Huawei Mate 8 vs. Huawei Nova

Phone Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Huawei Mate 8 and Huawei Nova. Compare sizes, cameras, batteries, memory, and other important specifications and features to easily choose the right phone for you. Our goal is to help you uncover differences between the products and find the phone that will best fit your needs.

Phone Specifications Comparison

Huawei Mate 8 vs. Huawei Nova Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Huawei Mate 8 Huawei Nova
Product Type Smartphone Smartphone
Form Factor Touch Touch
Height 157.1 mm 141.2 mm Huawei Mate 8 has greater height than Huawei Nova.
Width 80.6 mm 69.1 mm Huawei Mate 8 has greater width than Huawei Nova.
Depth 7.9 mm 7.1 mm Huawei Nova is narrower than Huawei Mate 8.
Weight 185 g 146 g Huawei Nova is lighter than Huawei Mate 8.
Body Colour Mocha brown | Space grey | Gold Prestige gold | Mystic silver | Titanium grey
Body Material - Aluminium-magnesium alloy
Waterproof (Water-resistant) - -
SAR Value 0.21 W/kg (body), 1.18 W/kg (head) 0.94 W/kg (body), 0.99 W/kg (head)
Integrated Components FM radio -
Connector Type Micro-USB - 5 pin Micro-USB Type B
Headset jack - mini-phone 3.5mm
USB Type-C - 24 pin USB-C
Headset jack - mini-phone 3.5mm
SIM Card Type (Size) Nano SIM Nano SIM
SIM Card Qty Dual-SIM (SIM1 and SIM2/MicroSD slots) Dual-SIM (SIM1 and SIM2/MicroSD slots)
SIM Card Configuration Details Nano SIM + nano SIM/microSD Nano SIM + nano SIM/microSD
DISPLAY Huawei Mate 8 Huawei Nova
Display Type LCD display LCD display
Display Technology IPS-NEO IPS
Screen Size (Display Size) 6" 5" Huawei Mate 8 has larger screen size than Huawei Nova.
Screen Resolution (Display Resolution) 1920 x 1080 pixels 1920 x 1080 pixels Both phones have the same screen resolution.
Display Format Full HD Full HD
Pixel Density 368 ppi 443 ppi Huawei Nova has better pixel density than Huawei Mate 8.
Max Brightness - 450 cd/m²
Colour Depth 16.7 million colours 16.7 million colours Both phones have the same color depth.
Contrast Ratio 1500:1 1500:1 Both phones have the same display contrast ratio.
Display Features - 2.5D Glass
Display Protection (Screen Protector) Corning Gorilla Glass 4 (scratch resistant glass) -
PROCESSOR Huawei Mate 8 Huawei Nova
Processor Type (CPU) Hisilicon Kirin 950 Qualcomm
Processor Number - MSM8953
Clock Speed 2.3 GHz 2 GHz Huawei Mate 8 has higher clock speed than Huawei Nova.
Processor Core Qty 8-core 8-core Both phones have the same number of phone cores.
64-bit Architecture Yes Yes Both phones have 64-bit architecture.
Graphics System (GPU) Mali T880 MP4 -
MEMORY Huawei Mate 8 Huawei Nova
RAM 3 GB 3 GB Both phones have the same RAM size.
Internal Memory Size (Storage Capacity) 32 GB 32 GB Both phones have the same internal memory capacity.
User Memory - 22 GB
Supported Flash Memory Cards (Expandable Memory) microSDHC, microSDXC - up to 128 GB microSDHC, microSDXC - up to 128 GB
CAMERA Huawei Mate 8 Huawei Nova
MAIN CAMERA
Number of Main Cameras 1 1
Sensor Resolution 16 Megapixel 12 Megapixel Huawei Mate 8 has better camera resolution than Huawei Nova.
Sensor Type BSI-CMOS -
Lens Aperture F/2.0 F/2.2 Huawei Mate 8 has better lens aperture than Huawei Mate 8.
Optical Image Stabiliser (OIS) Optical Image Stabiliser (OIS) - Huawei Mate 8 has optical stabilisation.
Focus Adjustment Automatic Automatic
Digital Zoom 4x -
HDR Mode Auto HDR mode -
Camera Modes Time-lapse mode Beauty mode, low-light shots
Face Recognition (Face ID) Face detection - Huawei Mate 8 has face detection.
White Balance Automatic, presets -
Light Source Dual LED flash LED light
