Huawei nova 13 Review – Must Have Device for Selfie Aficionados

Huawei recently released their new nova 13 series. Here’s my in-depth Huawei nova 13 review to help you decide whether to get it or not.

I’ve been using the device on and off for about a month now. And it’s actually a great device to have as your daily driver. But of course, it’s not a perfect device and it still has downsides.

What’s Inside the Box

Before everything though, let’s start with what it comes with out-of-the-box. Bear in mind though that this is a loaner unit, meaning Huawei lent this for us to review. Some things may be missing in the retail units, like the user guide and warranty card. What’s inside the box is listed below.

• Huawei nova 13
• SIM ejector tool
• Clear case
• Huawei SuperCharger
• USB-C to USB-A cable

You can also check out my Huawei nova 13 Unboxing and First Impression video below.

Camera Quality

Let’s start with the device’s most prominent feature, which is its cameras. As expected of a device that’s marketed for its mobile photography prowess, it captures amazing photos. At the rear, we have a 50MP Ultra Vision Main Camera, paired with an 8MP Ultra-Wide Macro Camera. The main camera is capable of capturing stunning photos, even in low light. The ultra-wide, even with a smaller sensor, can also capture crisp and vivid photos. And the rear cameras can also shoot up to 10x zoom, as shown below.

For the front, it has a big 60MP Ultra-Wide Portrait Camera. It’s big sensor capture amazing details for your selfies. And just like the rear main cam, it can also capture fine details even in low light environments. Plus the ultra-wide makes it very useful for taking group selfies with your friends.

Below are some more sample photos.

AI Best Expression and AI Remove

My favorite feature would be the AI Best Expression. To use it, tap Edit on the photo you like, tap the AI Retouch tab, and choose Best Expression. It automatically chooses the best expressions. This means no more people with their eyes close, not looking at the camera, or even people not smiling. It automatically chooses the best expressions, but you can also manually choose which expression you like better. Below is an example. My eyes was looking at the screen and not exactly at the camera. But thanks to the AI Best Expression, it is easily fixable.

The caveat is, you need to first take multiple shots so it can choose the expressions between those shots. If you only took one shot, then it won’t work. This means more space take up your storage, and it could be sometimes a hassle to delete those extra photos. Nevertheless, I still find the feature really helpful, especially group selfies.

Another feature is the Remove tool. It’s basically similar to any AI object remove tool from its competitors. It’s somewhat useful, but I find it to be less powerful that other AI remove tool though.

Design and Build Quality

Now let’s talk about its aesthetics. The back has this plaid-looking design. Personally, I like it. It looks elegant while also having a smidge of being minimalist. The plaid pattern is also reminiscent to those in luxury handbags, adding elegance to its design. The sides of the device are flat but both like and hate the chrome finish on them. I like it because it actually looks good. I hate it because it attracts so much fingerprints. It’s not an issue though if you are going to put a clear case on.

Now like most smartphones in this price range, the nova 13 also have rounded corners. It enables the phone to sit comfortably on my palm, but cuts a bit of the display real estate. It also makes it a challenge to swipe the screen from the corners.

Performance and Gaming

I found the device smooth and snappy while using it day-to-day. It has a powerful chip and huge 12 GB RAM that helps it perform well with multitasking apps. On gaming though, there’s a bit of performance drop when playing demanding games on high graphic settings. So you need to set it on medium graphic settings. I did notice that it gets warm fast while I was playing Genshin Impact. Playing games also seems to drain its battery fast. It’s fine though, since it charges really fast.

Below are some benchmark scores of the Huawei nova 13.

Display Quality

Watching videos is a treat on the nova 13. The OLED display ensures the most accurate colors with the blackest black out of most screens. This results in a pleasant viewing experience. The accurate colors is also perfect for when reviewing your photos and/or when editing videos. It also supports 120Hz refresh rate so animations looks smooth.

Audio Quality

During this Huawei nova 13 review, I found its speaker to be actually pretty loud and clear. It sounds decent when watching a video. Since it’s a single-firing speaker, we don’t get to enjoy surround sound when watching movies. And although loud, the audio is not exactly balanced. I find the lower frequencies to be quite lacking. So if you like music with pumping bass, you won’t get to enjoy them on this device’s speaker. The highs mids are fine though.

Use Experience

As I’ve mention in the performance section of this Huawei nova 13 review, the device is pretty snappy. So my experience with scrolling on the device are very satisfactory.

Some people also has this preconception that they can’t use Google and Meta services on Huawei devices. While true, there is a workaround via GBox, which is actually preinstalled on this device. We’ll just write a separate guide for it, so do check it out.

Huawei nova 13 Specifications

Local Pricing and Availability

The Huawei nova 13 is a bit on the pricier side, you can get it for PHP 25,999. It’s available in Huawei Experience Stores nationwide, as well as online on the Huawei Online Store, Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop.