The technology of the foldable screen is in a non-stop state of innovation in the competitive smartphone market. Concerning that, Huawei further accelerates innovation in cutting-edge technology as one of the technological leaders. Huawei launched China’s first horizontally folding phone and its first vertically folding phone, establishing its leading position in this particular type of device. However, all the foldable phones are obviously designed to cater to business users and are possibly less appealing to the younger generation. Knowing all the ins and outs of young consumers, Huawei put its new folded phone on the market – Huwai Nova Flip, which merged avant-garde design and excellent photography with powerful performance features and smart and easy functions that define the style and rhythm of life for young people.
What innovations in the format of the first compact foldable phone in the Nova line does Huawei introduce?
The Huawei Nova Flip uses the same basalt waterdrop hinge as the flagship Huawei Pocket 2, which offers great drop and impact resistance, thus making it durable. It’s the first foldable phone to get the Swiss SGS 1.2 million fold certification, guaranteeing its great durability.
What makes it special
Maybe one of the coolest innovations on the Nova Flip is the fact that it’s the industry’s very first 1:1 square-type external screen, also known as the Square Cover Display. This kind of design results in something other than all these; the Square Cover Display is definitely one of the focus points for the charm of the Nova Flip. Huawei has developed a bunch of new features to use with this functionality.
With the Nova Flip, the Call emoji makes for a playful, customized version of the usual call interface. On the extra screen, playful animations could simply be shown, which also increased interactivity and fun during calls.
Additionally, this newest nova adds some special tastes to the mini-games on the external screen for the very first time. Mini-games on the external screen, like Star Logo Puzzle, Astronaut Gravity, and Astronaut Parkour, give young users an interesting way to release the pressure with fun and bring some sort of entertainment into their increasingly interactive mobile lives.
Appearance
The design we got was the Huawei Nova Flip in a zero-degree white. The rear panel is top-of-the-line frosted glass, with quite an exquisite feel to it, making the grip feel very comfortable and non-slip.
The rear camera module is placed in a vertical array on the left side and houses two cameras, a single LED fill light, and a color temperature sensor.
On the right side of the camera, the module lays the industry-first 1:1 ratio 2.1-inch square external screen, branded Square Cover Display by ZTE.
The Huawei Nova Flip makes its way through this small foldable phone segment with a form factor that is pretty unique, borrowing inspiration from the classic 6×6 frame format. The symmetrical matrix of the phone integrates the lens module and the square external screen into a whole, making the design harmonious and in order. This makes the circular lens together with the square smart external screen bring very good visual harmony and balance to the device.
This proves an aesthetic purpose, with this symmetrical structure boasting the general premium sense of the Huawei Nova Flip.
The inside display of the Huawei Nova Flip is a 6.94-inch LTPO screen working with adaptive refresh rate support between 1-120Hz, 2960×1136 resolution, and 120Hz touch sampling. Available in the middle at the top on the inner screen is a 32 MP front camera.
Improved visual consistency can be maintained when obtaining the frame design of the inner screen, with equal width. Such careful design definitely brings out a beautiful phone appearance and a good viewing experience.
Built quality
Even though the Nova Flip is the first small-sized foldable device in the Nova series, its materials and build quality are the standards of flagship phones. The folding hinge is the same type of basalt water drop hinge as used in the Huawei Pocket 2 and provides the first Swiss SGS 1.2 million times folding certification in the world. The double-arm lever gears and rocket-grade steel material composition of the hinge design contribute to keeping the screen flat ensuring that it is not on a traditional middle crease and giving superior drop and collision resistance quality and long durability.
There is a power-on button and a volume adjustment button on the right side of the phone.
At the bottom of the phone, there is an independent loudspeaker to form a stereo sound field with the earpiece speaker located at the top of the inner screen. At the very top sits a noise-canceling microphone, while the main microphone, SIM card slot, and a Type-C type-port charging slot line up at the bottom.
The Huawei Nova Flip will have a fast charging kit with 66W and an adapter designed for “idiot-proof” with A+C ports.