Still Image Resolutions 4608 x 3456 -
Video Resolutions 1920 x 1080 (1080p) 3840 x 2160 (4K)
Camera Features (Functions) Phase Detect Auto-Focus (PDAF), ISP-Chip Phase Detect Auto-Focus (PDAF)
FRONT CAMERA
Number of Front Cameras 1 1
Sensor Resolution (Front) 8 Megapixel 8 Megapixel Both phones have the same front camera resolution.
Lens Aperture (Front) F/2.4 -
Focus Adjustment - Focus free
Special Effects (Front) - Beauty Make-up 2.0, Beauty Skin 3.0
Video Resolutions (Front) 1920 x 1080 (1080p) -
BATTERY AND CHARGING Huawei Mate 8 Huawei Nova
Battery Capacity (Battery Size) 4000 mAh 3020 mAh Huawei Mate 8 has larger battery capacity than Huawei Nova.
Standby Time 528 hours 420 hours Huawei Mate 8 has longer standby time than Huawei Nova.
Talk Time 1080 minutes 1980 minutes Huawei Nova has longer battery life when making calls than Huawei Mate 8.
Run Time Details Standby (WCDMA): up to 528 hrs
Playback (Music): up to 98 hrs
Talk (3G): up to 1980 min
Standby (GSM): up to 380 hrs
Standby (3G): up to 400 hrs
Standby (LTE): up to 420 hrs
Standby (dual SIM): up to 240 hrs
Battery Technology Lithium polymer Lithium polymer
CELLULAR Huawei Mate 8 Huawei Nova
Technology WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM
Mobile Broadband Generation 4G 4G Both phones have the same mobile network generation.
Operating System Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
User Interface HUAWEI Emotion UI 4.0 HUAWEI Emotion UI 4.1
Navigation GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
COMMUNICATIONS Huawei Mate 8 Huawei Nova
Data Transmission GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, LTE, FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE
2G Band 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM
4G LTE Band Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 6, Band 7, Band 8, Band 12, Band 17, Band 18, Band 19, Band 20, Band 26, Band 38, Band 39, Band 40 Band 1, Band 3, Band 7, Band 8, Band 20, Band 38
4G LTE Frequency FDD 2100, FDD 1900 PCS, FDD 1800+, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS, FDD 850, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 700a, FDD 700b, FDD 800 lower, FDD 800 upper, FDD 800 DD, FDD 850+, TDD 2600, TDD 1900, TDD 2300 FDD 2100, FDD 1800+, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 800 DD, TDD 2600
Wireless Interface IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac IEEE 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.2 Bluetooth 4.1
NFC Yes - Huawei Mate 8 has NFC reader for mobile payments.
Messaging Services SMS, MMS SMS, MMS
MEDIA Huawei Mate 8 Huawei Nova
Supported Digital Audio Standards WAV, WMA, MP3, FLAC, eAAC+ WAV, AAC, AMR, MP3, FLAC, OGG, M4A, MP4, MID
Supported Digital Video Standards XviD, MPEG-4, WMV, DivX, H.265 MKV, MPEG-4, 3GP, WebM
FEATURES Huawei Mate 8 Huawei Nova
Phone Functions Speakerphone, voice control, call timer, conference call, flight mode, voice dialing, vibrating alert Speakerphone, voice control, call timer, conference call, flight mode, voice dialing, vibrating alert
Sensors Accelerometer, proximity sensor, digital compass, barometer, gyro sensor Ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, digital compass, gyro sensor, hall sensor, gravity sensor
Security Devices Fingerprint reader Fingerprint reader
Additional Phone Features DLNA Certified, sharing media via DLNA, noise reduction microphone Dual microphones, DTS Headphone:X, Fingerprint 3.0
OTHERS Huawei Mate 8 Huawei Nova
Included Accessories Headset, USB cable, power adapter Headset, USB cable, power adapter, SIM card removal tool
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