Huawei Nova 16 Pro vs Nova 12 Pro
76
out of 100
VS
60
out of 100
Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.84-inch Huawei Nova 16 Pro (with HiSilicon Kirin 9010S) that was released on June 1, 2026, against the Huawei Nova 12 Pro, which is powered by HiSilicon Kirin 9000S and came out 2 years and 6 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
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Key differences
Reasons to consider the Huawei Nova 16 Pro
- Waterproof body (IP69 classification)
- The rear camera has a 3.7x optical zoom
- Comes with 2400 mAh larger battery capacity: 7000 vs 4600 mAh
- Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
- Optical image stabilization
- The phone is 2 years and 6 months newer
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- Faster storage type - UFS 4.0 versus UFS 3.1
- Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Huawei Nova 12 Pro
- Weighs 17 grams less
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.
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Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.84 inches | 6.76 inches |
| Resolution | 1320 x 2856 pixels | 1224 x 2776 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | - |
| PPI | 460 ppi | 449 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | Yes |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 6000 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch sampling rate | 300 Hz | 300 Hz |
| Screen protection | Kunlun Glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 90.3% | 89% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
Design and build
| Height | 163 mm (6.42 inches) | 163.14 mm (6.42 inches) |
| Width | 78 mm (3.07 inches) | 74.96 mm (2.95 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.1 mm (0.28 inches) | 7.68 mm (0.3 inches) |
| Weight | 218 g (7.69 oz) | 201 g (7.09 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP69 | No |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | - |
| Frame material | Metal | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue, Pink | White, Black, Blue, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | HiSilicon Kirin 9010S | HiSilicon Kirin 9000S |
| Max clock | 2500 MHz | 2620 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.55 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 3 cores at 2.18 GHz: TaiShan V121 - 1 core at 2.3 GHz: TaiShan V121 |
- 4 cores at 1.53 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 3 cores at 2.15 GHz: TaiShan V120 - 1 core at 2.62 GHz: TaiShan V120 |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | SMIC | SMIC |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Da Vinci | Da Vinci |
| Graphics | Maleoon 920 | Maleoon 910 MP4 |
| GPU shading units | 1024 | 1024 |
| GPU clock | 750 MHz | 750 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1536 GFLOPS | ~1536 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 2620 | - |
| Single-core score | 1314 | 1325 |
| Multi-core score | 3587 | 4118 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 512832 | 427514 |
| GPU | 131160 | 175290 |
| Memory | 270499 | 229479 |
| UX | 262705 | 284953 |
| Total score | 1177196 | 1117236 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | Less than 3 |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Graphics test | - | 2 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 303 |
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | HarmonyOS 6.1 | Android 14 |
| ROM | - | HarmonyOS 4.0 |
Battery
| Capacity | 7000 mAh | 4600 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 |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes (60% in 11 min) |
| Full charging time | - | 0:24 hr |
Main camera
| Matrix | 200 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 12288 x 16384 | 8192 x 6144 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3.7x | 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 | 118° | 112° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 200 MP 2) Telephoto: 50 MP 3) Ultrawide: 50 MP |
1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 8 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 200 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.4 - 4.0 |
| Focal length | 18 mm | 27 mm |
| Sensor | - | Omnivision OV50H |
| Sensor size | 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch) | 1/1.31" (≈ 0.76 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1.2 micron |
| Autofocus | Laser autofocus | Laser autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.6 | - |
| Focal length | 88 mm | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 8 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | 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 | 52 mm | 17 mm |
| Sensor | - | Omnivision OV60A |
| Sensor size | 1/2.5" (≈ 0.4 inch) | 1/2.8" (≈ 0.36 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 0.61 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS |
| Additional lens | - | 8 MP, f/52 |
| 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 | - |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | Yes | No |
| 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 | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | No |
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Announced | June 2026 | December 2023 |
| Release date | June 2026 | January 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $545 | $580 |
| Successor | - | - Huawei Nova 16 Pro |
| 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 16 Pro is definitely a better buy.
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Total votes: < 1