Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer Huawei launched a new device — the Nova Smart — in select European markets including Slovakia. The device looks like a rebranded version of the Huawei Enjoy 6s and is priced at €200, which translates to approximately $215, featuring specs that are usually seen in that price range. The Huawei Nova Smart is powered by Qualcomm’s octa-core Snapdragon 435 system-on-chip (SoC) clocked at 1.4GHz and 2GB of RAM, in addition to featuring 16GB of internal storage. The latter can be expanded via a microSD card slot that supports up to 128GB of additional storage, the Shenzen-based tech giant revealed. Furthermore, the Huawei Nova Smart ships with a 5-inch display panel boasting a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels and is equipped with a 13-megapixel single-lens camera setup and a standard LED flash on its rear panel. The front side of the device hosts a conventional 5-megapixel lens, while the phone itself is powered by a 3,020mAh battery that doesn’t seem to be removable. Still, given its relatively modest scree real estate, that battery should be more than enough to get the Huawei Nova Smart through the day on a single charge.
One somewhat surprising feature of the device is a fingerprint scanner that’s positioned immediately below its rear camera. While many contemporary mid-range devices have started adopting fingerprint sensors in recent years, that still isn’t true for the lower segment of the mid-range market that the Huawei Nova Smart is definitely a part of. Still, it seems that the Chinese phone maker is adamant to continue with its strategy of releasing handsets that offer solid value for money, which this particular model seemingly does. Unfortunately, the device doesn’t ship with an up-to-date operating system as its listing reveals it’s running Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box. Given its price tag and the fact that likely won’t be released in many markets, it’s somewhat improbable that the Huawei Nova Smart will ever receive an upgrade to some iteration of Android Nougat.
Slovak media reports that certain mobile service providers in the country like Orange and O2 have already started retailing the device and are offering it on various contracts with a heavy discount, though it’s currently unclear whether the phone has also been picked up by wireless carriers in other European countries where the Huawei Nova Smart launched.
