Introducing the New Huawei Nova 12 Series

Believe it or not, many of you have years of experience using mobile phones, and some may have witnessed the rise and fall of many phone manufacturers. However, not everything related to phones has been experienced by everyone, like the release of seven models in a single phone series. Most of you probably have never seen such a thing, but as time goes by, even the most unlikely events will eventually happen, and this time it’s Huawei making the move.

While the much-anticipated launch of the P70 series has drawn a lot of attention, prior to this, Huawei’s main focus in phone sales was on the Mate 60 series and the nova 12 series. The former targets high-end business users, while the latter leans toward younger users. Currently, the nova 12 series includes the Vitality, Standard, Pro, and Ultra versions. One would think that there wouldn’t be any more models released in this series.

Surprisingly, Huawei has recently unveiled three new models: nova 12i, nova 12 SE, and nova 12s, which is indeed a rare occurrence for a single series to have so many models.

As for why these three models were introduced, I believe one important reason is to utilize the remaining Snapdragon chips. Before fully returning to using Kirin chips in Huawei phones, the company, in order to maintain a presence in the smartphone market, had no choice but to purchase a large quantity of Snapdragon chips. Now that Huawei’s position in the domestic market has gradually stabilized and a full shift to Kirin chips is inevitable, the previously purchased but unused chips must be dealt with. As it’s currently not suitable to use them in the domestic market, introducing related models overseas is a good strategy.

According to leaked information online, the nova 12i and nova 12 SE are equipped with Snapdragon 680, while the nova 12s uses Snapdragon 778G. Although the processing power is slightly lower, other capabilities are still quite impressive. For instance, as the nova 12 series primarily targets a younger user base, emphasis is naturally placed on photography. Both the nova 12i and nova 12 SE are equipped with a 100-megapixel main camera, and although the nova 12s features a 50-megapixel main camera, it is coupled with a 60-megapixel front camera, making it entirely suitable for daily photography.

In terms of design, there isn’t much change. For example, the nova 12s looks quite similar to the vitality version, while the nova 12 SE resembles the nova 11 SE. However, the nova 12i bears some resemblance to the Mate 50. Among the three models, only the nova 12s supports a 120Hz refresh rate, while the other two have a maximum refresh rate of 90Hz.

There seems to be a significant difference in weight, with the nova 12i weighing 199 grams, the nova 12s only weighing 168 grams, and the SE weighing 188 grams. In terms of functional configuration, the three models do not differ significantly. In summary, the functional configuration is not bad but is rather average. Huawei seems to be aware that these three models may not be very appealing, hence there are attractive gifts for pre-order customers, and in terms of the operating system, they all come pre-installed with EMUI 14.

As for the prices, Huawei has maintained its consistent pricing style. The three models are priced at approximately 1985 yuan, 12291 yuan, and 3055 yuan, respectively.

Although these models are currently only available overseas, it’s not yet clear whether they will be available in the domestic market. Should the domestic versions become available, I wonder how many of you would be interested?