I don’t mean to seem like a fanboy but I’ve been eyeing Huawei for a while now. My first Huawei was the G6, then after Nairobery happened, I moved to the ever so slick, glass back P7. My clumsy nature couldn’t handle the P7 but I loved everything about the phone. The design, the cameras, the colours, the screen and the battery life. Surprisingly, that’s everything I love about the new Huawei Nova 7i. Let me show you what I mean. Brace yourselves for a picture heavy article:)

The Design

Body

This phone stands out. As we said when we talked about the Y7p, Huawei has a way with colours and designs. This time they went with a sturdy, mildly colour graded body. The colours really speak to my eccentric side with a bit of pizzazz. The orientation was a bit of an eyesore when I first saw it but when you actually have it, like the iPhone 11 Pro, you get used to it.

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In this device, they have kept the fan favourite headphone jack, downward-facing speakers, put the sim slot on the left side and the power button and volume rockers on the right.

Fingerprint Sensor

As you can see, there is no fingerprint sensor on the back. They save a whole lot of money and still keep the design by using a power button fingerprint sensor. Let me tell you, it is fast. I’ve used some before and none comes close. The accuracy is good and even if you don’t want to use that, the facial scanner is not too shabby either.

The Screen

The screen is a basic 2310 x 1080p LCD punch-hole display. Nothing too fantastic about it but for the price it brings out contrasty colours which appeal quite well to the eye.

Battery Life on The Huawei Nova 7i

This phone comes packed with a 4200 mAH battery that lasts almost a full day’s worth of screen on time. This is thanks to a good processing chip and the low power consuming LCD screen.

If that’s not enough, it comes with a 40W type-C capable supercharger. In simple terms, it can charge your phone from 0-100 in about an hour. Tried and tested. The feel is quite amazing coming from a micro USB that takes about 2 hrs to charge.

For me, that was really the most amazing feature. Thanks to that charger, as long as you have a fast-charging capable phone in the house, it works just the same. Its fun to see supercharging written on the screen too… just saying

Finally, the Cameras

The rest of the camera specifications are noted down below but for now, let’s talk about the 48 megapixel back camera and the 16 Megapixel front camera. The back camera does a wonderful job with the clarity we get from these pictures. It comes coupled with an ultra-wide lens that lets you capture more than you thought you could.

Here’s a gallery with a few pictures of some stuff I took. I didn’t use the selfie camera as it so prudently picks every single pimple, so you should get this device and try it out.

Click on the images to view in full screen. 

Did I mention it comes with 8GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage? Not yet… well okay… there… I said it.

But there’s one major issue…

It’s obviously the elephant in the room. The fact that this phone does not have Google services brings me to tears. Legally, I should only be able to enjoy TikTok on this device as it is one of the most popular apps on their app gallery. However, that is not enough.

Using APKs is helpful but you still can’t get the crucial Google apps on the Huawei Nova 7i. Sometimes it even limits regular apps like Instagram, Uber, Maps and Pinterest. Such a shame.

Huawei would have you believe that this is not a big deal, but between scouting for APKs and dealing with half-functioning apps and worse off, having to put up with using apps that require Google services on your phone’s browser –  you might end up getting frustrated by your own purchase.

Other things I don’t necessarily like are:

• The screen to body ratio: It’s too much, too noticeable.
• The system UI: I always change mine and use CPL or Nova Launcher

However, all these are personal preferences and if you are willing to get the Huawei Nova 7i for KES 29,999 with those side effects, be my guest. Not too many phones will give you a 40-watt fast-charger, 8 GB ram, 128 GB storage and a 64-megapixel camera for that price. As for me, the lack of Google apps is a deal-breaker that makes an almost perfect phone be the “one that got away”.

Here are the specs for the review unit we got in case I missed anything.

Huawei Nova 7i Specifications

DISPLAY

• Screen size: LCD, 6.4 inches
• Screen resolution: 2310 x 1080 pixels

PROCESSOR

• CPU: HUAWEI Octa-core Kirin 810

OPERATING SYSTEM

• EMUI 10.0.1 (Based on Android10.0)

MEMORY

• 8 GB RAM + 128 GB ROM
• External Memory Support SD Card, up to 256 GB

CAMERA

• Rear camera:
  • 48 MP
  • 8 MP (Ultra Wide Angle Lens)
  • 2 MP (Macro lens)
  • 2 MP (Bokeh lens)
• Front camera:
  • 16 mega-pixel, F/2.0 aperture

BATTERY

• 4200 mAh
• 40W Super Fast charging