Huawei Nova 12 SE smartphone review

Huawei Nova 12 SE Smartphone Review: Huawei Nova 12 SE was announced in March 2024 and then went on sale in the first week of April 2024. Huawei has announced that the smartphone will be launched globally and will be available in some countries. This smartphone is designed to be an affordable alternative with a sleek design that impresses anyone who looks at it.

Therefore, it features a very premium and gorgeous design, but the same cannot be said for the internal parts. There had to be some compromises to fit the budget price and unfortunately it had to be the chipset. The chipset they installed does not have modern 5G, so there is no 5G connectivity here. However, Huawei claims that it is a very impressive smartphone for its price. So, let’s start with a detailed review of the Huawei Nova 12 SE smartphone and see if it is worth buying.

Huawei Nova 12 SE smartphone review

Reflexes

1. The Huawei Nova 12 SE smartphone features a 6.67-inch OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate.
2. This smartphone features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4G chipset that is capable of clock speeds of 4×2.4 GHz.
3. The Huawei Nova 12 SE comes loaded with EMUI 14 without Google apps or Google Play services.
4. This smartphone has a 108MP triple rear camera setup with a 32MP selfie camera.
5. The Huawei Nova 12 SE has Li-Po 4500 mAh and supports 66W wired fast charging.

Design and display

The design is the area where the Huawei Nova 12 SE excels. Huawei wanted to impress its users with the design and they did much more than we expected. It features a flat design with beveled edges that provide a more comfortable grip. The body of the smartphone is made of polycarbonate and glass materials and feels solid in the hand.

The flat design also makes the phone non-slip and easy to hold for hours. On the front, you get a 6.67-inch OLED display with a high refresh rate of 90Hz for a better user experience. This display panel features FHD+ resolution with up to one billion colors, so viewing content on the screen will be quite an experience. The smartphone comes in two colors, green and black.

Memory and internal

The Huawei Nova 12 SE adopted the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4G chipset, which is a budget chipset and has clock speeds of up to 4×2.4 GHz. It has an octa-core CPU configuration and is capable of running all your apps and favorite games without problems. Additionally, the heat is kept under control most of the time, so the chipset can flex its wings and deliver solid performance.

Whether browsing the web, running multiple applications or playing games, the chipset quickly performs each task. Speaking of gaming, the Adreno 610 GPU can run all your games including PUBGm, Summoners War, CODm, and even Genshin Impact, but it may not have high graphical fidelity. But at lower graphics settings, the smartphone will provide decent frame rates.

The smartphone is available for purchase with only 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage. The smartphone also comes loaded with EMUI 14 without Google apps or Google Play services. They are replaced by Huawei’s own applications and services.

Camera

The Huawei Nova 12 SE features a 108MP triple rear camera system. The main camera has a 108MP sensor, which is properly optimized to capture more light than usual. Therefore, it takes excellent photographs with high dynamic range, higher levels of detail and saturated colors. This level of performance can also be seen during night photography.

Sensor optimization along with the night mode algorithm allows the camera sensor to capture amazing photos at night. Therefore, the rear camera performance will not disappoint, whether day or night. However, the same cannot be said for the ultra-wide camera, which has an 8MP sensor. It takes average photos at best, and compared to the main camera, its detail levels aren’t up to par and the color tone looks off.

On the front, there is a 32MP selfie camera which is quite decent and the selfie taken from it has excellent details and colours. For recording videos, the phone manages to record up to 1080p@30FPS from both the rear camera and the selfie camera. To keep the video footage stable, the main rear camera has gyroscope EIS, which is not as good as OIS, but better than nothing.

Battery and others

There’s a decent 4500 mAh Li-Po battery inside the Huawei Nova 12 SE, which should easily last between 1 and 3 days, depending on usage. If you are a light user and use it mainly for camera, music and a bit of social media, then the smartphone can last up to three days. But if you are a heavy user and play a lot of games, the battery will drain much faster and won’t even last a full day.

However, the smartphone supports 66W fast charging, which can fully charge the smartphone in just 32 minutes, which is quite amazing. Apart from that, the smartphone supports dual-band Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, NFC, and a USB Type-C connector for charging. The smartphone will start at $287 (Rs 23,999 in India) approximately.

Pros and cons of the Huawei Nova 12 SE

Detail of the specifications of the Huawei Nova 12 SE

Below you can see the Huawei Nova 12 SE Smartphone Full Specifications.

Conclusion

The Huawei Nova 12 SE is a smartphone designed to impress people and it surely does so with beautiful craftsmanship and design. You could even say it’s an 8/10 in terms of pure looks, but we can’t say the same for the internal parts. It has a pretty good screen but it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Other smartphones in the same price range offer a much higher refresh rate.

The same goes for the chipset, battery and charging capabilities, which are much better in other smartphones. That doesn’t mean that the ones on this smartphone are bad, it’s just that the competition is much better and has better prices. The only major selling points of this smartphone are its design and camera, and they are good.

For everything it offers, is the price of this smartphone justified? No, but if you can find the smartphone at a discount then it might be worth it. The best alternative to this smartphone would be the recently launched Samsung Galaxy M55. It has a slightly high price, but it offers a better screen, processor, cameras and even battery. It is a better smartphone in every way. However, the final decision is up to you, so it is better to choose a smartphone based on your needs and requirements.