Technical Specifications:
- Display: 6.67-inch AMOLED, 2400 x 1080 pixels, 120Hz refresh rate
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 128GB/256GB UFS 2.2
- Operating System: EMUI 13 based on Android 12
- Battery: 4,500mAh with 66W SuperCharge fast charging
- Rear Cameras: 64MP (main), 8MP (ultrawide), 2MP (depth), 2MP (macro)
- Front Camera: 32MP
- Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, USB Type-C, NFC
- Dimensions: 163.5 x 73.8 x 8.6 mm
- Weight: 195g
Design and build
Unlike the previous model, the Nova 11 Pro has a back panel made from faux or vegan leather. The leather itself has a pattern of debossed Nova logos, lending it a unique look. Then there’s the king of the Nova logos towards the bottom in gold.
The other design changes the camera bump. Rather than a gold ring around the whole thing, it only goes around the main cam and it’s engraved with fine text. The frame of the phone is plastic and quite thin. Both the front and the back curve into it. Between this and the leather, the phone is overall quite grippy. There are other colorways with glass backs instead of leather, but those are exclusive to the Chinese market.
Display
The Nova 11 Pro features a curved 6.78-inch OLED display with loon glass protection and a 120Hz refresh rate. It appears to be the same display as the previous model, including the pillow shape cutout for the Dual selfie camera, and the resolution that’s a bit higher than your standard 1080p.
The color accuracy is good here and there’s support for 10-bit color and HDR 10 plus video. The brightness is decent but far from the best in class. We measured a maximum of over 500 nits with the manual slider and this can boost to 700 nits with the auto brightness enabled. For the refresh rate, you get the choice of standard, high, and dynamic. The dynamic mode will dial from 120 FPS down to 60 when the screen is idling to save power.
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Audio and feature
The Nova 11 Pro has stereo speakers. One sits at the bottom and the other is at the top with openings in the frame, as well as on the front for the earpiece. The speakers aren’t too loud, earning just an average mark in our testing, but the sound is well balanced. You can listen and compare to other phones with the provided link.
You can wake up and unlock the phone with an optical under-display fingerprint reader. It’s quite responsive, but we wish it was placed a little higher. You can get the Nova 11 Pro with 256 or 512 gigs of storage on board, and that’s not expandable through microSD.
Software
The Nova 11 Pro runs on EMUI 13 and you don’t have Google services or apps here. Instead, you get Huawei’s replacements and alternatives. You can get new apps through Huawei’s proprietary AppGallery. The app selection in AppGallery is growing, but there are still some notable omissions compared to Google Play.
Still, through the integrated Petal Search, you can find apps you’re looking for outside the gallery, like developers’ websites and other app repositories, and install them from there. Now there are options like G-Box, a virtual machine that lets you install and run Google apps.
Chipset
It’s the same as on last year’s model, a Snapdragon 778. This chip has been popular for a while now, though here it’s a version tailor-made for Huawei without support for 5G connectivity. We didn’t run into any surprises either when running benchmarks or using the phone. The performance of the Nova 11 Pro is predictably solid. Though at this point, there are popular competitors with newer silicon which are even more powerful. When it comes to thermal management, we did notice significant throttling in our CPU stress test, with sudden dips and spikes which could cause stutter in games.
Battery life
The Nova 11 Pro also has the same battery capacity as the previous model, 4,500mAh. As expected, the battery life is the same here, with an overall endurance rating of 89 hours, a bit below average for the class. To make up for that, though, you get impressive charging speed. Despite having the same power rating as last year’s model, the Nova 11 Pro is actually a little faster to recharge. We were able to go from zero to 73 percent in 15 minutes, and a full charge took just 23 minutes.
The camera
You get the same 50-megapixel main camera and 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera as on the Nova 10 Pro. This time around, there’s no depth sensor, but you do get new laser autofocus. During the day, 12.5-megapixel photos from the main camera come out nice. Detail is excellent, with a natural look to fine detail and textures. The dynamic range is great, and colors have the right amount of pop. There is a two-time zoom toggle using the main cam, and the results aren’t half bad, with enough detail. The white balance is a bit off here, though, leaning toward greenish.
