Huawei Nova 15 vs Nova 13
Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.7-inch Huawei Nova 15 (with HiSilicon Kirin 8000) that was released on December 22, 2025, against the Huawei Nova 13, which is powered by the same chip and came out 1 year and 2 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Huawei Nova 15
- Water-resistant body (IP65 classification)
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Comes with 1000 mAh larger battery capacity: 6000 vs 5000 mAh
- Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
- Optical image stabilization
- 28% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1033K versus 808K)
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- Stereo speakers
- The phone is 1 year and 2 months newer
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1084 x 2412 pixels | 1084 x 2412 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 395 ppi | 395 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | Yes (30-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | - | 1150 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch sampling rate | - | 300 Hz |
| Screen protection | Aluminosilicate glass | Aluminosilicate glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.6% | 89.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
Design and build
| Height | 161.87 mm (6.37 inches) | 161.4 mm (6.35 inches) |
| Width | 75.5 mm (2.97 inches) | 75.3 mm (2.96 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.2 mm (0.28 inches) | 6.98 mm (0.27 inches) |
| Weight | 196 g (6.91 oz) | 195 g (6.88 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP65 | Yes |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Plastic | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Black, Green, Purple | White, Black, Green, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | HiSilicon Kirin 8000 | HiSilicon Kirin 8000 |
| Max clock | 2400 MHz | 2400 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.3 GHz: - 3 cores at 2.05 GHz: - 1 core at 2.285 GHz: |
- 4 cores at 1.84 GHz: A55 - 3 cores at 2.19 GHz: 1xA77 L - 1 core at 2.4 GHz: 1xA77 H |
| Manufacturing | SMIC | SMIC |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Da Vinci | Yes |
| Graphics | Mali-G610 MP4 | Mali-G610 MP4 |
| GPU shading units | 1024 | - |
| GPU clock | 840 MHz | 864 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~860.2 GFLOPS | ~442.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | - | 2298 |
| Single-core score | 887 | 937 |
| Multi-core score | 2610 | 2598 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 427262 | 269523 |
| GPU | 99555 | 112296 |
| Memory | 216046 | 211603 |
| UX | 290258 | 215236 |
| Total score | 1033121 | 808658 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [5 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 98% |
| Graphics test | - | 2 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 314 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 9466 |
| Video editing | - | 6509 |
| Photo editing | - | 18282 |
| Data manipulation | - | 8311 |
| Writing score | - | 12099 |
Recent User Tests
Huawei Nova 15
No benchmark results yet
Huawei Nova 13
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-06-13 (David Albon) | AnTuTu 11 | 799901 |
| π 2026-01-16 (S_Bass) | AnTuTu 11 | 735202 |
| π 2025-12-26 (Demirius) | AnTuTu 11 | 841491 |
| π 2025-12-26 (Demirius) | AnTuTu 11 | 829838 |
| π 2025-12-07 (Maxim) | AnTuTu 11 | 808658 |
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | - | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | HarmonyOS 6 | HarmonyOS (Can be upgraded to HarmonyOS 4.2) |
Battery
| Capacity | 6000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 100 W | 100 W |
| Battery type | Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes | Yes |
| Bypass charging | No | - |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes (50% in 13 min) |
| Full charging time | - | 0:36 hr |
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 8192 x 6144 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | - | 480 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 112Β° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 8 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (β 0.64 inch) | 1/1.56" (β 0.64 inch) |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Laser autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Focal length | 69 mm | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
| Image resolution | - | 8 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 16 mm |
| Stabilization | - | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 50 megapixels | 60 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 8960 x 6720 |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | - | 17 mm |
| Sensor | - | Omnivision OV60A |
| Sensor size | 1/2.5" (β 0.4 inch) | 1/2.8" (β 0.36 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 0.61 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 6.0 | 5.2 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | Yes | Yes |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Mono |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | No |
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Announced | December 2025 | October 2024 |
| Release date | December 2025 | October 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $400 | $380 |
| Successor | - | - Huawei Nova 15 |
| Sensors | - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 100 W | Yes, 100 W |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Huawei Nova 15 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 9