Home > Smartphone comparison > P40 Lite vs Nova 9 – which one to choose?

Huawei P40 Lite vs Nova 9

44 out of 100
Huawei P40 Lite
VS
51 out of 100
Huawei Nova 9
Huawei P40 Lite
Huawei Nova 9

Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.4-inch Huawei P40 Lite (with HiSilicon Kirin 810) that was released on February 27, 2020, against the Huawei Nova 9, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G and came out 1 year and 7 months after. 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
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Huawei P40 Lite
  • Shows 32% longer battery life (24:00 vs 18:10 hours)
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Huawei Nova 9
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • 41% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (798K versus 565K)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (66W versus 40W)
  • More recent OS version: Android 12 versus 10
  • Ability to record video in 4K resolution
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Delivers 18% higher peak brightness (605 against 511 nits)
  • Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Thinner bezels – 6.2% more screen real estate
  • OLED display (versus competitor's LTPS LCD)
  • The phone is 1 year and 7 months newer

Review

Evaluation of Huawei P40 Lite and Nova 9 crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
P40 Lite
44*
Nova 9
52*
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.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
P40 Lite
44*
Nova 9
51*
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
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Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
6 / 128 GB
VS
8 / 128 GB
61.0
(Average)
Value Index
81.1
(Good)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
P40 Lite
vs
Nova 9

Display

Type LTPS LCD OLED
Size 6.4 inches 6.57 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2310 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.2:9 19.5:9
PPI 398 ppi 392 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 450 nits 430 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR - 600 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10 Yes, HDR10
Touch sampling rate - 300 Hz
Screen protection Tempered glass Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 83.6% 89.8%
Display features - - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
Display tests
RGB color space 98.8% 100%
PWM Not detected 500 Hz
Response time 38.4 ms 2.8 ms
Contrast 976:1 ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
P40 Lite
511 nits
Nova 9 +18%
605 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 159.2 mm (6.27 inches) 160 mm (6.3 inches)
Width 76.3 mm (3 inches) 73.7 mm (2.9 inches)
Thickness 8.7 mm (0.34 inches) 7.77 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 183 g (6.46 oz) 175 g (6.17 oz)
Waterproof No No
Rear material Plastic Glass
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors Black, Green Black, Blue, Green, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio
P40 Lite
83.6%
Nova 9 +7%
89.8%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Huawei P40 Lite and Huawei Nova 9
SoC
Chipset HiSilicon Kirin 810 Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G
Max clock 2270 MHz 2400 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 6 cores at 1.9 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.27 GHz: Cortex-A76		 - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 670 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 3 cores at 2.4 GHz: Kryo 670 Gold (Cortex-A78)
- 1 core at 2.4 GHz: Kryo 670 Prime (Cortex-A78)
Manufacturing - TSMC
Lithography process 7 nanometers 6 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Hexagon 770
GPU
Graphics Mali-G52 MP6 Adreno 642L
GPU shading units 144 512
GPU clock 820 MHz 550 MHz
FLOPS ~236.2 GFLOPS ~563.2 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Huawei P40 Lite and Huawei Nova 9
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
P40 Lite
797
Nova 9 +28%
1018
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
P40 Lite
2120
Nova 9 +38%
2936
Compute Score (GPU)
P40 Lite +25%
2693
Nova 9
2148
Compute Score (GPU) 2693 2148
Single-core score 797 1018
Multi-core score 2120 2936
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
P40 Lite
565851
Nova 9 +41%
798218
CPU 237193 323416
GPU 62117 101821
Memory 136030 156494
UX 130511 216487
Total score 565851 798218
Samples [6 tests] [3 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
P40 Lite
n/a
Nova 9
217
Graphics test - 2 FPS
Graphics score - 217
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
P40 Lite
382
Nova 9 +81%
693
Stability 98% 99%
Graphics test 2 FPS 4 FPS
Graphics score 382 693
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
P40 Lite
8096
Nova 9 +16%
9427
Web score 5842 6492
Video editing 5734 5926
Photo editing 15184 20586
Data manipulation 7440 7567
Writing score 9275 13128
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Huawei P40 Lite
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-04-02 (Муримау)AnTuTu 11565851
📘 2026-02-28 (Shane Trollip)AnTuTu 11572016
📘 2026-02-09 (SAMJF1)AnTuTu 11551097
📘 2025-09-28 (temp001)AnTuTu 11542939
📘 2025-09-26 (Dimon)AnTuTu 11575909
Add View all (8)
Huawei Nova 9
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-08-01 (Aaron)AnTuTu 11790895
📘 2026-03-15 (Cedrick)AnTuTu 11804520
📘 2025-11-20 (Lamon)AnTuTu 11798218
📘 2025-02-26 (Koykoy)Geekbench 6 GPU2141
📘 2025-02-26 (Koykoy)Geekbench 6 CPU1015 / 2919
Add View all (7)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 2.1 UFS 2.1
Memory card Nano Memory No
Memory card max size Up to 256 GB -

Software

Operating system Android 10.0 Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 12)
ROM EMUI 12 EMUI 13
OS size 14.6 GB 10.5 GB

Battery

Capacity 4200 mAh 4300 mAh
Max charge power 40 W 66 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No Yes
Fast charging Yes (70% in 30 min) Yes (61% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:10 hr 0:54 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 09:55 hr 06:40 hr
Watching video 14:27 hr 10:30 hr
Gaming 05:21 hr 04:36 hr
Standby 114 hr 94 hr
General battery life
P40 Lite +32%
24:00 hr
Nova 9
18:10 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 48 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 8000 x 6000 8192 x 6144
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Digital Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording No Up to 30FPS
1080p video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 480 FPS (720p) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 120° -
Lenses 1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
4) Depth: 2 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
4) Depth: 2 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 48 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.9
Focal length 26 mm 23 mm
Sensor Sony IMX586 Exmor RS Sony IMX766
Sensor size 1/2.0" (≈ 0.5 inch) 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch)
Pixel size 1.6 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 8 MP 8 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.2
Stabilization Digital Digital
Macro lens
Image resolution 2 MP 2 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Focal length 27 mm -
Sensor size 1/5.0" (≈ 0.2 inch) -
Pixel size 1.75 micron -
Stabilization Digital Digital

Selfie camera

Megapixels 16 megapixels 32 megapixels
Image resolution 4920 x 3264 6528 x 4896
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.0
Sensor BSI CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) -
Pixel size 1 micron -
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- 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 5 5.2
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 GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Active Standby
eSIM support* No No
Hybrid slot Yes No
LTE Cat* 12 18
5G support No No

Sound

Speakers Mono Mono
Headphone audio jack Yes No
FM radio Yes No
Dolby Atmos No No
Speakers test
Max loudness
P40 Lite
n/a
Nova 9
90.5 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Mid-range
Announced February 2020 September 2021
Release date March 2020 September 2021
Launch price (MSRP) $265 $500
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger - Yes, 66 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 9 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
17 (45.9%)
20 (54.1%)
Total votes: 37

User opinions

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