Huawei's latest smartphone has flagship performance at a mid-tier price

High-end components often trickle down to more affordable smartphones, but Huawei's latest mid-tier offering takes this to the next level. The $699 Nova 5T is powered by the same top-end processor you'll find in the $1,599 P30 Pro. That's not bad at all.

The rest of the Nova 5T's hardware sounds pretty good too, with the phone touting a quad rear-facing camera configuration made up of a 48MP primary lens, a 16MP ultra-wide angle lens, a 2MP macro lens, and a 2MP bokeh lens.

Complete specifications for the Nova 5T include a 6.26-inch 1080p+ display, a Kirin 980 processor, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of non-expandable storage, 48MP + 16MP + 2MP + 2MP rear-facing cameras, a side-facing fingerprint reader, and a 3,750mAh battery. The Nova 5T ships with Android Pie, but Huawei is currently testing an Android 10 beta on the phone internationally.

You'll be able to pick up the Huawei Nova 5T from today for $699 in a choice of black or blue. JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, and Mobileciti are all ranging it.

It is of course worth being aware of Huawei's dispute with the US government. Huawei is currently restricted from working with US companies, which effectively cuts it off from Android. Regardless of whether the US situation is resolved, the Nova 5T will still be able to run Google apps and services and Huawei has promised to still provide security updates, but these may get deployed at a slower pace. Most importantly, if you buy a Nova 5T, you won't lose any out-of-the-box functionality.

In addition, Huawei has given us an update on the Mate 30 Pro, with local pricing availability to be confirmed "soon".

Alex Choros

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Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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