Huawei Nova vs. Huawei Mate 20

Phone Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Huawei Nova and Huawei Mate 20. 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 Nova vs. Huawei Mate 20 Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Huawei Nova Huawei Mate 20
Product Type Smartphone Smartphone
Form Factor Touch Touch
Height 141.2 mm 158.2 mm Huawei Mate 20 has greater height than Huawei Nova.
Width 69.1 mm 77.2 mm Huawei Mate 20 has greater width than Huawei Nova.
Depth 7.1 mm 8.3 mm Huawei Nova is narrower than Huawei Nova.
Weight 146 g 188 g Huawei Nova is lighter than Huawei Nova.
Body Colour Prestige gold | Mystic silver | Titanium grey Midnight blue | Twilight | Black
Body Material Aluminium-magnesium alloy -
Waterproof (Water-resistant) - -
SAR Value 0.94 W/kg (body), 0.99 W/kg (head) 0.99 W/kg (body), 0.44 W/kg (head), 2.57 W/kg (limb)
Connector Type USB Type-C - 24 pin USB-C
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
SIM Card Configuration Details Nano SIM + nano SIM/microSD -
DISPLAY Huawei Nova Huawei Mate 20
Display Type LCD display LCD display
Display Technology IPS IPS
Screen Size (Display Size) 5" 6.53" Huawei Mate 20 has larger screen size than Huawei Nova.
Screen Resolution (Display Resolution) 1920 x 1080 pixels 2244 x 1080 pixels Huawei Mate 20 has better screen resolution than Huawei Nova.
Display Format Full HD Full HD+
Pixel Density 443 ppi 381 ppi Huawei Nova has better pixel density than Huawei Mate 20.
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 -
Display Features 2.5D Glass -
PROCESSOR Huawei Nova Huawei Mate 20
Processor Type (CPU) Qualcomm Hisilicon Kirin 980
Processor Number MSM8953 -
Clock Speed 2 GHz 2.6 GHz Huawei Mate 20 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.
MEMORY Huawei Nova Huawei Mate 20
RAM 3 GB 4 GB Huawei Mate 20 has more RAM than Huawei Nova.
Internal Memory Size (Storage Capacity) 32 GB 128 GB Huawei Mate 20 has more internal memory than Huawei Nova.
User Memory 22 GB -
Supported Flash Memory Cards (Expandable Memory) microSDHC, microSDXC - up to 128 GB microSDHC, microSDXC - up to 256 GB
CAMERA Huawei Nova Huawei Mate 20
MAIN CAMERA
Number of Main Cameras 1 3
Sensor Resolution 12 Megapixel 12 Megapixel Both phones have the same camera resolution.
Lens Type - Wide-angle lens
Lens Aperture F/2.2 F/1.8 Huawei Mate 20 has better lens aperture than Huawei Nova.
Focus Adjustment Automatic Automatic
Special Effects - HDR
Camera Modes Beauty mode, low-light shots -
Face Recognition (Face ID) - Face detection, smile detection Huawei Mate 20 has face detection.
Light Source LED light Dual LED flash
Video Resolutions 3840 x 2160 (4K) -
Camera Features (Functions) Phase Detect Auto-Focus (PDAF) Phase Detect Auto-Focus (PDAF), Continuous Auto Focus (CAF), Depth Auto Focus, Leica Triple Camera, AI Image Stabilisation, 3D Live Emoji
SECOND CAMERA
Sensor Resolution (2nd Camera) - 16 Megapixel
Lens Type (2nd Camera) - Ultra wide-angle lens
Lens Aperture (2nd Camera) - F/2.2
THIRD CAMERA
Sensor Resolution (3rd Camera) - 8 Megapixel
Lens Type (3rd Camera) - Telephoto lens
Lens Aperture (3rd Camera) - F/2.4
FRONT CAMERA
Number of Front Cameras 1 1
Sensor Resolution (Front) 8 Megapixel 24 Megapixel Huawei Mate 20 has better front camera resolution than Huawei Nova.
Lens Aperture (Front) - F/2.0
Focus Adjustment Focus free Automatic
Special Effects (Front) Beauty Make-up 2.0, Beauty Skin 3.0 -
Camera Features (Front) - 3D Depth Sensing Camera
BATTERY AND CHARGING Huawei Nova Huawei Mate 20
Battery Capacity (Battery Size) 3020 mAh 4000 mAh Huawei Mate 20 has larger battery capacity than Huawei Nova.
Fast Charging Technology - HUAWEI SuperCharge technology Huawei Mate 20 has fast charging technology.
Standby Time 420 hours -
Talk Time 1980 minutes -
Run Time Details 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 -
CELLULAR Huawei Nova Huawei Mate 20
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 9.0 Pie
User Interface HUAWEI Emotion UI 4.1 HUAWEI Emotion UI 9.0
Navigation GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS
COMMUNICATIONS Huawei Nova Huawei Mate 20
Data Transmission GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, LTE, FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, VoLTE, FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE, VoWiFi
2G Band 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM
3G UMTS Band - Band 1, Band 2, Band 4, Band 5, Band 6, Band 8, Band 19
3G UMTS Frequency - 2100, 1900, 1700, 850, 800, 900, 800
4G LTE Band Band 1, Band 3, Band 7, Band 8, Band 20, Band 38 Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 6, Band 7, Band 8, Band 9, Band 12, Band 17, Band 18, Band 19, Band 20, Band 26, Band 28, Band 34, Band 38, Band 39, Band 40, Band 41
4G LTE Frequency FDD 2100, FDD 1800+, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 800 DD, TDD 2600 FDD 2100, FDD 1900 PCS, FDD 1800+, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS, FDD 850, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 1800, FDD 700a, FDD 700b, FDD 800 lower, FDD 800 upper, FDD 800 DD, FDD 850+, FDD 700 APT, TDD 2000, TDD 2600, TDD 1900, TDD 2300, TDD 2500
Wireless Interface IEEE 802.11b/g/n IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.1 Bluetooth 5.0
NFC - Yes Huawei Mate 20 has NFC reader for mobile payments.
Messaging Services SMS, MMS SMS, MMS
MEDIA Huawei Nova Huawei Mate 20
Supported Digital Audio Standards WAV, AAC, AMR, MP3, FLAC, OGG, M4A, MP4, MID WAV, AAC, AMR, MP3, FLAC, OGG, MIDI, 3GA, MP4
Supported Digital Video Standards MKV, MPEG-4, 3GP, WebM MPEG-4, 3GP
FEATURES Huawei Nova Huawei Mate 20
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 Ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, digital compass, gyro sensor, hall sensor, gravity sensor Ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, digital compass, barometer, gyro sensor, hall sensor, gravity sensor, infrared (IR) sensor, laser sensor, colour temperature sensor
Security Devices Fingerprint reader Fingerprint reader
Additional Phone Features Dual microphones, DTS Headphone:X, Fingerprint 3.0 Wi-Fi Miracast, Neural Network Processing Unit
OTHERS Huawei Nova Huawei Mate 20
Included Accessories Headset, USB cable, power adapter, SIM card removal tool Headset, power adapter, SIM card removal tool, USB-C cable, protective case
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