A few months ago, Huawei has shown very little about their newest smart device, namely the Huawei Nova 11 series which consists of the Huawei Nova 11 and also the Huawei Nova 11 Pro. Huawei has launched the Huawei Nova 11 Pro last month so what advantages does this device offer to local users.
Specification
Huawei Nova 11 Pro
6.78″ LTPO OLED screen, 120Hz
1220 x 2652 pixels (~444 ppi)
Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 778 4G (4nm)
4 × 2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 chip
4 × 1.8 GHz Cortex-A55
Adreno 642L Graphics Chip
RAM 8GB LPDDR5
Internal Payload 256GB UFS 3.1
Main Camera 50 MP, f/1.9-f/4.0, (wide), PDAF, Laser AF
8 MP, f/2.2 (ultra-wide), AF
Selfie Camera 8MP f/2.2, 55mm
60MP, f/2.4, 100mm (ultra-wide)
4500mAh battery
100W wired
Turn around 7.5W
SIM/Telephone Dual SIM nano / 4G
NFC Yes
Bicu Audio None
Waterproof None
Impression system Fingerprint imposition
Face Scan
Selling Price RM2599
Starting with the specifications of this device, the Huawei Nova 11 Pro appears to use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 4G processing chip and comes with 8GB of memory and also a choice of 256GB and 512GB storage where we accept models with larger storage.
This device also comes with a fingerprint and face scan system that can be used to quickly unlock the device, and comes with support for Bluetooth 5.2 LE wireless connection as well as WiFi6 which promises a fast internet connection.
Although this device comes with support for Huawei SuperCharge Turbo fast charging 100W, unfortunately the USB Type-C plug that is installed on this device is only a USB 2.0 plug which is very old and very slow. So if you want to send high-resolution images or videos, our suggestion is to use a Bluetooth connection or just email the media files.
exposure
Mid-range device offerings don't mean you have to compromise on the screen exposure it offers. The Huawei Nova 11 Pro is seen using a 6.78-inch OLED screen display with 1220 x 2652 pixels and a refresh rate of 120Hz and a touch rate of 300Hz.
From a glance, this OLED screen display also comes with a fairly high brightness where it supports HDR10 display technology, and this allows you to watch your favorite videos with pretty good quality color processing.
That's not all, the Huawei Nova 11 Pro also uses Kunlun glass to ensure that the exposed parts of this device are not easily scratched or cracked. The combination of all these components makes this display one of the best features that this device has to offer.
It also uses the curved screen display that can be seen on previous devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Huawei Mate 30. This is seen as a design choice on the part of Huawei, but whether it is something you will enjoy or not is up to you. . For me, the use of a curved screen is something that I still don't really like as it causes the content to be viewed sideways. Very harassing when watching videos or running surface.
Design
When I took out this Huawei Nova 11 Pro for the first time, one of the first things that caught my attention about this device was the design of the back of this device.
Not many smart device brands will use a leather-like material for the back of their devices, but the Huawei Nova 11 Pro uses vegan leather which comes with the NOVA monogram design that can be seen strewn across the leather housing.
The Huawei Nova 11 Pro comes in a choice of green as well as black, which might not seem like much, but these are probably the two best color choices to choose from especially with the use of leather for this back frame.
The use of synthetic leather as the back of a device is nothing new, but its use in a mid-range device was for me a rather interesting decision.
It also gives this device two advantages, namely a non-slip back surface, and there is no longer the need to install a case that will hide how beautiful the design of this device is.
Perisian
Huawei Nova 11 Pro uses the EMUI 13 operating system based on the Android 12 operating system which, as you know, does not come with the Google Mobile Services system needed to access and download software from the Google Play Store.
As usual, you will need to download the software through the Huawei App Gallery which now has a link to the APK Pure web page in case you want to use apps that are not officially offered by Huawei.
In terms of existing application offerings, Petal Browser, Petal Maps and so on can be used without any problems. I tried Petal Maps as a navigation tool for going to work and going home, in fact, in my opinion, some aspects of Petal Maps are seen to facilitate travel navigation better than Google Maps.
The Huawei Nova 11's interface is pretty clean, with app icons that are a pleasure to look at. But one drawback that is very obvious to me is the number of fat applications offered on this device, which are too many in number so that they have to be included in a number of folders on this device.
At least EMUI 13 gives you the option to remove these app icons from the home screen to the app tray, but here too I need to mention that the app tray function needs to be activated via device settings.
Usage Experience
I can honestly say that this is my first time using a Huawei device after Google announced that the company is no longer allowed to use Google Mobile Services services on their devices.
But before that, I want to say that in terms of device performance, the Huawei Nova 11 Pro doesn't have any issues that I can see or feel. The use of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processing chip and the built-in 12GB of RAM is powerful enough for daily uses such as using social media apps, browsing websites and browsing with mobile games.
In fact, running various applications that do not require a connection to Google is also quite easy because the Huawei App Store is integrated with search into APK Pure, making it easy to download and download most APK files.
But with this convenience too, I still need to remind you that the risk of downloading these applications is borne by you alone because it does not go through the Google Play Store authorization.
However, to use this device as my daily primary device is a bit difficult, and as you can guess, this is due to the lack of Google Mobile Services support, or GMS services.
