Mid-range smartphones are one of the hottest in the industry right now and even Samsung has recently joined the affordable mid-ranger game with their Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) that directly competes against other mid-range smartphones including the Huawei Nova 3i. But how does these smartphones fare in our comparison? Check em’ out below.

Design and hardware

Without a doubt, both the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) and the Huawei Nova 3i sports a really good design and both smartphones has that glass feel at the back and both does have a solid feel on both smartphones. However, the Huawei Nova 3i sports a gradient color design which is really attractive to look at but the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) is still pretty to me.

Both smartphones also sport a fingerprint scanner however the placement of the Huawei Nova 3i is in the back which is more common to smartphones these days while the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) sports a fingerprint scanner that is place on the power button of the smartphone which is on the side of the smartphone so both are convenient to reach.

Both smartphones also sport a micro USB port and both smartphones doesn’t come with a fast charger. Another thing, both smartphones also doesn’t come with a fast charging so you’re stuck with both included chargers on the smartphone

Display

The Huawei Nova 3i features a 6.3-inch IPS display with FHD+ resolution while the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018 ) features a 6.0-inch Super AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution. Both smartphones features a pretty display and I actually liked the colors and saturation of the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) but you can have that really nice looking front panel with the Huawei Nova 3i that maximizes screen-to-body ratio and in our review, the Huawei Nova 3i didn’t had any problems dealing with apps with its notch.

Battery

When it comes to battery life, the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) comes with a 3300mAh battery while the Huawei Nova 3i has a 3340mAh of battery and in our tests, both smartphones got a score that are almost on par but the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) wins on this one. Check out the battery tests using PCMark below.

Performance

The Huawei Nova 3i rocks a Kirin 710 chipset with 4GB of RAM while the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) features an Exynos 7780 chipset. This is probably the biggest difference between the two as the Huawei Nova 3i has an advantage over the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018). Not just that, when it comes to gaming, Huawei Nova 3i got GPU turbo which basically boosts the hardware of the smartphone to be optimized to selected games. This is the reason why the Huawei Nova 3i has a decent and stable framerates on games like PUBG Mobile.

Camera

Both smartphones have their own advantages when it comes to camera. The Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) features a triple lens rear camera in which one of them is a wide-angle lens camera while the other one is a depth sensor while the Huawei Nova 3i has a quad-camera setup with dual-camera on the front and a dual camera at the back. This makes sure that the smartphone has a better depth sensing whether you’re taking a selfie or using the rear camera. Not just that, the Huawei Nova 3i also features AR emoji which is a big advantage thanks to its dual lens front camera. Check out the shots that we took using the smartphone below:

Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)

Huawei Nova 3i

As you can see, both smartphones are hit and miss. There are times that the Huawei Nova 3i has better shots but there are also some times that the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) has a better shot but what I noticed is that Samsung tends to have an oversaturated photos sometimes and Huawei has a better dynamic range. But again, the wide-angle lens of the smartphone is something you should take a look at.

Verdict

No wonder that these two smartphones are popular. Both smartphones are really good but they have their own advantages. If you’re into gaming and you want a better screen-to-body ratio then you might want to go for the Huawei Nova 3i. Aside from that, you can get AR emoji too and a more powerful chipset inside but if you’re into mobile photography and you want the wide-angle lens then you can go for the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018).

The Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) is now available for Php17,990 while the Huawei Nova 3i is cheaper at Php14,990.

Huawei Nova 3i Specs

• Huawei Kirin 710 Octa-Core Processor
• 6.3-inch Full HD+ IPS Display (2340×1080)
• 4GB RAM
• 128GB Internal Storage expandable via MicroSD
• 16MP+2MP Rear Camera with LED Flash and PDAF
• 24MP+2MP Front Camera
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
• LTE
• Dual SIM
• 3340mAh Battery
• Android 8.1 with EMUI 8.2

Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) Specs

• 6.0-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display
• 2GHz Octa-Core Processor
• 4GB RAM
• 64GB Internal Storage
• 24MP f/1.7 + 8MP f/2.4, 120-degree wide angle + 5MP f/2.2 depth sensor rear cameras
• 24MP front camera
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
• LTE
• 3300mAh Battery
• Android 8.0