you won't feel its bulk thanks to its slim build.
Now, to zoom in on the star: that punch-hole at the upper-left corner:

^{What's next? A cut-out in the shape of a tetrahedron?}
That cut-out (yet another name for it) houses a 25MP single-lens front camera, and you'd have to wonder how they were able to cram everything they needed to put in there. According to Huawei, it took them about 12 months and around 20,000 prototypes before finally arriving at the one we're experiencing on the nova 4.
And like the first time we saw the notch on a smartphone, it may not take that long for you to get accustomed to it. It will indeed feel new since we're used to a notch like the iPhone (or other Huawei devices) or a hole-free upper portion like Samsung's Galaxy devices. There will still be critics of it - doesn't feel weird to have a hole floating up there? - but overall I like the idea; personally, putting the punch-hole on the left rather than centre or right seems like the best option for it.
Camera
As promised earlier, let's dive into the triple-lens camera, which is becoming commonplace and making dual-lens systems so yesterday. It's a bit of a downgrade from Huawei's flagship series, having a 20MP primary camera, 2MP depth sensor and 16MP wide-angle lens.
And now for that rubbing-it-in-further: there is a version with a 48MP main lens, but that's not available on our turf (why?!). Oh, the Honor View 20 has a 48MP snapper, BTW.
In favourable lighting conditions, photos will come out as you'd expect it to be: clear and the shots don't seem to be that overexposed, considering the light-gathering capabilities of smartphones nowadays. Here's a snap of a pitiful plant in our yard, and how it looks like against the light:

^{Uhm, water?}
Here are some shots testing its 10x zoom capabilities:


^{It's always quiet on weekends around here}
The smudges are understandable the more you go 'zoomier'. Make sure your hands are steady when you zoom in to have the minimum smudges possible.
Here's a key component of that camera system: the wide-angle lens. Here's a sample with the orientation in portrait:

^{Missing date season already?}
You can easily see that the wide-angle lens gathers a whole lot more of subjects into the frame. The next photos are taken in wide-angle, normal one and a 10x zoom:

^{Yes, KT is everywhere}
As it gets darker, there will be some noise especially if you zoom in on a picture. Here's a healthier, well taken-care of plant inside an office with not-so-bright lights coming from outside a window; the second one used a flash:

^{The plant earlier is so jealous of you}
Here's another bored plant sitting in one of our halls. This time, the light (again, not that bright) comes from the ceiling but is about four metres away from it, so it's practically a very dark scene. The camera did a good job of lighting it up, though if you inspect it closely it's smudgy. The second shot used a flash, which didn't really make much difference - though it did sharpen up the edges a bit:

^{We need to give KT's plants some names}
At night, here's how's that yard scene above looks, plus some more plants with and without flash:


^{I promise to water you tomorrow}
Zooming into those flash-less photos will reveal all the smudges.
And here's a sample of a portrait shot; edges still need some working-out:

^{Weekend warrior}
Meanwhile, the selfie camera also works well, but that overexposure and over-smoothing - especially in bright lights - also come into play here, which really doesn't sit well with me:

^{That isn't sunburn}
And, presenting - once again - your options for blurring stuff into oblivion. Also note that a selfie shot in scenes with just the right amount of light - compared to that one above - come out better:

^{I'm gaining weight}
The rest of it
In our standard one-hour YouTube-at-full-brightness test, 12 per cent of juice was sapped out. That's pretty fair, and it wasn't until the following morning that I had to dig in for its charger after heavily using it the previous day.
And let's not forget about biometrics: as is standard nowadays, you get a fingerprint scanner at the back and facial recognition up front. The former worked pretty well, but I found the latter to be inconsistent, especially when my glasses are on or it gets dark. There were even times I had to open my eyes wider before it unlocked.
And so...
The Huawei nova 4 is what exactly it pegs it to be: a mid-ranger that tries to go with the innovation of the times. Honestly - having used a phone with a notch in the recent past and one without it prior to that - having that punch-hole greeting you each time you look at your device will be a getting-to-know-each-other experience all over again.
Swapping out the Kirin 970 for the 980 would've definitely lifted its price further, but the former is still a sturdy little chip, so that may not be an issue. The cameras, while good, still need some tinkering, at least on the software side.
The punch-hole is a new thing, and could've easily been set aside for either the next P or Mate series, but having it on a nova device isn't a coincidence: it's a foregone conclusion that Huawei will be coming up with a souped-up version of this in its next flagships this year. And we've already been given a hint that variations of it may be coming pretty soon.  
The nova 4 is fast and comes with some flagship specs, which is enough to make it a good deal. And it'd make a nice gift on its launch date, which is, incidentally, on Valentine's Day.
GOODIES - Slick design, triple-lens camera, good battery, fair price
GOOFIES - Low-light shots smudgy, selfie camera shots overexposed/over-smoothed, no expandable storage
EDITOR RATING: 4.0/5
- alvin@khaleejtimes.com