Huawei Nova 14i Launches in Hong Kong With 6-Year-Old Snapdragon 680 and 7,000mAh Battery

Huawei has launched the Huawei Nova 14i smartphone in Hong Kong, following its initial release in China. The device is essentially a rebadged version of the Nova Y91, also known as the Huawei Enjoy 60x, bringing older hardware under a refreshed name.

The Huawei Nova 14i is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 chipset, featuring four Cortex-A73 cores at 2.4 GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores at 1.9 GHz. It comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, running EMUI 14.2 out of the box. While the chipset is reliable for everyday tasks, it is a six-year-old mid-range processor, which may feel dated compared to newer Snapdragon or MediaTek options in the current market. For a quick perspective, this chipset was popular in 2021 as a nice offering for mid-range 4G phones. 

Moving on, the phone sports a 6.95-inch LCD with FHD+ resolution (2376 × 1080), a 90Hz refresh rate, and 270Hz touch sampling. This display is quite nice, supporting 16.7 million colors for bright and vivid visuals. The Battery life will certainly stand as one of the device’s main highlights, with a 7,000mAh battery that can deliver up to 26 hours of video playback and 22.5W wired charging via USB Type-C.

In terms of optics, the Huawei Nova 14i features include a dual rear camera setup with a 50MP main sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. The front has an 8MP selfie camera. Video recording is limited to 1080p. Physically, the Huawei Nova 14i measures 171.6 × 79.9 × 8.9 mm and weighs around 216 grams. Connectivity options include dual-SIM 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, and a USB Type-C port that also supports audio output.

In terms of price, the phone is priced at HKD 1,588 (~$203) for the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant and will be available starting February 6 through Huawei’s official website in Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, the Huawei Nova 14i seems like a look in the past considering the specifications. The pricing might bring some consumers over it, but there are better options at this price, unless you're ok with the old hardware and being stuck on Huawei's ecosystem. Don't me, considering Huawei's past releases, and the recent achievement of returning to the podium as one of China's largest brands, this device seems like the least exciting release.