Huawei's mid-range machines are back.
Text丨Heike Finance He Xu.
Recently, the discussion about the Huawei nova 12 series has been rising.
From speculating about the color of the generation and the texture and feel of the back, to discussing the evolution of imaging and communication capabilities, every possible change has sparked a lot of heated discussions. This is also the first release of Huawei's Nova series after the return of the Mate 60 series of phones in the high-end market.
On December 26, 2023, the Huawei Nova 12 series was unveiled at the M9 and Huawei Winter All-Scenario Launch Conference.
The No. 12 color in front of you is eye-catching blue, full of vitality and depth. In addition to the intergenerational color, the nova 12 Pro and nova 12 also have Sakura White and Yao Jin Black, the nova 12 Pro also has Sakura pink, and the nova 12 Ultra has two more colors: Smoke Cloud Gray and Yao Gold Black, and the overall color is bright and fashionable.
In terms of appearance, compared with the previous work, the nova 12 series super star ring has been moved to the top of the lens module, which is larger and more eye-catching, among which nova 12 ultra is equipped with the second-generation Kunlun glass, which adopts the industry's first integrated plain leather embossing design on the back of the back plate, and the nova letter embossing spreads on the back of the fuselage, and the plain leather is wrapped on the frame of the lens module, showing a sense of technology and fashion.
In terms of shooting functions that users are extremely concerned about, the nova 12 series has also been upgraded.
According to Heike Finance, the nova 12 series is equipped with a da Vinci portrait engine on the front, which can be deeply tuned for portrait features through a large number of high-quality portrait** analysisIn addition, the NOVA 12 Ultra and NOVA 12 Pro front cameras support an industry-leading 07x to 5x full-zoom for portraits and QPD for precise focusing, while the second-generation physical variable aperture on the rear can be intelligently adjusted according to the scene, hitting the user's more detailed shooting needs, and truly achieving the level of out of the circle in every shot.
Communication capability is also a key longboard for the nova 12 series.
The newly upgraded HarmonyOS smart communication technology has been applied to the nova 12 series, bringing excellent signal performance in both cellular and wifi. The nova 12 series is equipped with Huawei's exclusive patent-enabled low-frequency wide-coverage antenna, allowing users to experience stronger signal transmission and reception capabilities. The two-way Beidou satellite messaging function is also equipped with the nova 12 series, which realizes that information can still be sent to the outside world without terrestrial network signals.
Overall, the nova 12 series has met the expectations of users and the market in terms of appearance, imaging, communication, and comprehensive experience, and is truly another bold product innovation for young people. It is foreseeable that with the gradual rollout of products, the nova 12 series will surely bring more agitation and impact to the domestic mid-to-high-end smartphone market, and the industry topic may become hotter.
At the beginning of its establishment, the Huawei nova mobile phone brand was aimed at young people, focusing on the trend pioneer, and adhered to the design concept of "beauty before everything". Since the nova 7 put forward the concept of "intergenerational color" to lead the fashion of the frame, the nova series has been focusing on the appearance of exploration, constantly breaking through the boundaries of technological aesthetics.
In terms of appearance, the integrated plain leather embossed design of the nova 12 ultra is one of the important highlights of this new product.
According to Heike Finance, the new product integrates the embossed elements of luxury into the body of the frequently used smartphone, breaking the aesthetic shackles of the two fields, just as the luxury product has applied the embossing process to the design of leather bags, achieving a generation of fashion classics. And it is not easy to apply this process to mobile phones. After hundreds of attempts and innovations, Huawei's mobile phone team has tried to find the best embossing depth and arrangement density before finally presenting the current product effect.
The vegan leather embossed design was first demonstrated on the nova 11 series, and is regarded by the industry as a unique innovation and breakthrough in the appearance of smartphones. Some users on Xiaohongshu said that they were first attracted by the green embossing of nova 11, and then became interested in the product.
The evolution in appearance also includes the screen design. The nova 12 ultra and nova 12 pro feature a contoured quad design that makes the screen appear slightly curved, which is very aesthetically pleasing. At the same time, due to the small arc, the whole machine still brings a straight screen experience first, fully considering the best fusion of vision and comfort.
In addition to the innovative appearance, the nova 12 series also has a breakthrough upgrade in imaging functions. Through the front Da Vinci portrait engine, three portrait themes, 0With 7x to 5x full-focal length zoom for portraits and a newly upgraded second-generation physical variable aperture at the rear, Nova can fully meet the needs of users for in-depth and multi-scene applications in shooting.
Specifically, the Da Vinci portrait engine equipped with the nova 12 series can achieve the effect of **tightening** and smooth face shape, rather than blindly shooting the user into a templated awl face;It can also adjust skin tone, remove facial imperfections, and optimize light and shadow on three-dimensional parts such as nose bridge and cheekbones, so that the overall highlight is translucent and natural.
This coincides with the natural finish aesthetic that is trending nowadays. With the newly upgraded three portrait beauty themes, native, texture, and finish, users can easily feel the first-class portrait effect brought by the nova 12 series in the evolution of all-round images, which is more in line with personal needs.
As far as the front-facing camera function is concerned, the nova 12 ultra and nova 12 pro are equipped with 0The 7x to 5x portrait zoom shooting function is also a major breakthrough, which allows users to get an excellent image experience whether they take photos with the Forbidden City, Bund architecture, Xiaoman's waist, etc., or take half-length photos, or take makeup at close range. When shooting with the front 5x zoom, you can even shoot clear pupils and hairs in portraits, which has become a "zoom artifact" that young people really love.
