Huawei nova 16 and 16 Pro announced with 7,000mAh batteries, 50MP RYYB periscopes

Huawei’s nova series of mid-rangers has some unique designs and the new 16 generation shakes things up again. We’re sure that the “spectacles” look on the Pro in particular will attract a lot of comments. Looks aside, the new nova 16 and 16 Pro bring significant camera improvements, bigger batteries, a faster chipset for the vanilla model and satellite messaging for both.

Starting with the Huawei nova 16 Pro, the phone boasts a large 200MP 1/1.28” RYYB sensor in its main camera. It sits behind an f/1.8 lens with OIS. Joining it is a 50MP ultra-wide camera with an f/2.2 lens with autofocus that can snap macro shots at 7cm distance.

The Huawei nova 16 Pro has a 200MP 1/1.28” main camera and a 50MP 3.7x telephoto module

The 50MP telephoto deserves a special mention – it also has a RYYB sensor and a longer 3.7x lens with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). Both the main and the telephoto cameras are notable upgrades over the 50MP main (sensor size unknown) and 12MP 3x/69mm tele of the nova 15 Pro.

As you may have noticed, the Pro still has a pill-shaped cutout on its display – this is home to the 50MP selfie camera (1/2.5” sensor) with a wide f/2.4 lens and a 1.5 million channel spectral sensor.

Speaking of the screen, not much has changed since the previous generation – it is a 6.84” LTPO panel (1-120Hz) with 1,320 x 2,856px resolution and 10-bit colors. The display uses 2,160Hz PWM dimming to control its brightness. Huawei is using Kunlun glass for protection.

The nova 16 has a smaller 6.68” display, the Pro has a 6.84” LTPO panel

The screen is one of the major differences between the Pro and the Huawei nova 16. The vanilla model has a 6.68” display, a regular OLED with 120Hz refresh rate, 1,280 x 2,800px resolution and 10-bit colors. This one uses unbranded aluminosilicate glass for protection.

The camera is less capable than on the Pro. The main module has a 50MP sensor and its f/1.9 lens lacks OIS. The telephoto module is pretty good though, a 50MP RYYB sensor combined with an OIS-enabled 3.3x lens. It’s not as good as this Pro’s telephoto module, but it’s better than the nova 15 and 15 Pro tele camera. The selfie camera has a 50MP sensor and it lives in a regular punch hole.

The Huawei nova 16 has a 50MP RYYB sensor in its 3.3x telephoto camera

The vanilla and Pro models use the same chipset – the Kirin 9010S that we saw on the 15 Pro last year. Huawei equipped all variants of the nova 16 and 16 Pro with 12GB of RAM, so other than missing out on a 1TB version, the nova 16 matches the 16 Pro in terms of performance (there are also 256GB and 512GB storage options).

Both the nova 16 and 16 Pro use the Kirin 9010S with a vapor chamber cooling

That and it also matches it on battery power – both phones feature 7,000mAh cells with support for 100W SuperCharge. Neither phone offers wireless charging.

The Huawei nova 16 and 16 Pro have 7,000mAh batteries with 100W wired-only charging

These are 5G phones but the nova 16 and nova 16 Pro now also offer messaging over the BeiDou satellite system – previously, this was reserved for the nova 15 Ultra.

Local connectivity includes dual-band Wi-Fi 7 (be), Bluetooth 6.0 (LDAC, L2HC) and StarFlash (Huawei’s alternative to Bluetooth), as well as NFC. For positioning, the two phones have tri-band BeiDou plus dual-band GPS and Galileo. The USB-C port is only USB 2.0.

The Huawei nova 16 and 16 Pro support satellite messaging

Another missed opportunity for an upgrade is the water resistance – the nova 16 and 16 Pro are rated IP65 (protection against water jets but not submersion), same as the 15 and 15 Pro. Also, both phones now use a side-mounted fingerprint reader. The 15 Pro had an optical under display reader, so this is a “side-grade” (sorry, we couldn’t resist).

The Huawei nova 16 is available on vmall.com for CNY 3,000 for the 12GB/256GB model and CNY 3,500 for the 12GB/512GB model. This converts to $445/€380 and $520/€445, respectively. You can have it in Clear Blue, Iridescent Mother of Pearl, Sky White or Starry Night Black.

Huawei nova 16 in: Clear Blue • Iridescent Mother of Pearl • Sky White • Starry Night Black

The Huawei nova 16 Pro comes in the same colors. You are looking at CNY 3,900 for the base 12GB/256GB model, CNY 4,400 for the 12GB/512GB and the 12GB/1TB version is CNY 5,000. These convert to $575/€495, $650/€560 and $740/€635, respectively.

Huawei nova 16 Pro in: Clear Blue • Iridescent Mother of Pearl • Sky White • Starry Night Black

Source 1 | Source 2 (in Chinese)