Huawei has started retail sales of the Huawei nova 9 smartphone in Kenya. This follows the device’s announcement today.
According to Huawei Mobile Kenya, the device is available at all retail outlets across the country including the company’s Experience stores.
The device had been available for pre-order for two weeks starting January 27th.
Given that the “nova” moniker refers to a star, the device’s design pays homage to its inspiration with a nebula-like “Star Orbit Ring” that we have seen in other variations on the nova series.
The Huawei nova 9 packs a 6.57-inch OLED display panel with a Full HD+ display and a 120Hz refresh rate. There is a Snapdragon 778G 4G chipset, 8GB RAM, a choice of 128 and 256GB onboard storage, a 32-megapixel front camera that can shoot 4K videos and a 50-megapixel main sensor at the back that uses Huawei’s trademark RYYB image sensor that alters the optics dynamics, as we used to know them, in image sensors.
For those not in the know, about 3 years ago, while unveiling the P30 series (the P series has been Huawei’s mainstream flagship smartphone series for ages), Huawei announced the replacement of the traditional green pixel in RGB (red green blue) or RGGB optical setups with a dual pixel yellow one. Last year, when leaks of the Huawei nova 9 were on overdrive, it was one of the most highlighted and touted features. According to Huawei, the use of the RYYB pixels setup results in the sensor “collecting 40 percent more light compared to a standard RGGB sensor.”
“This allows users to capture exquisite photos and videos even in low light conditions, ensuring that the bright parts of the image are not overexposed while the dark areas are clear and packed with detail,” the company adds. To avoid losing you with all the optics geekery, here’s a detailed explainer you can go through at your own pleasure.
Other features of the device include a 4,300mAh battery unit that supports Huawei SuperCharge – 66W fast-charging.
The device runs on EMUI 12, for the variant we are getting in Kenya. EMUI 12 is the latest version of Huawei’s custom Android overlay.
While Huawei is staying mum on the version of Android the nova 9 runs, many suspect its EMUI 12 to be based on Android 11. Obviously, without Google Play Services. Huawei has an on-off run-in with Android since May 2019 when its access to various US-based suppliers, including Android custodian Google, was restricted and, subsequently, curtailed. Since then, the company has gone ahead to unveil its own platform, HarmonyOS, which is meant to play nice across the entire spectrum of Huawei’s device offerings from smartphones like the nova 9 to cars and other gadgets and home-connected devices. In China, the nova 9 runs on the second version of HarmonyOS.
The Huawei nova 9 is going for Kshs 66,000.