Secondary Screen Experience
Huawei Nova Flip is equipped with a 2.1-inch external screen, known by its official name as the “Square Cover Display.” With this external screen, it becomes the first square external screen in the market for small foldable phones with a ratio of 1:1. Such a unique ratio not only brings a visually balanced and symmetrical look but also offers an immersive visual experience for users.
When in stand mode, the device automatically turns to an always-on display feature whereby time, notices, and more are visible at just a glance to be updated with the most current information.
A dynamic lovely pet theme is set as the cell phone wallpaper for the Square Cover Display, enabling it to bring much more fun and, like raising up a virtual pet in the cloud, to bring much more interaction between the phone and user. There, one can touch the screen, and see minor changes in the pet’s expression; the user really gets interactive with the help of vibration feedback.
The Nova Flip also comes with many cute pet themes, such as koalas, cats, dogs, alpacas, and ducks. These dynamic themes provide a warm and companionable feel in daily use.
In addition to the appearance, the square external screen of the Huawei Nova Flip just hides multiple features it, ranging from gaming, video applications, music, socializing, etc., that add up to a richer life and entertainment experience without unfolding the phone.
What else
It has yet another feature that goes by personalization; the external screen cards can be set up according to the users’ liking from the settings.
Huawei Nova Flip has a Call-emoji function which is a new track in the traditional orbital voice call. This fun call display interface can be shown by 10 different schemes in the display, which allows the nova users to show their outstanding style and attitude by personalization of animations during any call receiving or making.
This is an innovative feature that modifies the monotonous interface of a call so far, blinking different interactive animations to make the calling experience more enjoyable and eye-catching in social situations.
The Huawei Nova Flip also provides three other mini-games playable on the external screen interface, which are Star Logo Puzzle, Astronaut Gravity, and Astronaut Parkour. These games have a cute style, simple operations, and control method complexities as they can be easily game-operated. Getting young users to relax and kill time has never been easier; this can also be taken as a light engagement tool to “slack.”
Gaming on Huawei Nova Flip
Equipped with the latest Kirin processor, Huawei’s unique Ark optimization engine will be adopted in the Huawei Nova Flip, which supports Harmony OS4. This will support the Nova Flip in delivering flagship phone performance in operational smoothness and system efficiency.
Our test model comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. We carry out detailed tests in regard to theoretical performance and gaming performance.
Performance Test
AnTuTu Benchmark:
- Total Score: 542,300 points
- This result places Nova Flip as a middle-ranked smartphone that can easily run “Honor of Kings”.
CPU Benchmark
GeekBench 6.2.2 Scores:
- Single-core: 1000 points
- Multi-core: 2419 points
Flash Memory Test
Androbench Results:
- Sequential Read Speed: 1053MB/s
- Write Speed: About 870MB/s
- The performance is at UFS 2. X level.
Game Testing
We have taken three famous mobile games for testing: “Honor of Kings”, “Peace Ellite”, and “Call of Duty”. All the tests were conducted at an indoor temperature of 26°C, with image quality and frame rates at the highest options available. The tests log frame rate stability, power consumption, energy efficiency, and device temperature during gameplay.
1. Honor of Kings:
*Settings: Very high frame rate + extreme image quality
Performance:
- Max FPS: 90FPS
- Frame drop noticed at 2 minutes and 40 seconds
- Average FPS: 67.83FPS
Power Consumption:
- Average: 3.2W
- Energy Efficiency Ratio: 21.2FPS/W
Temperature:
- Max: 42.4°C on the back of the device
2. Peace Elite:
*Settings: Smooth picture quality + extreme frame rate
Performance:
- Max FPS: 60FPS
- Average frame rate: 59.74FPS—stable with minor fluctuation
Power Consumption:
- Average: 3.4W
- Energy Efficiency Ratio: 17.57FPS/W
Temperature:
- Maximum: 43.2°C on the back of the device (high-temperature area near the camera)
3. Call of Duty:
*Settings: Standard picture quality + extreme frame rate
Performance:
- Average frame rate: 59.88FPS
Power Consumption:
- Average: 2.97W
- Energy Efficiency Ratio: 20.16FPS/W
Temperature:
- Maximum: 39°C on the back of the device
The Huawei Nova Flip can handle mainstream mobile games with stable frame rates and high power efficiency; under heavy loads, it can maintain reasonable temperatures even during long gaming periods, thereby being reliable in this respect for gamers.
