Huawei Nova 3i Unboxing, Hands-on and First Impressions

Huawei Nova 3i Unboxing

Huawei’s recent Nova 3 series smartphones are much in the talks these days. The company recently started taking pre-orders for the Nova 3 and Nova 3i in Pakistan. The devices are set to be available in markets from September 7th.

If you have missed, the company has already revealed the prices of Nova 3 and Nova 3i. The Nova 3 is an upper mid-range smartphone that will cost PKR 59,999/- in Pakistan. It comes with company’s flagship processor Kirin 970, previously powered the P20 series and Mate 10 series. Nova 3i, on the other hand, can be considered as middle mid-range that costs much less as PKR 39,999. It has featured the recently announced Kirin 710 system on chip.

While we’ll soon bring to you the upper mid-ranger Nova 3 review, here you will witness the unboxing of the Huawei Nova 3i. Sure the full review will follow in a few days, however you will be able to see a quick overview of Nova 3i with our first impressions right here, right now.

Nova 3i Overview

A quick lookout on the box reveals only the key information about the phone that includes the device name, the color, the model number or at the most – RAM and storage.

Huawei Nova 3i Features

You might think the most attractive color option is P20’s twilight-like “Iris Purple” that is like blue-to-purple or purple-to-blue. That’s correct, I’d love to get that certain color, but this black color variant of Nova 3i is really elegant and descent to have.

Unlike the Chinese model with multiple RAM/storage options, the model in Pakistan will only have one option, 128GB + 4GB. Apart from memory, Nova 3i runs on company’s latest mid-range processor, Kirin 710. That new  processor has gathered quite a wonderful numbers being a mid-range chip – we’ll check that ourselves in detailed review.

Unboxing the Nova 3i

There is not much to talk about packaging of the phone as it’s just a standard white box, Huawei usually ships. Just pop out the top cover to unveil the Nova 3i smartphone sitting on top. Underneath the phone, there comes a card-box container with the add-on cover and screen protector. User guide is also in there with a SIM eject tool.

Huawei Nova 3i Silicon Back Cover

With a phone like this, you sure are going to use a securing bundle of cover and screen protector. If you get those in the retail package, that’s wonderful thing. Then it’s your preference, if you want to use those coverup things or want to keep the phone as elegant as it comes out of the box.

The phone comes with a 5 volt and 2 ampere charger which is big like the ones Huawei ships usually.

Huawei Nova 3i Charger

So far, so good – but the microUSB didn’t impress me with this beautiful device. Huawei keeps the USB Type-C connectivity with the expensive Nova 3 model. With Nova 3i, you will get the USB 2.0 with old microUSB connectivity.

Also note that, you might not have fast charging with this package.

Then there is a bundled earphones, which is also just a standard set with a 3.5mm pin and very common multifunction input key. Simply, it’s not a matching thing with phone itself.

That’s all what you will get in the retail package of Huawei Nova 3i.

Huawei Nova 3i Box Content

Nova 3i Box Contents

  • The device – Huawei Nova 3i
  • Connectivity/Charging cable
  • Travel charger – 5V+2A
  • SIM eject tool
  • User guide
  • Add-on silicon back cover
  • Add-on screen protector

Hands-on and First Impressions

As told above, I first thought the black color is not what I wanted to have. But undoubtedly, Huawei has made it just like always they have built. Nova 3i has back glass finish with metal frame. Huawei has not mentioned about the glass specifications, though we believe it’s secure and scratch resistant.

Huawei Nova 3i Glass Back

Most importantly, the most attractive (and annoying at the same time) thing is, it’s too smooth to sit on a little unbalanced surface. It will indeed slip through and end up with a drop off.

Thankfully, Huawei has used oleophobic coating on the glass – both front and rear. Mostly they kept it for their flagship devices. It’s good to have a smooth touch experience on the screen. This is the first thing that I note on a smartphone as if it’s really good to give a smooth experience.

Huawei Nova 3i display

It’s a 6.3″ Full HD+ display with a cutout on top – the notch as you are familiar with it. The screen has a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and it serves with 2340×1080 pixels resolution at pixel density of around 409ppi. That’s the exact thing you will have on the expensive model Nova 3. It’s a good thing for Nova 3i users, so chill out.

With P20 Pro, Huawei was first to give the option to users if they wanted to keep the notch, or not. The software gave a clear option in settings to “hide the notch”. This option, if turned on, will darken the surrounding area around the notch to camouflage it. It will look like as you just have a little top bezel, but keeping the status information and icons right there.

Huawei Nova 3i - Hide Notch

The Nova 3i is totally impressive in handling with the matte finish around the frame. It helps your grip very nicely. You can’t overlook the fact that you may need a good and balanced surface for this phone to put on. Or using a silicon cover will be good idea to prevent unintentional slip.

Dual Front Cameras

The dual cameras are now something like a required part of a smartphone, but a dual-cam on the front? That’s a new trend which we have seen from couple of other brands recently after last year’s Huawei Mate 10 lite. The two cameras follow on front of the Nova 3i too. That’s where the company’s AI shows itself the most. Huawei has improved the software well in that regard and the camera brings a whole new section of AI things.

Company refers it as an AI Selfie Master with a 24MP primary camera unit and 2MP depth sensor. The AI scenery recognition comes to front camera with eight kinds of surroundings – blue sky, plant, night, flower, beach, room, snow, and stage performance. We’ll be covering this in detailed review soon.

Huawei Nova 3i hands-on

During a quick walk-around with Huawei Nova 3i, it was a pleasure using the phone. Totally smooth transitions, no flickering, no jerking, no abuses, nothing like a bad experience. We’ll be using the phone as a primary device as various kind of users for a couple of weeks. Stay tuned for an in-depth review coming in a few days.

You can give your feedback or ask anything about the Nova 3i, we’ll try to cover it in the detailed review. So go ahead and follow us on your favourite social network to get instant updates – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.