Home Phone comparison Huawei Nova 9 and Apple iPhone 12 - Which is better?

Huawei Nova 9 vs Apple iPhone 12

55 out 100
Huawei Nova 9
VS
65 out 100
Apple iPhone 12
Huawei Nova 9
Apple iPhone 12

Compared 2 smartphones : Huawei Nova 9 Manufactured in September, 2021, with display 6.57 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 778G, vs Apple iPhone 12, Manufactured in October, 2020 with chipsetApple A14 Bionic. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery Life
  6. Cameras
  7. Comments (0)

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Huawei Nova 9
  • Larger display: 6.57in
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Higher battery capacity: 4300mAh vs 2815mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.2 vs 5
  • Includes charger
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone 12
  • Higher pixel density: 460ppi
  • Lighter design: 164g vs 175g
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB		 - 4/64 GB
- 4/128 GB
- 4/256 GB

Review

Key Specs Huawei Nova 9 and Apple iPhone 12
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
Customize your score
Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison
Smartphones:
Huawei Nova 9
vs
Apple iPhone 12

Display

Display quality comparison
Type OLED OLED
Size 6.57 in 6.1 in
Resolution 1080x2340 pixels 1170x2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 392 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max brightness 430 nits 625 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10 Yes Dolby Vision
Touch Sampling Rate 300 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 89.8 % 87.1 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 DCI-P3
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Huawei Nova 9
603 nits
Apple iPhone 12
646 nits
sRGB gamut100 %99.4 %
PWM (Flicker)500 Hz226 Hz
Response time2.8 ms16 ms
Contrast∞ Infinite∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Huawei Nova 9], [Apple iPhone 12]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 160 mm (6.3 in) 146.7 mm (5.78 in)
Width 73.7 mm (2.9 in) 71.5 mm (2.81 in)
Thickness 7.77 mm (0.31 in) 7.4 mm (0.29 in)
Weight 175 g (6.17 oz) 164 g (5.78 oz)
Water resistance No IP68
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Plastic Metal
Colors - Black
- Blue
- Green
- Purple		 - White
- Black
- Blue
- Green
- Red
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display No
Screen-to-body ratio
Huawei Nova 9
89.8 %
Apple iPhone 12
87.1 %

Performance

Testing Huawei Nova 9 and Apple iPhone 12 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Apple A14 Bionic
Max Frequency 2400 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4/1.8 (Kryo 670 Silver (Cortex-A55))
- 3/2.4 (Kryo 670 Gold (Cortex-A78))
- 1/2.4 (Kryo 670 Prime (Cortex-A78))		 - 4/1.8 (Icestorm)
- 2/3.1 (Firestorm)
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 6 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon 770 Apple Neural Engine
Graphics Adreno 642 Apple A14 GPU
GPU Cores 512 256
GPU Frequency 550 MHz 1278 MHz
FLOPS 844 GFLOPS 654.3 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Huawei Nova 9
1070
Apple iPhone 12
1941
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Huawei Nova 9
2996
Apple iPhone 12
5008
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)10701941
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)29965008
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Huawei Nova 9
589912
Apple iPhone 12
1095315
CPU216757310050
GPU138994323143
Memory116607173777
UX117554288345
NanoReview Score5899121095315
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Huawei Nova 9
2490
Apple iPhone 12
7601
Max Surface Temp.37.4 °C41.2 °C
Stability98 %77 %
Graphics Test14 fps45 fps
Graphics Score24907601
Sources: 3DMark [Huawei Nova 9], [Apple iPhone 12]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Huawei Nova 9
9635
Apple iPhone 12
n/a
Writing score12816n/a
Web score6595n/a
Video editing5939n/a
Data manipulation8261n/a
NanoReview Score9635n/a

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB 4 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz n/a
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		- 64 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 2.1NVMe
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 12) iOS 14.1 (Upgradeable to iOS 18.3.2)
OS Size 10.5 GB 7 GB
UI Skin EMUI 13 n/a

Battery

Volume 4300 mAh 2815 mAh
Max Charging Power 66 W 18 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse Charging Yes No
Fast Charging Yes (61% in 30 min) Yes (58% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 0:54 h 1:30 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Huawei Nova 9
18:10
Apple iPhone 12
21:15
Web Browsing06:40 h08:00 h
Video Playback10:30 h12:09 h
Games04:36 h04:35 h
Standby Mode94 h112 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 4032x3024 pixels
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED Quad LED
Stabilization Digital Optical
8K Recording No No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 960 fps (720p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens n/a 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP
Macro: 2 MP
Depth: 2 MP		 Standard: 12 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
Main lens
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.6
Focal length23 mm26 mm
SensorSony IMX766Sony IMX372
Sensor size1/1.561/3.4
Pixel size1 μm1.4 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationDigitalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix8 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.4
Focal lengthn/a13 mm
Sensor sizen/a1/3.6
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Huawei Nova 9
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
127
Video quality
Huawei Nova 9
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
130
Overall camera score
Huawei Nova 9
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
117
Bokehn/a55
Previewn/a74
Zoomn/a60
Sources: DxOMark [Apple iPhone 12]

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 6528x4896 pixels 4032x3024 pixels
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.2
Focal length n/a 23 mm
Sensor CMOS Sony IMX514
Sensor size n/a 1/3.6
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No Yes
Selfie camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Huawei Nova 9
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
127
Video quality
Huawei Nova 9
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
140

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) 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 5.2 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 2 n/a
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
- NAVIC		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Galileo
- QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*21
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM Standbyn/a
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 2/3/5/8 (850/900/1800/1900 MHzGSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
3G BandsHSDPA 1/2/4/5/6/8/19UMTS/HSPA+/DC‑HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B66)LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B30/B32/B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B46/B48/B66)
LTE category1818
5G SupportNoYes

Sound

Speakers Mono Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Huawei Nova 9
90.5 dB
Apple iPhone 12
81.1 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced September, 2021 yr October, 2020 yr
Release Date September, 2021 yr October, 2020 yr
Launch Price ($) 500 800
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Face Sensor
Charger Included Yes 66 W n/a
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Apple iPhone 12 the clear winner in this comparison.

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