The rear camera capabilities of the nova 12 series are also extremely powerful. By using the newly upgraded second-generation physical variable aperture, the nova 12 series products can intelligently adjust the aperture according to different scenes such as night scenes, sports, group photos, etc., whether it is shooting in the light or backlight, or shooting night portraits under neon lights and street lights, it can easily shoot blockbusters.
The nova 12 series also uses F4 in special consideration for shooting scenes where sunlight forms a light source through the cracks in the treesThe 0 star circle can achieve a sparkling star effect with clear edges;And take advantage of f14 portrait circles, when shooting portraits, it can bring more light and natural background blur, and the portrait is more three-dimensional and prominent. Through the integration of different apertures and specific scenes, the nova 12 series can truly meet the social needs of young users for "every shot, out of the circle".
The New Year is approaching, the party scene is gradually increasing, from **, taking food to taking group photos, etc., variable aperture is particularly important, nova 12 series may become the favorite "party photo artifact" of young people.
Judging from the nova 12 series, which has been comprehensively upgraded in terms of appearance and image capabilities, the brand emphasizes showing confidence and beauty, and also cares more about users' diversified pursuit and experience in image aesthetics.
According to research agency Counterpoint, the number of smartphone shipments of Chinese brands reached 46.5 billion units, the highest level in history. Since then, shipments have faced downward pressure, and the market as a whole has matured and entered the stock era. The replacement cycle of consumers is constantly extended, and there are even discussions such as "why don't young people change their mobile phones" from time to time.
In the era of stock, only innovation can arouse consumer interest, and this test is the understanding and satisfaction of manufacturers with the needs of consumer segments.
On the road of insight into the needs of young people, the nova series continues to iterate. It is obvious that not only in terms of appearance design, but also in terms of function, especially in the practical functions of imaging and communication, the nova series is more than innovative.
Smoothly brushing Douyin on the subway, playing the king on the high-speed rail is not stuck, and you can smoothly watch and browse the web when entering and exiting the elevator, which are the most real needs of young users in the current tense work and life state. This reflects the increasing demand for signals in extreme conditions and complex scenarios.
Needless to say, communication capability is a well-known and significant longboard of Huawei smartphones, and this advantage is also reflected in the nova 12 series. To put it simply, in response to the call needs of the most large number of subway and shopping mall scenarios, as well as complex WiFi scenarios such as wall barriers, the nova 12 series equipped with HarmonyOS Smart Communication can provide high-quality voice calls and low network latency to ensure signal quality.
nova 12 series has also made upgrades in terms of smart technology that users are interested in, and the main upgrade direction is still aimed at the daily needs of users, among which magic cutout and gallery search are aimed at the creative creation needs of nova stars.
Equipped with HarmonyOS 4's smart magic cutout function, you can cut out the characters or objects in ** separately to create personalized posters or combine them with third-party apps for secondary creation. Gallery semantic search allows users to extract the gallery with simple voice commands**, which is extremely interesting. This is a reflection of Huawei's system-level AI capabilities and search engine capabilities.
When nova people eat takeout and watch short**, how to operate by swiping up and down on the screen?The Nova 12 series provides the answer: you can easily switch between ** and even take air screenshots with air gestures. When you are too lazy to open *** payment, nova 12 ultra directly realizes the unlocking and aligns the payment code, and the body vibrates slightly to complete the payment.
The nova 12 series has brought many technical achievements with deep insight into user needs, such as Huawei's self-developed AI HDR technology, which achieves a more transparent and realistic effect on the first displayAnother example is the important logistics information of the third-party APP, which can be displayed in the form of a full-screen AOD real-time task cardIn view of the scene of users swiping Moments and Weibo before going to bed, high-frequency PWM eye protection and dimming functions have been launched.
In terms of functional innovations, it can be seen that the nova 12 series has completed an all-round upgrade, and its eyes are set on the mid-range market that has a recovery momentum but is still fiercely competitive.
The nova series was once Huawei's trump card for the mid-range smartphone market**, and its product strength, shipments and other dimensions have played a solid role in boosting the overall development momentum of Huawei's mobile phones.
The first-generation Nova sold more than one million units in the first month of its launch, and since then, the Nova series has focused on ID design, imaging, communication and other functions, and has continued to iterate: Nova 2S has amazed the industry with its glass back shell and metal middle frame body shape;The nova 6, which is close to the flagship in terms of performance and comprehensive experience, has been listed as a classic 5G mobile phone in the memory of countless nova starsThe nova 7 features a 50x periscope zoom, which continues to bring users a surprising photo experienceNova 10 achieved sales of more than 50,000 in 3 days with a 4G modelSince then, the nova series has continued to make breakthroughs in the comprehensive user experience.
He Gang, President of Huawei's mobile phone product line, said at the press conference that as of June 2022, the cumulative number of NOVA users worldwide has exceeded 200 million, and the NOVA series has always been loved by young people. Since then, shipments have been affected for well-known reasons.
With the strong return of the Huawei Mate 60 series, the Nova series is also about to usher in a gorgeous turn in the mid-range field. It should be noted that the current global smartphone market is ushering in a wave of recovery, and the launch of the nova 12 series comes at the right time.
According to research agency Canalys data, the decline in the global smartphone market in the third quarter of 2023 has narrowed to 1%. According to IDC**, China's smartphone shipments will reach 28.7 billion units, a year-on-year increase of 36%, achieving positive year-on-year growth for the first time since 2021.
The market is picking up, the new trend is coming at the end of the year, and manufacturers are paying more and more attention to the mid-range machine market, and the competition in the industry may be more intense.
With a comprehensive longboard in hard power such as communication and Hongmeng system, as well as a deep insight into the fashion appearance, image, user experience and user needs, the nova 12 series may set off a new round of attention in the domestic smartphone market. As a result, Huawei may regain its leading position in the mid-range market and achieve strong leadership in this field.