The Huawei Nova 11 Pro immediately surprises at first glance. The slim casing with the glass pulled over the edges and the large camera module at the back are definitely eye-catchers. In addition, the back is made of imitation leather in black or bright green with embossed Nova logos.
The phone feels very comfortable, fits securely and ergonomically in the hand, and there are no noticeable material transitions. The screen is protected by Kunlun Glass, which Huawei says is one of the most shatter- and scratch-resistant display glasses on the market. Drop tests on the internet and our own experience show that the screen glass usually survives drops without problems.
The phone currently costs €699 in Huawei's web store, and you get 256 GB of mass storage and 8 GB of RAM — which means that the Nova 11 Pro offers the usual features for the money.
Unfortunately, the USB-C port can only transfer data at USB 2.0 speed. Display output to an external monitor is only possible wirelessly at most. NFC is on board, as well as two SIM slots. However, there is no microSD reader for expanding the storage.
In terms of WLAN connectivity, the Nova 11 Pro uses the WiFi-6 standard, which is still quite common in top-end phones. Data transfers are a bit erratic in our test with the reference Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 router. We see several significant drops in terms of transfer rates, which also occur from time to time in several repetitions of the test.
5G is not available in the Nova 11 Pro, which is very unusual in this price range for a 2023 device. However, this is due to Huawei not getting 5G modems from the US as the company is subject to trade restrictions. Thus, you will have to make do with 4G LITE.
Nevertheless, you still get support for a wide frequency range that lets you use the phone for mobile internet on most international roaming trips without problems. The signal quality is also very good during our test.
Limitations are also noticed in the software: Google apps do not run on the Huawei Nova 11 Pro by default, and you can only activate them with tricks. This works quite smoothly in our tests. However, there are minor annoyances like ads before the app starts, together with the uncertainty of entrusting one's data to an unknown third party that provides a virtual environment besides Huawei and Google.
The phone comes with Huawei's EMUI 13, which is officially based on HarmonyOS. The fact that the basis for HarmonyOS is still the open-source part of Android is evident from the fact that you can easily download Android apps from the Internet and install them on the phone.
There are also already numerous apps that have been specially adapted for Huawei phones and can be found in the App Gallery. Many ad apps are visible on the phone, but only as a download link for now, so you can easily ignore or delete them. The security updates are from March 2023 at the time of testing and are thus older.
The phone can be operated very smoothly thanks to its 120 Hz screen. The fingerprint sensor is located behind the screen and unlocks the phone very reliably and precisely; it could only be placed a bit higher. Unlocking via facial recognition is also possible, but this is done via a comparatively insecure 2D image.
The main camera has a 50 MP sensor, but it does not have optical image stabilization (OIS). Usually, only a quarter of the resolution is used to achieve a higher light sensitivity. We like the resulting photos very much. The level of detail is high, and the color reproduction is also very good thanks to the special sensor. The image sharpness is also convincing.
Even in low light and high contrasts, the photos show good brightness and are quite sharp. In the lab, the photos have a high sharpness even at the picture's edge. The test chart remains well recognizable even at a brightness of 1 lux but many details are lost here.
Videos can be recorded in 4K with a maximum of 30 fps. The resulting movies show good colors with fast and reliable autofocus and a good brightness adjustment.
Thus, the camera system can definitely compete with high-end devices but there are some limitations as well. The optical image stabilizer is missing in hectic situations, 8K videos are not possible, and the lack of optical zoom in a periscope camera makes image composition a bit difficult.
Speaking of optical zoom, the front-facing camera has it! Yes, you read that right, the 60 MP lens in the front can at least bring objects a bit closer with its 2x zoom. There is also an 8 MP portrait camera for close-ups, which means there are cameras on the front. These are located in a pill-shaped punch-hole in the upper part of the screen and take really good selfies. Our test picture shows many details and passable composition even in somewhat darker areas.
An OLED screen is part of package, and the Huawei Nova 11 Pro even convinces with its slightly higher 2,652 x 1,200 resolution compared to the competition. Thanks to permanently enabled DC dimming, the screen only shows the refresh rate of 120 Hz in our tests but no PWM flickering beyond that.
The brightness is slightly below the competition but is still suitable for outdoor use with values up to 719 cd/m². We see a minimally noticeable bluish cast in the grayscale, but the screen generally reproduces colors quite accurately.
Measurement series with fixed zoom level and different brightness settings
The Nova 11 Pro's choice of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 4G Soc is certainly one born out of necessity, since Huawei does not get an SoC with 5G capabilities from the US. The processor also lags a bit in terms of performance, even though it is sufficient for smooth everyday use in most cases. The graphics performance, in particular, is too low for this price range.
The UFS 3.1 onboard storage is quite competitive, but the memory controller cannot fully utilize the full power.
The phone can get very warm under prolonged and very high load. We measured a maximum temperature of 52.3 °C under stress. However, this is only in limited scenarios and the temperatures should be much lower in everyday use.
The processor does not seem to have any problems with the high temperatures either. It still delivers the same performance in the 3DMark stress test even after many runs.
The speaker on the lower edge is supported by the phone's earpiece, so slight stereo effects are also possible. The speakers do not sound too loud overall and have a problem with precision in songs, so songs often tend to degenerate into a sound mush at high volumes and individual instruments can hardly be identified anymore.
The audio output is clean via USB and Bluetooth. The aptX codecs are not available, but the other important standards such as SBC, AAC, and LDAC are supported.
Unfortunately, the Huawei Nova 11 Pro achieves only mediocre results with its 4500 mAh battery in our standard Wi-Fi browsing test at 150 nits. 11:29 hours are easily enough for a work or school day, but you won't be able to avoid charging the phone every evening during normal use.
The 100 W charging technology that Huawei integrates, and the matching charger are great. It easily provides enough power for several hours of use after just 10 minutes of charging.
Whether the sanctions are justified or not, from a technical point of view, it is definitely a loss that Huawei is not allowed to sell its phone with 5G and Google services in the Western world. The Huawei Nova 11 Pro definitely has some unique selling points with its unusual look, super-fast charging technology, great cameras, and an OLED screen with high-frequency DC dimming.
However, the SoC is too slow for the price range, the battery life is okay but cannot keep up with current devices, and Wi-Fi throughput is a bit shaky in terms of data rates.
If you like the look, you might want to wait a bit until the phone's price drops for the Huawei Nova 11 Pro to be worth it — of course, while being aware of the restrictions you have to contend with.
The Huawei Nova 11 Pro looks very stylish, charges in a few minutes, and the cameras offer great picture quality. However, you have to do without 5G and Google services due to sanctions.
A good alternative could be the devices from Honor, which have taken over Huawei's legacy in the West so to speak, having adopted many of the manufacturer's technologies. For example, the Honor Magic4 Pro offers even better zoom features and 5G. It is already available on the internet at low prices, for example at amazon.de.
The Motorola Edge 40 is another viable option that is snappy and can convince with pure Android 13 and 5G.
At the time of testing, the Huawei Nova 11 Pro in black and green color options is only available directly from the manufacturer in Central Europe for €699.
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