In the last few weeks we have had the opportunity to spend some time in the company of Huawei nova 9 SE, mid-range smartphone that comes on the market with a 108 megapixel camera, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor and fast charging at 66 watts. And no, there are no Google services but on board we find the HMS (Huawei Mobile Services) which, in recent years, have really made great strides. All this not only allows Huawei to guarantee smartphones suitable for everyday life but also to offer something more to its users.
I Huawei Mobile Services
Huawei Mobile Services is the name that encompasses all the services offered by the Chinese giant, both those recently arrived and those that have already existed for some time, such as AppGallery.
What is that? This is the official Huawei store, which counts today 187,000 third-party applicationsdivided into 18 categories, from finance to games through social, entertainment and navigation.
From here you can search, download and update all the applications you need. There are Revolut, Snapchat, TikTok, Buddybank, DAZN, Immuni, Telepass, etc …
AppGallery, however, is not the only tool that allows you to install applications on Huawei devices.
In fact, it has been there for some time Petal Search, the Shenzhen company’s proprietary search engine. It is always part of the HMS ecosystem, uses artificial intelligence and offers what Huawei calls “All-in-one search experience”, that is the possibility of using the same search bar for the web, images, shopping, news, travel and – above all – apps.
This means that if you want, for example, to download Netflix, you can search for “Netflix” on Petal Search which will suggest you download the app. And this also applies to social networks, Spotify, Prime Video, Satispay, Trenord… In short, for all applications.
And no, nothing changes compared to the download on AppGallery since the installation is practically immediate and the apps update automatically.
The applications that are part of the Petal suite are also part of the aforementioned ecosystem, starting with Petal Maps.
What are they? As the name suggests, they are Huawei’s maps, with an advanced navigation system, 3D animations at intersections, traffic updates and augmented reality directions for walking. There are also real-time weather and traffic, petrol stations with prices and integration with WeTaxi which allows you to book a taxi by consulting waiting and arrival times.
Then there are available Huawei Videowith a vast catalog of streaming content to fill your free time, Huawei Music, for listening to your favorite songs or to discover new songs and new artistsHuawei Booksfor the purchase of books and audio books, Petal Clipfor editing video directly from mobile, e Huawei Mobile Cloudwhere you can save videos, photos, documents and contacts and make automatic backups of your data in a secure way.
Basically you have it available 5 GB free but you can increase the space by taking advantage of one of the plans provided by Huawei:
- Standard, with 50 GB for € 0.99 per month;
- Plus, with 200 GB for € 2.99 per month;
- Premium, with 2 TB for € 9.99 per month.
To all this we add the Super Devicethe Asian company’s multi-device collaboration system that allows you to share features between different devices, transfer files instantly and much more.
All this to boost your productivity and make your life easier.
In short, Huawei has managed to build over the years a complete and accessible ecosystem that helps meet everyone’s needs, from the most experienced users to those who approach these devices for the first time.
Huawei nova 9 SE: what does it offer?
Everything we have told you reflects on new 9 SE.
Launched on the market in spring, this smartphone mounts the EMUI 12the latest operating system from Huawei that includes all the HMS features just described.
To animate it we find the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor, 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory (not expandable), which together give good performance and allow the installation and storage of everything you need.
Also good is the 4,000 mAh battery that yes, on paper they seem few but in reality they are enough to make it to the end of the day without difficulty, thanks to the excellent software optimization. Once downloaded then you can use the fast charging at 66 watts which fully recharges your battery in just over 30 minutes.
Huawei has been paying great attention to the video sector for years now, and nova 9 SE is no exception. We have a 108 megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle and two 2-megapixel sensors, one for macro and one for depth, while for selfies you can rely on the 16-megapixel front camera.
This combination of sensors allows you to take home really interesting shots, with a good rendering of colors and details. Also not bad is the ultra-wide angle that does not distort the image and offers a good dynamic range, while we lose something when the sun goes down. All in all, however, we expected it considering that it is not a cameraphone like Huawei P50 Pro.
Promoted on foot votes the 6.78-inch AMOLED display, which returns vivid and bright colors, suitable for watching movies and TV series as well as for classic web browsing. Then the brightness is good, and in addition you can count on the refresh rate at 90 Hz, which makes the user experience even smoother.
Finally, great attention to design. We have a super low thickness – only 7.94 mm – while the weight – 191 grams – is average. Three colors available: Midnight Black, Pearl White e Crystal Blue. We have had the opportunity to have the latter in our hands which, in our opinion, is the most original, capable of proposing constant color variations to never get bored.
On the back, along with the back cover, we have the camera module, which Huawei calls Star Orbit Ringwhile on the right side we find the fingerprint reader, integrated in the power button and really lightning-fast.
Let’s finish with the price. Huawei nova 9 SE is on sale at 299,99€. A great price that allows you to take home a solid, elegant product, with an excellent display and fast charging that is not at all obvious in this price range. And then there are the HMS that no, they are no longer a limit. In 3 years, Huawei has worked hard to give users an operating system that was complete and functional even without the Play Store. Have they succeeded? Absolutely yes, and in addition they continue to integrate more and more applications and services, with research and development departments that are constantly at work. We just have to wait to find out what Huawei has in store for us in the near future.