Verdict
The Huawei Nova 10 Pro has a classy design , an excellent screen , and a strong main camera , but on-going app issues and several uncompetitive components leave it well outside of the mid - range conversation .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Huawei Nova 10 Pro offers a twosome of strong cameras , a agiotage figure , and fast charging for a price that pitches it just above the mid - range and just below the usual mainstream flagship brigade .
Besides this strange positioning , there ’s a huge elephant in the room . This is a Huawei telephone set , which stand for that it ’s basically hamstrung from a software program perspective . In other words , it ’s part from elbow room behind virtually every other smartphone on the market .
The question is , to what arcdegree can Huawei ’s computer hardware team mitigate the effect of those ongoing software issues ? Also , does a cost of £ 639.99 mean that it undercuts the flagships , or is it overprice next to the mid - rangers ?
Design and screen
Just as we have to recognize that Huawei has a gaping problem with software , so too should we highlight how consistently expectant at hardware it is . You might not like the Huawei Nova 10 Pro ’s flashy design , but it ’s undeniably got that premium vibration . From its duple - curved display to its just - so 7.9mm - thick-skulled chassis and 191 g weight , it just finger good in the mitt .
What really catch the eye here is something Huawei foretell its “ Star Orbit Ring Design ” , which refers to the phone ’s typical camera faculty . This two - tiered lozenge - shaped module is framed by a amber - tinge base , whether you choose the Starry Silver or Starry Black model .
I find the module to be a picayune chintzy for my discernment , but then it ’s clearly not designed with creaky oldsters in creative thinker . This is a phone for brilliant young stripling and 20 - somethings , as evidenced by the stress on selfies with that duple front television camera system .
Talking of which , the other typical design feature here is an extra - wide-cut island notch . It ’s a small unsightly , and leads to some awkwardly squashed UI elements , but it also enable a full function facial recognition system , which is still right smart too uncommon outside of Apple ’s iPhone ecosystem .
The display itself is an inviolable peach . It ’s a tumid 6.7 - inch AMOLED with a sharp 1200 × 2652 settlement that falls somewhere between FHD+ and QHD+ . Throw in a 120Hz refresh pace and a 300Hz touch sample pace , and there really is nothing to criticise beyond that intrusive display notch .
Some would contend that the time for dual - slue display should have passed by now , but there are still plenty of flagship model hitting the market place with just such a design feature . Huawei ’s palm tree - rejection algorithms seem on point , so I never noticed any egregious false presses whilst holding the earpiece .
Colour accuracy is on detail , with an middling Delta E rating of 1.06 ( nigh to 1 is ideal ) in the Normal colour modality , and I measure a adequate maximal brightness of 556 nits with autobrightness switch off .
Camera
It ’s easy to draw a blank given its late travails , but Huawei has been right up there near the top of the camera quality tree for a numeral of years now . Sure enough , the Huawei Nova 10 Pro is capable of taking some superb shots .
More specifically , its 50 - megapixel wide-eyed sensing element trance extremely acute , well endanger , and natural - look shot in a range of ignition conditions . I was peculiarly have with a relatively cheeseparing - up shot of some pumpkins , with a point of focus , acuteness , and authentic colour that was nothing brusque of flagship - like .
Night manner shot are pretty decent too . I was impressed to see some of the brighter maven rendered dependably in a brace of waterside shots on a especially clear night .
It struggle a little more in the space in between the two extremes , such as in a dimly lit pub . But that ’s the most challenging scenario for any smartphone photographic camera these mean solar day .
As good as the Nova 10 Pro ’s main camera is , its 8 - megapixel radical - wide of the mark is n’t anywhere close to the same level . There ’s a pronounced driblet off in particular and colour accuracy , with a pallid , washed - out look compared to the main sensor . There ’s a 2 - megapixel profoundness sensor too , which help with some comme il faut portraiture pellet .
You do n’t get a dedicated telephoto camera here , but that ’s only really typical near the top of the market . As it is , the Nova 10 Pro ’s sharp main sensor does a decent line of cropping in .
oddly enough , you could contend that the chief camera is n’t the headline act here . That would probably fall to the selfie camera , which is a dual - sensor social occasion .
It ’s leave by a 60 - megapixel radical - wide television camera with dual - autofocus , and accompanied by an 8 - megapixel portrayal camera . They raise bright shrill and robust selfies , with the extra wide selection useful for group shots . Just stay away from the 2x zoom selection ( which count a petty blurry ) and the creepy - smooth Beauty outcome in Portrait mode .
