Design and Display: A Modern and Immersive Canvas
Crafted for the hand and the eye, the Huawei Nova Y90 presents a design that is both contemporary and ergonomic. It typically arrives in a selection of vibrant, gradient colorways that play with light, creating a dynamic visual effect that sets it apart from more utilitarian competitors. The rear panel boasts a smooth, glossy finish that feels premium, albeit a potential magnet for fingerprints, which is easily remedied with the included clear protective case. The physical layout is logical and user-friendly, with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor integrated seamlessly into the power button. This placement allows for natural, intuitive unlocking while maintaining a clean aesthetic on the device’s frame.
The front is dominated by a substantial 6.7-inch IPS LCD display. This is not a standard panel; Huawei has equipped it with a 90Hz high refresh rate. This feature is a significant differentiator in the mid-range segment, ensuring that every swipe, scroll, and animation is rendered with exceptional fluidity and smoothness, reducing motion blur and providing a noticeably more responsive user experience compared to standard 60Hz screens. The resolution is a sharp Full HD+ (2388 x 1080 pixels), resulting in a pixel density of approximately 391 PPI. This ensures text is crisp, images are detailed, and videos are enjoyable with good clarity. The display also features narrow bezels, particularly on the sides, maximizing the screen-to-body ratio for a more immersive viewing experience whether you’re browsing social media, watching streaming content, or gaming.
Performance and Hardware: Reliable Power for Everyday Use
At the heart of the Nova Y90 lies the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 chipset, built on an efficient 6nm process. This octa-core processor, configured with four Kryo 265 Gold cores (based on Cortex-A73) clocked at 2.4GHz and four Kryo 265 Silver cores (Cortex-A53) at 1.9GHz, is designed not for raw, benchmark-topping power but for consistent, reliable, and efficient daily performance. It handles everyday tasks with absolute ease—switching between social media apps, browsing the web with multiple tabs, streaming music, and managing communications are all executed without a hint of lag.
This efficiency is paired with 8GB of RAM. In a smart move to enhance multitasking further, Huawei’s Memory Extension technology allows a portion of the internal storage (typically 2GB) to be allocated to act as virtual RAM, effectively providing up to 10GB of RAM for keeping more apps active in the background. For storage, users get a generous 128GB of internal space (UFS 2.1), which is ample for a vast library of apps, photos, music, and videos. For those who require even more, a microSD card slot allows for expansion, providing flexibility that many modern phones have sacrificed.
While not built for hardcore, graphic-intensive mobile gaming, the Adreno 610 GPU is more than capable. Popular titles like Call of Duty: Mobile and Genshin Impact are playable, though they are best experienced at medium graphics settings to maintain a stable, smooth frame rate. The combination of the efficient chipset and a large battery makes the device an excellent all-rounder for users whose priorities are longevity and smooth operation over extreme gaming performance.
Battery Life: The Unquestionable Endurance Champion
The most headline-grabbing feature of the Huawei Nova Y90 is its monumental 5000mAh battery. This large capacity is the cornerstone of its value proposition, effortlessly delivering what can only be described as two-day battery life for the vast majority of users. Under typical usage patterns involving web browsing, social media, messaging, photography, and some video streaming, the Nova Y90 consistently achieves well over 10 hours of screen-on time, often pushing into a second day of use on a single charge. For power users, it reliably provides a full day of the most intensive use without needing to search for a power outlet.
This endurance is complemented by 40W Huawei SuperCharge fast charging. This technology is remarkably swift for this price category. The included charger can take the massive battery from near-zero to over 50% in approximately 30 minutes, and a full charge is accomplished in just over an hour. This rapid replenishment negates any anxiety about the large battery’s charging time, making it incredibly convenient for users who are always on the move. The device also supports reverse wired charging, allowing it to function as a power bank to charge other devices like TWS earbuds or smartwatches via a USB-C to USB-C cable.
Camera System: Versatile Photography for Every Scenario
The Huawei Nova Y90 features a versatile triple-camera array on its rear, headlined by a 50MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture. This high-resolution sensor uses pixel-binning technology to combine information from four pixels into one, producing sharp, detailed, and well-exposed 12.5MP photographs in most lighting conditions. The images exhibit vibrant colors and good dynamic range, making them perfect for sharing directly on social media. In well-lit environments, the camera captures impressive detail and accurate colors.
Supporting the main sensor is a 2MP depth sensor, which is dedicated to improving the accuracy and quality of portrait mode shots. It effectively separates the subject from the background, applying a natural-looking bokeh effect. The third lens is a 2MP macro camera, enabling users to explore close-up photography by focusing on subjects just 4cm away, capturing intricate details of flowers, insects, or textures. The camera software offers a plethora of modes including Night Mode, which uses multi-frame stacking to brighten shots and reduce noise in low-light situations, Pro mode for manual control, and a dedicated high-resolution mode to shoot in full 50MP.
On the front, the 8MP selfie camera (f/2.0) is housed within a small punch-hole cutout in the display. It produces clean and detailed selfies for video calls and social media posts, and it also supports portrait mode with beauty effects. Video recording capabilities top out at 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second from both the front and rear cameras, which is standard for this segment, providing decent video for everyday capture.
Software and User Experience: EMUI on a Foundation of HMS
The Huawei Nova Y90 ships with EMUI 12, based on Android, but without Google Mobile Services (GMS) due to ongoing trade restrictions. Instead, it utilizes Huawei’s own ecosystem, Huawei Mobile Services (HMS), and the AppGallery as its primary app store. This is a crucial consideration for potential buyers. The AppGallery has grown exponentially and now hosts a vast number of popular global and local applications. For apps not available natively, Huawei’s Petal Search widget provides an efficient way to locate and install web APKs, often guiding users to trusted sources like APKPure.
The EMUI 12 software itself is feature-rich, polished, and highly customizable. It includes Huawei’s proprietary optimizations like AppGallery for secure app downloads, Phone Clone for easy data transfer from an old device, and Themes for personalizing the device’s look and feel. The interface is clean, responsive, and offers useful features such as a system-wide dark mode, one-handed mode, and advanced privacy and security settings. The experience is smooth and intuitive, though it requires a brief period of adjustment for users deeply entrenched in the Google ecosystem for services like Google Drive, Gmail, and YouTube. Alternatives like Huawei Cloud, Huawei Mail, and YouTube via browser or third-party wrappers are the standard workflow here.
Audio, Connectivity, and Additional Features
The multimedia experience is bolstered by a single, downward-firing loudspeaker. While it lacks the stereo separation of dual speakers, it delivers surprisingly loud and clear audio, sufficient for media consumption and speakerphone calls. For a private listening experience, the standard 3.5mm headphone jack is present and accounted for, a welcome feature for users with wired headphones or audiophile gear.
Connectivity options are comprehensive, covering all modern essentials. This includes 4G LTE support, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0 for stable connections to peripherals, and NFC. The inclusion of NFC is particularly noteworthy as it enables convenient contactless payments through Huawei’s own Wallet application, providing functionality similar to Google Pay or Apple Pay. The device also features GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and QZSS for accurate and fast positioning and navigation. The side-mounted fingerprint sensor is exceptionally fast and accurate, serving as a reliable and secure method of authentication. For those who prefer, the device also supports face unlock using the front-facing camera, which is quick though slightly less secure than the fingerprint method.