Huawei Nova 4 revealed to have a pinhole camera on front, 48MP camera on back

Huawei Nova 4
(Image credit: Huawei)

A series of leaks in the last few weeks have already spoiled the surprise: Huawei’s upcoming mid-range Nova 4 phone will feature a pinhole for its front-facing camera. Today the company officially revealed the smartphone, which confirmed an upper-left pinhole and other notable features – like a 48MP rear-facing camera. 

The other two lenses on the phone’s back include a 16MP wide-angle and 2MP depth sensor in an arrangement that looks a lot like the Huawei P20. The front features a 25MP selfie camera poking through the ‘hole punch’/pinhole.

Compared to the notched Nova 3, that’s a significant increase in display real-estate.

(Image credit: Huawei)

Otherwise, the phone packs a list of powerful yet definitely mid-range specs: 6.4-inch 1080p (2310 x 1080, 398 ppi) LCD screen and a Kirin 970 chip (not, unfortunately, the latest Kirin 980 that launched in the Mate 20 series). Its other specs are near top-tier, with 8GB of RAM, 128GB storage and a 3,750mAh battery.

The phone will pack Android 9 Pie (plus Huawei’s EMUI interface) out of the box, and come with the GPU Turbo software upgrade to streamline gaming sessions.

Huawei will sell two versions of the phone: a higher-tier packing the aforementioned 48MP rear camera to retail for CNY 3,399 (around $490, £390, AU$685) and a lower-tier model with a 20MP rear lens for CNY 3,099 (around $450, £356, AU$625). When and where it will be available (with localized pricing) has yet to be revealed.

David Lumb

David is now a mobile reporter at Cnet. Formerly Mobile Editor, US for TechRadar, he covered phones, tablets, and wearables. He still thinks the iPhone 4 is the best-looking smartphone ever made. He's most interested in technology, gaming and culture – and where they overlap and change our lives. His current beat explores how our on-the-go existence is affected by new gadgets, carrier coverage expansions, and corporate strategy shifts.