Huawei has officially unveiled its latest smartphone, the Nova 5T. It’s a flagship-grade smartphone that features a 6.26-inch screen, Kirin 980 chipset, 8GB RAM, and quad-rear cameras. Sounds like a flagship killer? If you agree, then let’s compare it to the OnePlus 7 to see which phone looks better on paper.
| Huawei Nova 5T | OnePlus 7 |
|---|---|
| 6.26-inch FHD+ (2340 x 1080) IPS display, 412ppi | 6.41-inch FHD+ (2340 x 1080) Optic AMOLED display, 402ppi, HDR10 |
| Corning Gorilla Glass 6 (front), Gorilla Glass 5 (back) | |
| HiSilicon Kirin 980 (7nm) 2.6GHz octa-core CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 (7nm) 2.84GHz octa-core CPU |
| Mali-G76 MP10 GPU | Adreno 640 GPU |
| 8GB RAM | 6GB / 8GB RAM |
| 128GB UFS 2.1 | 128GB / 256GB UFS 3.0 |
| no microSD | no microSD |
| 48MP F1.8 (main) Sony IMX586 + 16MP F2.4 (ultrawide) + 2MP F2.4 (macro) + 2MP F2.4 (depth), AIS, quad-rear cameras | 48MP F1.7 (main) + 5MP F2.4 (depth), OIS, dual-rear cameras |
| 32MP F2.0 front camera | 16MP F2.0 front camera |
| Dual-SIM (nano) | Dual-SIM (nano) |
| 4G LTE | 4G LTE |
| WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac |
| Bluetooth 5.0 A2DP, aptX HD | Bluetooth 5.0 A2DP, aptX HD |
| NFC | NFC |
| GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, SBAS |
| USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| Fingerprint scanner (side-mounted) | Fingerprint scanner (under-display) |
| Dolby Atmos audio | |
| Face Unlock | Face Unlock |
| EMUI 9.1 (Android 9 Pie) w/ GPU Turbo 3.0 | OxygenOS 9.5.8 (Android 9 Pie) |
| 3,750mAh battery w/ 22.5W SuperCharge | 3,700mAh battery w/ 20W Fast Charge |
| 154.3 x 74 x 7.9 mm | 157.7 x 74.8 x 8.2 mm |
| 174 g | 182 g |
| Black, Crush Blue, Midsummer Purple | Mirror Gray, Red |
Summary of advantages
Huawei Nova 5T:
• Slightly higher screen pixel count
• Ultrawide and macro cameras
• Higher front camera resolution
• Slightly higher battery capacity
• Faster charging
OnePlus 7:
• Slightly higher screen size
• HDR10
• Gorilla Glass front and back
• Dolby Atmos audio
• Higher storage option
• Faster storage type
• Better synthetic benchmark performance
Easily, both of these devices can be considered flagships based on their chipsets. However, both have their advantages over the other.
When it comes to the display, both have more than 6-inch screens with the OnePlus 7 having the largest. However, the 0.15-inch difference is not noticeable. Same with the 10ppi advantage of the Nova 5T over the OnePlus 7.
What people would notice is the display type used and the kind of notch design implemented. Which one is better would fall on the person’s preference. However, the OnePlus 7 has HDR support, which is an excellent feature if you like viewing content that supports the feature. If you want premium glass, the OnePlus 7 also takes the cake for having Gorilla Glass 6 on the front and Gorilla Glass 5 at the back.
When it comes to photography, we’d consider the Nova 5T as the more versatile for offering quad-cameras. It’s most significant advantages are the ultrawide and macro lenses, which the OnePlus 7 don’t have. For selfies, the Nova 5T wins in terms of resolution. However, we all know that quality doesn’t depend on pixels alone. We’ll know about that once we have both devices for a comparison review.
When it comes to other features, both have fingerprint scanners but of different placements. The Nova 5T has a side-mounted one while the OnePlus 7 has an in-display. Each has its advantages, so we’ll let you pick which one is better. Both don’t have expandable storage and no 3.5mm audio jack. The OnePlus 7 though, has Dolby Atmos audio.
When it comes to performance, both maxes out at 8GB of RAM. However, the OnePlus 7 uses the faster UFS 3.0 and larger storage capacity at 256GB. The Nova 5T tops at 128GB. For their chipsets, the OnePlus 7 uses a Snapdragon 855, while the Nova 5T has the Kirin 980.
These are flagship chipsets from two different manufacturers and can be expected to provide a smooth experience. But if you want to see their differences in power, we can take a look at their AnTuTu scores. For the Kirin 980, we’ll use the Huawei P30 Pro which got a score of 291,928. The OnePlus 7, on the other hand, scored 377,720, which is impressive.
For the battery, the Nova 5T has a slightly larger capacity with 50mAh more. It also has a faster charging technology. The numbers are close though, but we’ll know which device can provide a longer battery life once we have both devices for a comparison review.
To summarize, the Nova 5T is an attractive option for those who want a versatile shooter, but for raw performance and display quality, the OnePlus 7 is the one to get.
What do you guys think? Let us know in the comments below.
Any price comparison to know which is a better buy?
Hi Nette, we’ll update this post once Huawei announces the price for the Nova 5T in the Philippines.