Huawei Nova 5T vs. Vivo V17 Pro: Battle for the mid-range throne

Vivo V17 Pro and the Huawei Nova 5T are one of the hottest midrange smartphones out there as both smartphones feature an amazing camera and also pretty cool hardware inside but how do these two smartphones fare in our review? Check it out in our comparison review below.

Huawei Nova 5T vs. Vivo V17 Pro: Design and Hardware

The two smartphones have different approaches in their design but both smartphones used glass for its body which makes the smartphones feel more premium. With the Huawei Nova 5T, you get a flat back with rounded edges on the side but thanks to its small footprint, the smartphone is really handy while the Vivo V17 Pro has a thicker body with a curved ergonomic back.

One of the main difference between the Vivo V17 Pro and the Huawei Nova 5T is the lack of the headphone jack while the Vivo V17 Pro has a headphone jack at the top but both of them features USB-C in where the Vivo V17 Pro supports 18W charging while the Huawei Nova 5T supports a faster 22.5W charging.

The Vivo V17 Pro features an in-display fingerprint scanner while the Huawei Nova 5T has a side fingerprint scanner which is way faster than the in-display fingerprint scanner of the Vivo V17 Pro. Also, there’s face unlock on the Huawei Nova 5T while the Vivo V17 Pro doesn’t have one but you can use it as a secondary option to unlock the smartphone in case the fingerprint scanner doesn’t work.

Huawei Nova 5T vs. Vivo V17 Pro: Display

Both smartphones also have a different approach in their display. The Huawei Nova 5T features a 6.26-inch punch hole display with a Full HD+ resolution while the Vivo V17 Pro features a larger 6.44-inch Super AMOLED ultra Fullview display that packs no notch or punch hole design but both smartphones pack a pretty cool display and they’re both good but you get better colors on the Vivo V17 Pro.

The Huawei Nova 5T might not be using an AMOLED display but it still shows a vivid and bright display that is still perfect for gaming and also for watching movies and yes, the experience is pretty immersive as we still got good audio on the Nova 5T.

Huawei Nova 5T vs. Vivo V17 Pro: Battery life

The Huawei Nova 5T features a 3750mAh battery while the Vivo V17 Pro features a larger 4100mAh battery which is understandable since we got a larger battery. In our PC Mark battery test, we got a score of 12 hours and 8 minutes on the Huawei Nova 5T and 12 hours and 36 minutes on the Vivo V17 Pro which means that both smartphones can last a single work day of usage without problems.

Both smartphones support fast charging with the Vivo V17 Pro rocking an 18W fast charging tech while the Huawei Nova 5T supports a faster 22.5W fast charging. This is actually a big factor if you’re always on the go as you have less time to charge your smartphone at your home and having a faster charging on a smartphone is an awesome feature as you need less time to fully charge your smartphone

Huawei Nova 5T vs. Vivo V17 Pro: Performance

By just looking at the white paper, the Huawei Nova 5T already got a big advantage as we got here a Kirin 980 processor which is the same processor used by the Huawei Mate 20 series and the Huawei P30 Pro. In our benchmarks, the Huawei Nova 5T decimates the Vivo V17 Pro’s Snapdragon 675 processor.

In gaming, the Kirin 980 has a big advantage on almost any games as I can max out most games with higher FPS on the Huawei Nova 5T compared to the Vivo V17 Pro. Check out the FPS that I got on the Huawei Nova 5T and the Vivo V17 Pro.

Not just that, the settings that I’ve used on PUBG Mobile is on HDR graphics with anti-aliasing with ultra framerates on the Huawei Nova 5T compared to the Vivo V17 Pro since we aren’t able to max out the settings on the Snapdragon 675 processor of the Vivo V17 Pro.

Both smartphones weren’t able to run the game at Very High settings with max framerate on Call of Duty Mobile but the benchmarks showed that the Huawei Nova 5T has a higher advantage compared to the Vivo smartphone. In NBA 2k20, we were only able to run the game on the Vivo V17 Pro by turning down the settings while in Huawei Nova 5T, the smartphone didn’t have any problems running the game at ultra-high settings.

Basically, the Huawei Nova 5T wins in the performance segment as we got here a flagship processor on the Huawei smartphone compared to the mid-range processor of the Vivo V17 Pro.

Huawei Nova 5T vs. Vivo V17 Pro: Camera

The Vivo V17 Pro features a six-camera with 48MP quadruple lens at the back and then there’s the dual-lens camera on the front. The variant that we got here in the Philippines comes with 48MP + 8MP wide-angle + 2MP Bokeh Camera + 2MP Macro camera with a 32MP front-facing camera and also an 8MP wide-angle front-facing camera for group photos.

While the Huawei Nova 5T features a 48MP main camera + 16MP super wide-angle camera + 2MP depth assist camera + 2MP macro camera. The 48MP main camera of the Huawei Nova 5T has been proven to work pretty well in our comparison with the Samsung Galaxy A50s. The 16MP super wide-angle camera of the Huawei Nova 5T is able to capture wider photos while the 2MP macro camera helps you in shooting objects at a closer range while the 2MP depth sensor helps in bokeh and object detection when taking shots.

In this shot, we can both see that both smartphones did very well in this shot with both smartphones showing a clear and crisp photo that captures all the details, however, the Huawei Nova 5T got the right colors on this shot.

Winner: Huawei Nova 5T

I’m pretty torn with this shot. We got better and accurate colors on the Huawei Nova 5T but the Vivo V17 Pro got more details and it’s sharper but it’s also warmer. Nonetheless, both smartphones did really well on this shot.

Winner: Vivo V17 Pro

We used the night mode on both of these shots and the Huawei Nova 5T gave more details, a brighter photo, more vivid colors, and sharper details compared to the Vivo V17 Pro. I am not surprised at all since Huawei smartphones are known to have really great lowlight photos.

Winner: Huawei Nova 5T

We shot this one using the macro lens of both smartphones while the Huawei Nova 5T produce softer but more accurate colors, the Vivo V17 Pro produce a sharper but warmer and brownish tint on this shot. Actually, the Vivo V17 Pro shots are really warm and doesn’t show the accurate colors.

Winner: Huawei Nova 5T

The selfie category belongs to the Vivo V17 Pro. Vivo smartphones are known to have really good selfie cameras and the I’m not surprised that we’re getting more colors, sharper details, and better dynamic range on the selfie camera of the Vivo V17 Pro.

Winner: Vivo V17 Pro

Huawei Nova 5T vs. Vivo V17 Pro: Verdict

Both are great smartphones as it was proven that both smartphones do have a premium build quality, a fine display, and a long battery life but they still have their own strengths. The Huawei Nova 5T decimates the segment with its powerful Kirin 980 processor while the Vivo V17 Pro has a really decent selfie camera and has more cameras compared to the Huawei Nova 5T. In the camera category, both smartphones did really well as the shots that we took have proven that they have their own strength in different categories.

Again, both smartphones are well but if you’re looking for a smartphone that is powerful and can do well in gaming and just fine in camera, the Huawei Nova 5T is the one for you, however, if you’re into selfies, the Vivo V17 Pro might be the right smartphone for you. However, the Huawei Nova 5T features a more affordable price of Php18,990 compared to the SRP of the Vivo V17 Pro which is Php21,990.