Updating the nova line of smartphones and MediaPad tablets
As part of the last colorful and original concept presentation, the company Huawei officially announced the entry into the Russian market of nova 2 smartphones and the MediaPad M3 Lite tablet, and also anticipated the upcoming appearance of the 'older' models of new products – nova 2 Plus and M3 Lite 10. The gathered press representatives had the opportunity to personally 'get acquainted' with the presented smartphones and tablets and to form an opinion about them.
Huawei Nova 2/2 Plus
Nova 2/2 Plus color options
After the introductory speech, which told about the company's success in our market, which was achieved in the last calendar year, the company representatives went directly to new products, namely to new smartphones. Smartphones were presented by Ou Ivey, CEO Huawei Consumer Business Group in Russia and his deputy Andrew Xu. Nova 2 and nova 2 Plus are aimed at young and active users who actively use the media capabilities of their smartphones, often take pictures and share pictures on social networks. That is why smartphones are equipped with cameras with two RGB-modules: wide-angle and tele-lens, 12 MP and 8 MP, respectively. But the features of the camera configuration do not end there.
A new move for the company and for many users: the new smartphones have a front camera with a matrix resolution of 20 MP. Suddenly, you will not say anything. For the convenience of shooting and getting the best shooting results, the smartphone software contains pleasant software and hardware 'chips' specifically for those who are used to taking and editing photos directly on their smartphone: decoration modes, 3D face recognition, gesture control, live photos, an option to select a color temperature in low light conditions and much more. All this diversity is displayed on Full HD LTPS-displays with a diagonal of 5 and 5.5 inches (nova 2 Plus). Perhaps the diagonal and battery capacity are the only differences between the models. Smartphones do not have NFC, there is support for Bluetooth 4.2, charging and file exchange are performed via the USB 2.0 Type-C connector.
As for performance, the Kirin 659 processor is responsible for it in both models. Judging by the early tests of the nova 2 smartphone, the device discharges in three hours in game mode, it is difficult to call this result good, perhaps subjectively. This should be compensated by the fast charging mode, which allows you to 'recharge' the smartphone in 100 minutes, as well as the power saving mode, which, however, is hardly suitable for tasks that use a lot of resources. According to personal impressions, smartphones continue the copying trend set by Chinese manufacturers iPhone, the similarities are striking even from afar.
On closer inspection, the differences still become obvious: color design (including plastic inserts), a fingerprint scanner on the back of the devices, a different arrangement of controls on the ends and camera modules on the back, 'premium serifs' on the power button, well, of course the logo on the front and back. Nova 2 and nova 2 Plus both fit well in the hand, do not slip, the metal case is very practical in this regard. Once again I noted for myself a smart and clean EMUI 5.1 based on Android 7.0, the interface and the system leave a good impression: many settings depending on user preferences, a relatively small number of preinstalled applications, some of which can be removed, bright and functional. Sales of nova 2 have already started in the corporate online store Huawei and in the stores of partner companies, the price is 23,990 rubles. The 2 Plus model will be on sale at the end of August at a price of 25,990 rubles. At this stage, such a cost seems to me somewhat overestimated, it is likely that after a closer acquaintance with the devices (which, most likely, Roman will conduct), it may change.
Huawei MediaPad M3 Lite / Lite 10
The second part of the presentation was devoted to updating the MediaPad line of tablets. Two models will enter the market – with a diagonal of 8 and 10 inches. In tablets Huawei, the emphasis is expectedly made on multimedia functions, because photography from tablets, as the company representative did not fail to point out, is not a very convenient scenario. Поэтому в устройствах предусмотрены режимы для защиты зрения, более ёмкий аккумулятор, звуковая надстройка от Harman&Kardon, а также применён новый формат файловой системы F2FS, при помощи которого нивелируется возможная потеря производительности при фрагментации памяти.
Versions, by analogy with smartphones, differ only in screen diagonal and battery capacity. The M3 Lite 10 version is more suitable for home use, while its 'little brother' is more mobile due to its relatively smaller dimensions. Particular emphasis was placed on the child-oriented mode, because often parents give them tablets for children to watch cartoons or play games.
My previous experience with tablets as a class of devices has shown that it is very difficult to catch up on this front Apple, but if anyone can succeed, it will be a major player, such as Samsung, Huawei or Lenovo. I would like to hope that the declared Huawei indicators of autonomy and performance will at least come close to competing solutions of the Apple company.
The first impression is rather positive, seemingly reliable assembly, adequate performance. Tablet sales will begin on August 10th.
Oddly enough, the cost of the tablets turned out to be about the same range that I thought about during the presentation. In this aspect, tablets Apple weren't even close, but let's not forget about the gray and secondary market. There is a buyer, we will wait for the start of sales.
Based on the results of the presentation, we can say that Huawei continues a systematic attack on our market, deciding this time to affect young people and those who actively consume content from tablets at home. I think that a fair number of users fall under these categories and the choice is not accidental. We will keep you informed about upcoming new products Huawei and more.