HUAWEI nova 10 SE – Review

HUAWEI nova 10 SE – Review

HUAWEI has released the latest addition to the nova series, the nova 10. There’s the nova 10, nova 10 Pro, and the nova 10 SE which I was given the opportunity to play with. If you don’t know yet, SE stands for “Special Edition”. It’s basically the midrange version of the series between the 10 and the 10 Pro. Now let’s see what’s special about the nova 10 SE.

Just like the previous models, you’ll get everything you need out of the box. Well, except for an earphone which is understandable if you want to keep the price at bay. There’s the USB A to USB C cable, a fast charger, a transparent silicone case, and a sim ejector tool.

What initially captured my attention is the new rear camera design. It’s the latest trend in smartphone camera designs. It reduces the number of circles at the back and simply putting in two or three lenses inside the bigger circle. It looks more organized that way. HUAWEI calls it the Star Orbit Ring design.

The bottom is where you’ll find the SIM tray and a speaker. The side is where the volume rocker and the power button also serve as the fingerprint scanner. The nova 10 SE is only 6.88mm thin and weighs about 184gm.

nova 10 SE has a 108 MP High-Res main camera, an 8 MP ultra-wide angle and depth-of-field camera, and a 2MP macro camera. The two rings glimmer and shimmer under the light, making the camera design truly stand out. The back is as flat as it can be in mint green.

It has an immersive 6.67″ OLED full-view display. It supports a 90 Hz refresh rate with a 91.85% screen-to-body ratio. There is no notch but a pinhole that houses a 16MP wide-angle camera with a large f2.2 aperture that allows you to take great low-light selfies.

The HUAWEI nova 10 SE is equipped with a 4500mah battery paired with a 66W SuperCharge charger. The battery can last you 12 straight hours of live streaming. If you ever decide to do one ☺️.

Here are the specs:

  • Dual SIM, dual standby, supports 4G/LTE connectivity
  • 6.67-inch FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) OLED display, 90Hz refresh rate
  • Dimensions: 162.4mm x 75.5mm x 7.4mm
  • Weight: 184 grams
  • EMUI 12, NO Google Play Services
  • Octa-core (4×2.4GHz Cortex-A73 + 4×1.9GHz Cortex-A53) CPU, Adreno 610 GPU, Qualcomm SM6225 Snapdragon 680G 4G 6nm chipset
  • 8GB RAM
  • 256GB storage, non-expandable
  • 108MP f/1.9 PDAF main + 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide + 2MP macro triple rear cameras, 1080p video recording at 30fps
  • 16MP f/2.2 front camera, 1080p video recording at 30fps
  • WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
  • Bluetooth v5.1
  • NFC
  • USB 2.0 Type-C with OTG function
  • GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, Galileo, QZSS
  • Sensors: fingerprint (side-mounted), light, proximity, accelerometer, gyroscope
  • Battery: 4,500mAh non-removable lithium-ion polymer; supports 66W fast wired charging
  • Colors: Starry Silver, Mint Green, Starry Black
  • Price: Php17,999

So, what makes the nova 10 Special Edition, “special”? Actually, there are a lot of reasons to do so. First of all, it comes with a refreshed camera design that stands out when you take your phone out to take some snaps. It comes with a whopping 108MP camera and a selfie-centric 16MP wide-angle selfie camera. A large display with a 90hz refresh rate, and a large battery capacity. All this for an SRP of 17,999.