Huawei has launched its Nova 16 Pro, Ultra and 16

Huawei has launched its Nova 16 series globally, which includes the Nova 16, Nova 16z, Nova 16 Pro, and Nova 16 Ultra as the successor to last year's Nova 15 series. With the 16 Pro and Ultra, Huawei is focusing on users who are looking for a more camera-centric phone with upgraded cameras, longer battery life, and even brighter screens than their predecessors. In this article, I will discuss the Huawei Nova 16 Pro and Nova 16 Ultra in detail, including their expected prices in Nepal, specifications, and availability.  

Huawei Nova 16 Ultra & 16 Pro Overview

Design and Display

Starting off, the design of the Nova 16 Pro & 16 Ultra is identical, with a thickness of 7.1 mm. However, the Pro model weighs 218 grams, and the Ultra is 2 grams heavier. The key differentiating factor between these phones is that the Nova 16 Pro comes with an aluminum frame and a glass back, while the 16 Ultra has a combination of glass and silicone polymer back. Similarly, the Nova 16 Pro has only an IP65 rating, whereas the 16 Ultra comes with a major upgrade in protection with IP68/IP69 ratings against dust and water.

Additionally, the Nova 16 Pro can be chosen between “Starry Night Black”, “Sky White”, “Clear Blue”, and “Iridescent Mother-of-Pearl” finishes, while the other one drops the "Pearl" variant. Here, Huawei has retained its classic camera island design, as in its predecessor in this new lineup. It features two circular modules, where one of them has the triple-camera setup, and the other has an LED Flash along with a pill-shaped front camera module.  

Up front, both phones have 6.84-inch LTPO OLED panels with 1.5K resolution, so you get sharp and crisp visuals. Along with that, the peak brightness of the phones can go up to 6000 nits, making them an ideal choice for watching HDR content. Huawei says both phones support HDR Vivid. And scrolling while playing casual games and using social media on this phone might also be smooth enough thanks to its 120Hz refresh rate.

Camera and Battery

For both, the phone's main highlight is its upgraded cameras compared to its predecessor's. Here, both the Nova 16 Pro and 16 Ultra have a triple camera setup with identical 200MP f/1.8 RYYB ultra-HD sensor, 50MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, and 50MP RYYB periscope telephoto lens with 3.7x optical zoom. The only difference in this setup is that the 16 Ultra has a slightly better f/2.2 aperture on the telephoto lens, while the Pro model has an f/2.6 aperture. 

Moving on, you get a slightly better 50MP selfie shooter with an f/2.0 aperture in the Ultra model, while the Pro has an f/2.4 aperture. All this setup is accompanied by the 1.5MP Red Maple color sensor, so the shots you take with this phone precisely retain their natural tone. With these optics, the phone should deliver strong daylight photography even though real-world testing will be needed to verify performance. 

In terms of battery, both phones have increased capacity to 7000mAh, up from their predecessor's 6500mAh. And these phones support 100W wired and 5W reverse wired charging, while the Nova 16 Ultra also supports 50W wireless and 7.5W reverse wireless charging for quick top-up. 

Performance and Software

Under the hood, both the Pro and Ultra models of the Nova 16 use the Huawei in-house Kirin 9010 SoC, built on a 7nm process.  Huawei claims to offer noticeably improved application loading speed compared to the older Nova 15 lineup. We've also seen this same chip in Huawei's Pura series lineup.

Although the heat generation is relatively higher than that of other 4 nm and 3nm chips on the market, Huawei has used an Ice-Bridge cooling system in these phones to maintain a stable frame rate for demanding games.

Memory-wise, both phones offer up to 12GB RAM and up to 1TB internal storage. And for software, they run on HarmonyOS 6.1. Huawei's tight integration of the in-house chip and OS could be the key factor behind a smooth user experience, though real-world conditions matter. 

Huawei Nova 16 Ultra & 16 Pro Specifications:

Huawei Nova 16 Ultra & 16 Pro Price in Nepal and Availability

In China, the Nova 16 Ultra's base 12/256GB model is priced at CNY 4,699 (~$655, INR 66,599), while the Nova 16 Pro costs CNY 3,899 (~$545, INR 54,999). Similarly, the top-tier 12/1TB variant of the Ultra is priced at CNY 5,799 (~$810, INR 70,599), and the Pro costs CNY 4,999 (~700, INR 81,599). If this launches here, we expect Huawei Nova 16 Ultra & 16 Pro price in Nepal to start at NPR 155,999 and NPR 128,999 for the baseline model.