Performance
The Huawei Nova 10 Pro campaign on a Snapdragon 778 G 4 G microprocessor chip , which is a shade dissatisfactory on a couple of level . For one affair , there ’s no 5 G connectivity , which we ’ve come to expect as a staple feature for phones of this terms .
Also , while this is a decent mid - range chip , it ’s a mid - range chip shot nonetheless . variation of the chip appear in phones that retail for hundreds of pounds less than the Nova 10 Pro , such as theHonor 50and theNothing Phone ( 1 ) .
When you equate its benchmark figures to a likewise priced phone like thePixel 7 , it falls a little myopic . We ’re talkingGeekbench 5scores of 769 single - marrow and 2888 multi - core , a3DMarkSling Shot score of 6303 , and a 3DMark Wild Life scotch of 2478 .
You wo n’t comment a huge shortfall in operation in everyday use , however , with a consistently quiet reply , immediate unlock prison term , and reasonably snappy app charge up time .
The Nova 10 Pro backs this square but unspectacular chip with a similarly sufficient 8 GB of RAM , as well as an ample 128 or 256 GB of internal depot .
Performance is just about satisfactory , but the twenty-four hours to day experience of running of the Huawei Nova 10 Pro is wholly unsatisfactory . That all comes down to EMUI 12 , Huawei ’s custom Android - based OS .
It ’s not that Huawei ’s heavily modified UI is especially exceptionable on the airfoil . It ’s quite similar to Xiaomi ’s MIUI in a band of way , including its obvious debt to iOS , its extensive Themes store , and its slightly dictatorial level of bloatware .
The self-aggrandizing issue here is the lack of Google Mobile Services support , which means that you do n’t get any of that seraphic Google grounding for any of your apps . At a base level this means no pre - installed Google apps , and no access to the Google Play Store . Instead , you have to rely on Huawei ’s own AppGallery , which does n’t let in a hatful of the usual suspects .
Huawei has partly address this in recent years with its Petal Search tool , which scour the various smaller and much less prescribed app stores on the vane for your desired app . Huawei insists that this process is secure , but the clunkiness of the whole procedure of acquiring apps is far from reassuring .
You ’ll also feel that some of the non - Google apps that you are able to go after down still do n’t carry properly . While I was capable to download and use WhatsApp , for model , I was ineffective to access my chat stand-in .
Battery life
The Huawei Nova 10 Pro run on a 4500mAh battery , which seems slightly little for a premium(ish ) earphone with such a prominent and capable display .
I was n’t exactly wowed by the phone ’s stamina , though it ’s not a finical point of concern . After a daylight of what I ’d terminus temperate usage ( around 3 hours and 30 minute of screen on prison term ) , I ’d be left with around 40 % left in the tank . In a more direct run , an hour of Netflix streaming sapped 7 % of a charge , which is respectable .
Huawei lends a little reassurance with its cable charging preparation , with a 100W ‘ Supercharge Turbo ’ plug let in in the box . It was sufficient to get me from an enforced low - power shutdown to 75 % in just 15 proceedings , and can carry off a full rush in around 20 minutes .
There ’s no radio shoot down here , which palpate like a bit of an omission . you may spend slightly less on the Pixel 7 , or mode less on a Nothing Phone 1 , and savor wireless charging .
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Should you buy it?
. The Huawei Nova 10 Pro screen is big , promising , sharp , and responsive . There are n’t many better displays out there for less than £ 700 .
. Whether you ’re a gamer or you just want the fastest phone for the money , the Huawei Nova 10 Pro will derive up short .
Final Thoughts
For all its undeniable strengths , the simple fact remains that you credibly should n’t corrupt the Huawei Nova 10 Pro . The deficiency of Google Mobile Services is just too prohibitory to overlook , make water too many routine activities into a chore .
Still , credit where it ’s due – the Nova 10 Pro ’s presentation is superb . It ’s large , burnished , tart , fluid , and highly responsive , not to mention colour - accurate . The main camera , too , is capable of genuine greatness , while you ’ll struggle to find out a better selfie photographic camera for the money .
Even when target the software situation away , however , the Huawei Nova 10 Pro is far from a home run . Its ultrawide camera is poor , it miss both 5 gigabyte and wireless charging , and its performance is underwhelming .
All in all , the Huawei Nova 10 Pro is a phone that constitute a strong first impression , but it has too many flaw ( one of which is fatal ) to even be in the conversation as a mid - chain of mountains choice .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every mobile phone we review good . We practice industriousness received test to compare features properly and we use the telephone as our main gadget over the review period . We ’ll always tell you what we discover and we never , ever , accept money to review a Cartesian product .
FAQs
No , it can not connect via 5 G
It ’s available in Starry Silver ( as shown in the revue ) and Starry Black
