Huawei Nova vs. Xiaomi MI 8

Phone Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Huawei Nova and Xiaomi MI 8. 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. Xiaomi MI 8 Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Huawei Nova Xiaomi MI 8
Product Type Smartphone Smartphone
Form Factor Touch Touch
Height 141.2 mm 154.9 mm Xiaomi MI 8 has greater height than Huawei Nova.
Width 69.1 mm 74.8 mm Xiaomi MI 8 has greater width than Huawei Nova.
Depth 7.1 mm 7.6 mm Huawei Nova is narrower than Huawei Nova.
Weight 146 g 175 g Huawei Nova is lighter than Huawei Nova.
Body Colour Prestige gold | Mystic silver | Titanium grey Black | Blue
Body Material Aluminium-magnesium alloy Glass, 7000 Series aluminium
Waterproof (Water-resistant) - -
SAR Value 0.94 W/kg (body), 0.99 W/kg (head) 1.662 W/kg (body), 0.701 W/kg (head)
Connector Type USB Type-C - 24 pin USB-C
Headset jack - mini-phone 3.5mm
USB Type-C - 24 pin USB-C
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 Xiaomi MI 8
Display Type LCD display OLED display
Display Technology IPS AMOLED
Screen Size (Display Size) 5" 6.21" Xiaomi MI 8 has larger screen size than Huawei Nova.
Screen Resolution (Display Resolution) 1920 x 1080 pixels 2248 x 1080 pixels Xiaomi MI 8 has better screen resolution than Huawei Nova.
Display Format Full HD Full HD+
Pixel Density 443 ppi 402 ppi Huawei Nova has better pixel density than Xiaomi MI 8.
Aspect Ratio - 18.7:9
Max Brightness 450 cd/m² 600 cd/m² Xiaomi MI 8 has better display brightness than Huawei Nova.
Colour Depth 16.7 million colours -
Contrast Ratio 1500:1 60000:1 Xiaomi MI 8 has better display contrast ratio than Huawei Nova.
Display Enhancement Technology - Sunlight mode
Display Features 2.5D Glass Always-on display, Reading mode, Colour temperature adjustment, DCI-P3 Wide colour gamut
PROCESSOR Huawei Nova Xiaomi MI 8
Processor Type (CPU) Qualcomm Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Processor Number MSM8953 -
Clock Speed 2 GHz 2.8 GHz Xiaomi MI 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) - Qualcomm ADRENO 630
MEMORY Huawei Nova Xiaomi MI 8
RAM 3 GB LPDDR4X SDRAM - 6 GB Xiaomi MI 8 has more RAM than Huawei Nova.
Internal Memory Size (Storage Capacity) 32 GB 64 GB Xiaomi MI 8 has more internal memory than Huawei Nova.
User Memory 22 GB -
Supported Flash Memory Cards (Expandable Memory) microSDHC, microSDXC - up to 128 GB -
CAMERA Huawei Nova Xiaomi MI 8
MAIN CAMERA
Number of Main Cameras 1 2
Sensor Resolution 12 Megapixel 12 Megapixel Both phones have the same camera resolution.
Sensor Name - Sony Exmor RS IMX363 sensor
Lens Type - Wide-angle lens
Lens Aperture F/2.2 F/1.8 Xiaomi MI 8 has better lens aperture than Huawei Nova.
Optical Image Stabiliser (OIS) - 4-axis OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) Xiaomi MI 8 has optical stabilisation.
Focus Adjustment Automatic Automatic
Special Effects - HDR
Camera Modes Beauty mode, low-light shots Burst mode, Panorama, portrait mode, AR Emoji, AI Beautify
Face Recognition (Face ID) - Face recognition Xiaomi MI 8 has face detection.