And this doesn't mean that Google services shouldn't be used on these devices, but generally you will need to log into your account using the built-in web browser, and this is something that is very frustrating for me, a diehard user of Google services.
In the meantime, one downside that I would like to point out to this device is that although it uses an OLED panel which can process colors quite nicely, making use of it is a bit difficult due to the lack of support for apps like streaming YouTube videos and Netflix by default.
I was told that one way to install and log into the Netflix app is through transferring the profile of an Android device that already has Netflix login details to this device. This matter is not that difficult, but if it is not told to those who have just bought or used this device for the first time, it is something very irritating.
Google App Support
This is not the first time a Huawei device has been reviewed on us, but I would like to share my experience of at least trying to enable Google apps on this device.
As a study for using this Huawei Nova 11 Pro device, I watched a lot of video reviews about Huawei devices to help me understand the pattern of using this Huawei device. Many of the reviews I've watched say that you can download the Google app and use it "directly".
In my experience using this Huawei device, yes, you can download Google apps without any problem, but this device will ask you to download Lighthouse or Lighthouse Ex app to use Google services through that app.
What's interesting to me is that Huawei devices have now implemented continuously requesting the download of the application when you download Google applications, because I was also told before that you need to download the application yourself to use it.
I'm really paranoid about using third party apps on smart devices that don't have official support, especially for services like Google. Many web pages that I read also say that so far this Lighthouse application is safe to use, but because it is a third party application that is not approved by Google, I myself do not dare to suggest you use this application.
Benchmarking Test
Here are the benchmark scores for the Huawei Nova 11 Pro device. As said, the device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processing chip, 8GB of memory and also has 256GB of internal storage.
Geek Bench 6
Antutu
3DMark Wild Life
Camera
Huawei Nova 11 Pro comes with an UltraVision dual-camera system consisting of a 50MP wide camera with f/1.9 aperture and an 8MP macro ultra-wide camera with f/2.2 aperture with a PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus) image stabilization system that promises sharp image capture in various types of situations.
What's interesting about the Huawei Nova 11 Pro camera offer is that it comes with various image capture modes such as portrait, macro and ultra-wide images. In terms of the quality of the images shown, I can say that this Huawei camera is quite good at taking portrait pictures and also pictures in dark conditions.
The quality of the images shown is quite sharp, and features such as the XD Beauty mod shown can be said to really help in taking pictures that are not far from the original state, regardless of skin color or the description of the surroundings.
These pictures were taken directly from the camera without color editing, and only changed in terms
If I have one criticism about the Huawei Nova 11 Pro's camera, it's that it might be that there is a bit of a stuck issue after taking pictures. This issue only occurs after you take a picture, and does not affect the quality of the captured image.
Battery
Huawei Nova 11 Pro comes with a 4500mAH battery and can be charged quickly using the 100W SuperCharge charger that is supplied with this device. This fast charging allowed me to charge this Huawei Nova 11 Pro in less than half an hour, and even though the device is only charged for around 5-10 minutes, you will still be able to use for several hours without any problems.
audios
Huawei Nova 11 Pro comes with stereo speakers on the left and right of the device when it is in a flat state. In theory the use of this stereo speaker should give the user a more even audio experience without the need to maximize the audio tuning on the device.
Even so, as long as I use this Huawei Nova 11 Pro, yes, it's true that I don't need to maximize the audio settings to get a strong audio sound, but unfortunately the audio quality offered on this device is not as good as expected.
The audio quality of the device's loudspeaker is in my opinion at a satisfactory level, especially when I test surfaces such as Honkai Star Rail, but for purposes such as playing YouTube videos or listening to songs, issues such as muffled audio can be heard clearly.
Meanwhile, as you know, most smart devices nowadays don't have 3.5mm audio jack, so you will need ear-phones or wireless headphones to get better audio quality.
In the box
Here is what is received with every purchase of a Huawei Nova 11 Pro device in Malaysia.
1x Huawei Nova 11 Pro.
1x USB-A to USB-C charging cable.
1x 100W charging head.
1x User Manual.
1x Silicone Shell.
1x SIM Pin.
Conclusion
In terms of device performance, there is nothing bad about this Huawei Nova 11 Pro. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 4G processing chip with 8GB RAM memory offering is good enough to run modern apps without too much trouble, and if you can live without using GMS, or not so worried about using the Lighthouse app to enable the function.
However, this is perhaps the biggest problem with this device. For a price tag of RM2590, there's nothing really special about this Huawei Nova 11 Pro, perhaps except for the use of faux leather as its back and also the file sharing function in case you also own a laptop or Huawei tablet.
At this price tag, other Android devices such as the Xiaomi 12T Pro and OnePlus Nord 3 5G are seen as much more value for your money, especially with the offering of processing power and great features such as the 200MP camera on the Xiaomi device and the Dimensity 9000 processing chip and memory. 28GB built in.
Pro:
Attractive device design with synthetic skin.
The performance of the Snapdragon 778G chip is good enough for daily use.
Beautiful OLED display, 120Hz refresh rate.
Fast charging.
Counter:
Still need to download many devices via third party offerings.
Curved exposure.
No special advantages.
Other device offerings are more than worth it.