Product of the Day
Huawei takes new Nova series global
Watches may have been the highlight of Friday’s Paris launch, but the new Nova 14 range added to the shine, writes ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK.
At a launch event at the Velodrome National in Paris on Friday, Huawei rolled out a fleet of innovative new products that left little doubt about its strategy to conquer categories. While the unveiling of the new Watch GT 6 and Watch Ultimate 2 provided the headlights, a new phone series added to the shine, along with upgraded tablet and earbud offerings.
The Nova 14 series had already been shown in China in May, but Paris was its moment in the global spotlight. The series consists of three models: Nova 14, Nova 14 Pro and Nova 14 Ultra. Each carries the hallmarks of Huawei’s design playbook while chasing different tiers of the market. Their common thread is portrait photography, given a makeover through Huawei’s Ultra Chroma Camera system and an improved XD Portrait Engine.
Huawei Nova 14
The entry point to the new family is the Nova 14. It features a 6.7-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR brightness of around 1100 nits. Under the hood is the Kirin 8000 chipset, paired with 12GB of RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. On the rear, a triple-camera setup combines a 50MP main wide sensor with Dual-Pixel PDAF, a 12MP telephoto with 3× optical zoom, and an 8MP ultrawide. For selfies, Huawei has gone big: a 50MP front camera designed for both high-detail stills and video.
The battery is a 5,500mAh unit with 100W fast wired charging using Huawei’s tried and tested SuperCharge Turbo. My personal experience is that it gives even Samsung devices a quick boost when their batteries start fading before the end of a working day. The device also supports reverse wired charging, but that is at a mere 5W and not really worth the bother. The body is rated IP65 for dust and water resistance, and aluminosilicate glass gives it toughness without excess bulk. At around 192g, it feels more nimble than its bigger siblings. Nova 14 positions itself as the everyday hero, tuned for social media.
Huawei Nova 14 Pro
The Nova 14 Pro raises the stakes with a 6.76-inch LTPO OLED display running at 120Hz, offering higher resolution and adaptive refresh for smoother scrolling and video. The chipset remains in the same series with a Kirin 8020, but it is backed with more refined thermal management and optimised performance. Storage starts at 256GB, again with 12GB RAM.
On the rear, the Pro keeps the 50MP main camera, but adds improved telephoto optics and a sharper ultrawide sensor, along with enhanced software processing. The front-facing 50MP selfie camera is carried over, still offering autofocus and 5× portrait zoom. Battery capacity stays at 5,500mAh, with 100W wired fast charging.
At around 207g, with glass and metal finishes and a higher-end IP65 build, the Pro is aimed at users who want a step up in display quality and imaging versatility without moving into flagship price territory. It positions itself as the refined option: still youth-focused, but more premium in feel and finish.
Huawei Nova 14 Ultra
The Nova 14 Ultra takes the concept to its logical extreme. It uses a 6.81-inch LTPO OLED display with 1440p resolution, higher peak brightness, and faster touch response than the other two models. It runs on the Kirin 8020, paired with 12GB RAM and storage up to 1TB in some configurations.
The camera array gives the Ultra more weight, but only metaphorically: a 50MP wide main sensor, 50MP periscope telephoto with OIS, and a 13MP ultrawide, make for a trio that caters to serious mobile photography. The selfie camera stays at 50MP, but benefits from the best AI tuning of the three.
The battery maintains 5,500mAh power, with 100W wired charging. Build quality is another differentiator: the Ultra carries Kunlun Glass on premium variants and has a tougher IP68/IP69 rating, meaning it is the most water- and dust-resistant of the lineup.
The Ultra is pitched as the halo product, combining durability with flagship-class imaging and design, to push it into aspirational territory.
Huawei Nova 14 series software
Huawei’s software layers tie the family together, with AI Best Expression and AI Remove offering everyday tools for users to refine images without third-party apps. Low-light portraiture is tuned for venues like concerts and clubs, while the XD Portrait Engine attempts to provide depth and nuance previously unseen in mid-to-upper tier devices.
By bringing Nova 14 to a global stage, Huawei shows it is serious about youth-centric flagships. Where the Pura represents the cutting edge of phone camera innovation and flagship appeal, and the Mate line represents power and productivity, the Nova is intended to embody creativity and youth resonance. As a category play, Huawei demonstrated that it is not ready to concede the selfie-driven market to rivals like Oppo’s Reno or Samsung’s Galaxy A-series. Rather, it is betting that the combination of features like AI-powered portraits and aggressive charging speeds will win a new generation of users.
* Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx, editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za, and author of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI – The African Edge”.