Camera
In the back, the Huawei Nova Flip has a dual-camera module. The main camera features a 50-megapixel super-sensing large image sensor, a 1/1.56-inch photosensitive unit paired with an F1.9 large aperture lens, and four-in-one pixel technology to create larger pixels, allowing more light to pass through and capture clear, natural photos in low light.
Additionally, the technology of full-pixel focusing on the main camera increases the focusing speed in the dark by 30%, thus helping you shoot quality photos fast at night.
The ultra-wide-angle macro lens is equipped with a resolution of 8 megapixels; it has also sported a wide angle of view of 112°. This lens can capture subjects up to a minimum distance of only 2 cm, thus actually bringing microscopic details, invisible to the naked eye, into full view.
Main Camera
The main camera of the Huawei Nova Flip takes real photos in day scenes, without excessive saturation optimization. This results in photos that look natural, comfortable, and similar to what can be seen by the naked eye. Huawei’s painstaking care brings out exquisite photos, highlighting fine nuances.
Night Photography
Night Mode on the Huawei Nova Flip never disappoints, as it increases exposure time in the main camera to ensure maximum details for the subject. Noise control is also pretty good so that the night sky looks clear with minimal noise. The phone fantastically suppresses direct light, ensuring that color accuracy and clarity remain unaffected by any color deviation.
Ultra-Wide Angle
Although the ultra-wide-angle lens may differ from the photosensitive unit of the main camera, it still ensures high-quality images through Huawei’s fine-tuned image processing. The edge distortion is minimal, and even if one views the edges of enlarged photos, the image remains clear and undistorted.
Portrait Shooting
The sample photos demonstrate the flexibility of the Huawei Nova Flip in portrait photography, even when zoomed in 3 times. The large-size photosensitive element keeps rich details to ensure that the facial features are clear and bright. Then there is Huawei’s Da Vinci Portrait Engine 2.0, increasing the brightness, contrast, and color of portraits to make them real, three-dimensional, and natural without overly brightening the subject.
Sample Photos
- Daytime Shots: Natural and comfortable, detailed.
- Night Shots: Detailed with very good noise control and accurate color representation.
- Ultra-Wide Angle Shots: Minimal edge distortion; clear image without distortion
- Portrait Shots: Rich details with real three-dimensional appearance.
A large image sensor, advanced technology, and Huawei Nova Flip digital camera system meet daily photo-taking requirements with both versatility and high-quality imaging across different conditions.
Charging and battery life
The Huawei Nova Flip features a 4400mAh battery with Huawei 66W Super Fast Charging support. We detailedly examined it for its charging speed and battery life.
Charging Test
We conducted the charging test on the Huawei Nova Flip, starting with a 1% battery and the screen off, using the device’s Turbo mode for Super Fast Charging. The following are the results:
- 10 minutes: 37% charged
- 20 minutes: 64% charged
- 30 minutes: 85% charged
- 39 minutes: Fully charged (100%)
This fast charging capability can have the Nova Flip full in under 40 minutes, which is pretty handy for those who are always on the move and just need a little boost.
Battery Life Test
We will now provide the battery life test using a professional tool, Battery Dog by Fast Technology. It simulates real user scenarios by running a variety of test items, such as CPU high voltage, CPU multi-threading, AI recognition, image browsing, video playback, and web browsing.
We adjusted the test environment to screen brightness at 50%, automatic brightness off, and volume at 30% to maintain consistency and accuracy in the test.
Test Results:
- The battery lasted until it hit 20% remaining, which is 6 hours, 31 minutes, and 43 seconds.
- This ultimately means that at this rate of power consumption, the Huawei Nova Flip has a total battery life of 8 hours.
This battery life supports full-day use, from morning to night, with web browsing, video watching, and social interactions. This is going to provide stable power support throughout the day and reduce frequent recharging.
Conclusion
The Huawei Nova Flip is simply the perfect package for young users who insist on stylish design with leading technology. Avant-garde design will give great photo-taking capabilities, vigorous performance, and ease of use. Perfect for those seeking stylish and functional, tech-savvy mobile experiences.