Light Source LED light LED flash
Video Resolutions 3840 x 2160 (4K) 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 30 fps, 1280 x 720 (720p) at 30 fps, Slo-mo video 1280 x 720 (720p) at 240 fps, 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 30 fps, Slo-mo video 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 240 fps
Camera Features (Functions) Phase Detect Auto-Focus (PDAF) Dual Pixel Autofocus technology, AI Dual camera, AI scene detection, AI Beautify, AI dynamic bokeh, AI studio lighting, AI short video editing, AI high-res photos
SECOND CAMERA
Sensor Resolution (2nd Camera) - 12 Megapixel
Lens Type (2nd Camera) - Telephoto lens
Lens Aperture (2nd Camera) - F/2.4
Camera Features (2nd Camera) - Portrait lens
FRONT CAMERA
Number of Front Cameras 1 2
Sensor Resolution (Front) 8 Megapixel 20 Megapixel Xiaomi MI 8 has better front camera resolution than Huawei Nova.
Focus Adjustment Focus free -
Special Effects (Front) Beauty Make-up 2.0, Beauty Skin 3.0 Mirror
Camera Modes (Front) - AR Emoji, AI portrait mode
Face Recognition (Face ID) - Face recognition Xiaomi MI 8 has face detection.
Camera Features (Front) - Self-timer, AI detection of 10 different scenes, 3D Beautify
SECOND FRONT CAMERA
Camera Features (2nd Front) - Flood Illuminator, Dot Projector
BATTERY AND CHARGING Huawei Nova Xiaomi MI 8
Battery Capacity (Battery Size) 3020 mAh 3400 mAh Xiaomi MI 8 has larger battery capacity than Huawei Nova.
Fast Charging Technology - Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0+ Xiaomi MI 8 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 Xiaomi MI 8
Technology WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM CDMA2000 1X / GSM / WCDMA (UMTS) / TD-SCDMA
Mobile Broadband Generation 4G 4G Both phones have the same mobile network generation.
Operating System Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) Android 8.1 Oreo
User Interface HUAWEI Emotion UI 4.1 MIUI 9.5
Payment Technology - Android Pay
Navigation GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS
COMMUNICATIONS Huawei Nova Xiaomi MI 8
Data Transmission GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, LTE, FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE GPRS, EDGE, EV-DO, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE
2G Band 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM, 800 CDMA2000 1X, 1900 CDMA2000 1X
3G UMTS Band - Band 1, Band 2, Band 4, Band 5, Band 8
3G UMTS Frequency - 2100, 1900, 1700, 850, 900
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 7, Band 8, Band 12, Band 17, Band 20, 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 2600, FDD 900, FDD 700a, FDD 700b, FDD 800 DD, 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 Xiaomi MI 8 has NFC reader for mobile payments.
Messaging Services SMS, MMS SMS, MMS
MEDIA Huawei Nova Xiaomi MI 8
Supported Digital Audio Standards WAV, AAC, AMR, MP3, FLAC, OGG, M4A, MP4, MID WAV, AAC, PCM, AMR, MP3, FLAC, AAC +, eAAC+, APE (Monkey's Audio), apt-X, AMR-WB, AMR-NB, apt-X HD
Supported Digital Video Standards MKV, MPEG-4, 3GP, WebM MKV, XviD, MPEG-4, H.264, M4V, HEVC, H.265, ASP
FEATURES Huawei Nova Xiaomi MI 8
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 Accelerometer, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, digital compass, barometer, gyro sensor, hall sensor, Time of Flight (ToF), infrared (IR) sensor
Security Devices Fingerprint reader Face recognition, fingerprint reader
Security Technology - IR face unlock
Additional Phone Features Dual microphones, DTS Headphone:X, Fingerprint 3.0 Face Unlock, MU-MIMO technology
OTHERS Huawei Nova Xiaomi MI 8
Included Accessories Headset, USB cable, power adapter, SIM card removal tool Power adapter, SIM card removal tool, USB-C to 3.5 jack adapter, USB-C cable, Mi 8 Protective cover
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