Huawei Nova 9 vs Honor 20
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.57-inch Huawei Nova 9 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G) that was released on September 23, 2021, against the Huawei Honor 20, which is powered by HiSilicon Kirin 980 and came out 29 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the gadgets.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Huawei Nova 9
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Delivers 28% higher peak brightness (612 against 480 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- Has a 0.31 inch larger screen size
- Comes with 550 mAh larger battery capacity: 4300 vs 3750 mAh
- 15% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (500K versus 435K)
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- More recent OS version: Android 11 versus 10
- The phone is 2-years and 5-months newer
- OLED display (versus competitor's IPS LCD)
- Thinner bezels – 5.7% more screen real estate
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
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Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation
Value for money
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Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | IPS LCD |
| Size | 6.57 inches | 6.26 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 392 ppi | 412 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Max rated brightness | 430 nits | 450 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 600 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | No |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.9% | 84.2% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- |
| RGB color space | 100% | 98.6% |
| PWM | 500 Hz | Not detected |
| Response time | 2.8 ms | 35.4 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | 875:1 |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 160 mm (6.3 inches) | 154.25 mm (6.07 inches) |
| Width | 73.7 mm (2.9 inches) | 74 mm (2.91 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.77 mm (0.31 inches) | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 175 g (6.17 oz) | 174 g (6.14 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | No |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Plastic | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Blue, Green, Purple | White, Black, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in home button |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G | HiSilicon Kirin 980 |
| Max. clock | 2400 MHz | 2600 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.9 GHz: Kryo 670 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 3 cores at 2.2 GHz: Kryo 670 Gold (Cortex-A78) - 1 core at 2.4 GHz: Kryo 670 Prime (Cortex-A78) |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 1.92 GHz: Cortex-A76 - 2 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A76 |
| L3 cache | - | 4 MB |
| Lithography process | 6 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 642L | Mali G76 MP10 |
| GPU clock | 490 MHz | 750 MHz |
| FLOPS | - | ~691 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 138326 | 128063 |
| GPU | 159696 | 133914 |
| Memory | 92706 | 76543 |
| UX | 105880 | 93616 |
| Total score | 500961 | 435831 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Stability | 98% | 47% |
| Graphics test | 14 FPS | 14 FPS |
| Graphics score | 2492 | 2479 |
| PCMark 3.0 score | 9725 | 8595 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.1 | UFS 2.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 | Android 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 10) |
| ROM | EMUI 12 | Magic 4.0 |
| OS size | 10 GB | 12 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4300 mAh | 3750 mAh |
| Charge power | 66 W | 22.5 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (61% in 30 min) | Yes (50% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:54 hr | 1:25 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:44 hr | 08:57 hr |
| Watching video | 11:27 hr | 10:19 hr |
| Gaming | 04:56 hr | 04:08 hr |
| Standby | 93 hr | 88 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 8000 x 6000 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Digital | 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 | 960 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 117° |
| Lenses | 4 (50 MP + 8 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP) | 4 (48 MP + 16 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 50 MP - Aperture: f/1.9 - Focal length: 23 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/1.56", Sony IMX766 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 48 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 28 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2", Sony IMX586 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| Ultra-wide lens | - 8 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 |
- 16 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Sensor: 1/3.1" (CMOS) |
| Macro lens | - 2 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 |
- 2 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 27 mm - Pixel size: 1.75 micron |
| Depth lens | - 2 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 |
- 2 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Pixel size: 1.75 micron - Sensor: 1/5.0" (CMOS) |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 32 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6528 x 4896 | 6528 x 4896 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | - | 25 mm |
| Pixel size | - | 0.8 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | BSI CMOS |
| Sensor size | - | 1/2.8" |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
| Bluetooth version | 5.2 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | 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 |
| LTE Cat* | 18 | 21 |
| 5G support | No | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Mono | Mono |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | No |
Speakers test
Max. loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Flagship |
| Announced | September 2021 | May 2019 |
| Release date | September 2021 | June 2019 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.84 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.29 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
*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 9 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 11