Hands-On

Huawei Nova 2 lite Hands-on

A serious contender in the midrange scene

Published

March 14, 2018

The success of the Huawei Nova 2i in the Philippines prompted the company that a follow-up is in order. Enter the Huawei Nova 2 lite. It’s pegged as the Nova 2i’s sibling with a more affordable price tag.

As we’ve mentioned during its announcement, the smartphone carries a large 5.99-inch display encased in a 6.5-inch body so the face isn’t bothered much by bezels. Resolution maxes out at HD 720p, but has a FullView panel also seen on the Nova 2i. This comes as a part of the company’s plan to include features usually offered on higher-tier handsets.

Additionally, it carries an 18:9 aspect ratio which fits most videos on its entire screen — making video consumption more enjoyable as the display is almost covered up by the content.

Up top, there’s a single 8-megapixel shooter with its own Toning Flash that promises to take pleasing skin tones. After a few shots in low-light places, we couldn’t help but notice that the skin tone comes out a bit pale. We’d have to do a full review to be certain. Additionally, it also has the Perfect Selfie feature seen on the Huawei P10 that creates a user profile based on the edits you want.

Meanwhile, at the back, is where the dual cameras are located. It’s a combination of 13- and 2-megapixel sensors which are used for producing bokeh shots. We’ve tried using it and the depth of field wasn’t that creamy enough for us — at least for the first few shots.

There’s an aperture level slider that should increase or decrease the depth of field but it’s hard to see the difference. Check out the samples with aperture level one (left) and aperture level seven (right) and be the judge.

To top it off, the smartphone comes with built-in phase detection autofocus (PDAF) to ensure sharp images even with moving subjects. We’ve shot some moving subjects and it does a decent job of minimizing motion blurs.

Inside, it runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 430 chipset with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and Android 8.0 Oreo layered with EMUI 8.0 out of the box. Everyday tasks are easily handled by the phone and even proved itself capable of handling a few games here and there whenever you have the extra time.

The battery is rated at 3000mAh and the phone is equipped with a fingerprint scanner, in addition to face unlock for added security. We’re actually satisfied with how fast the phone recognizes a face. It takes less than a second to unlock the screen in bright conditions and about one full second when used in dimly lit areas.

Even with little light, it could still detect the person’s face which is, of course, a good thing.

It will initially be available in black and gold with this striking blue color coming later on. It is available for PhP 9,990 and comes with freebies when you pre-order. Stay tuned for our full review as we put this affordable midranger to the test.

Hands-On

OPPO Reno15 F 5G hands-on

More question marks than exclamation points?

Published

March 6, 2026

Manila Connoisseur

The OPPO Reno15 Series 5G made its way to the Philippines last month, and reception has been pretty great so far.

With a powerful camera package, AI, and a slew of upgrades, there’s a lot to love and not much negative to say. But that’s with both the standard and Pro models.

On the other hand, with the Reno15 F 5G — the series’ supposed budget-friendly “lite” variant —there were more question marks than exclamation points.

I attack this piece once more from a consumer standpoint: shelling out PhP 23,000 to PhP 26,000 for a midrange smartphone that feels and performs like it’s a few notches below its segment doesn’t sound too pleasant.

Performance

With a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, the OPPO Reno15 F performs pretty much like any sub PhP 20,000 mid-ranger. It’s acceptable, but does not punch above its weight as expected.

No major hiccups for light and casual usage. But performance struggles a lot for demanding video games.

It also heats up significantly just 10 minutes into a title like Honkai: Star Rail. This is a stark contrast to the marketed 25℃ and up to 10 hours straight of smooth gameplay.

Although, the experience was still enjoyable with several wins and MVP runs in Call of Duty Mobile. It only means the F variant remains a more camera-centric phone rather than an a hard-hitting all-arounder.

As with other devices, the 7000mAh battery with 80W SUPERVOOC is a strong suit. You’re fueled from dawn ’til dusk, with much to spare. Recharging takes a breeze, too.

Display

The OPPO Reno15 F has a 6.57-inch 120Hz display, with a 92.8% screen-to-body ratio. At least, that allows you to focus on content on the screen.

Content leans more towards the cooler tone, so you’ll have to adjust it manually if you want a warmer or more vivid look.

The 397ppi pixel density is fine to ensure sharper visuals, while the 1400 nits peak brightness is helpful outdoors.

Camera

The device’s 50MP main camera captures decent quality. The color science leans on being natural anew, without being too dull nor washed out. You can pull off smooth portraits too.

I hardly used the phone for stills as I focused on videos, but here are some samples, on the occasions I was able to take the handset with me:

The 50MP front camera is an intriguing add-on, as it is capable of up to 4K video and a wide 100° field of view.

What this does is it essentially removes the need to flip your phone for the popular “0.5” shots. And the quality doesn’t get compromised given the pixel count.

Here are some selfies from different focal lengths:

To its credit, filming with the back camera at 60fps does look and feel smooth, although it can be improved.

Same with the front camera; and the zoom range can be switched from 0.6 to 2x without cutting the recording.

Although, it’s still best to use a selfie stick or small tripod if you’re just after talking head videos.

Speaking of which, here are a few I’ve made with just this device:

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@manilaconnoisseur

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♬ original sound – Manila Connoisseur – Manila Connoisseur

But for travel and on-the-go captures, as OPPO markets for the series in general, even the Reno15 F can cover a lot of background along with your or your groups’ faces.

Make no mistake, there are some useful AI editing features here. In particular, AI Portrait Glow gives your raw capture an effect to make it look it was taken with flash.

I do not recall the device heating up as well when taking many photos or videos, so you can say it’s more optimized for that task rather than gaming.

Connectivity issues

Meanwhile, AI LinkBoost 3.0, as in the case of the OPPO A6 Pro, doesn’t seem to punch above its weight either.

Once, I also played Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and the session opened to a jittery start despite being on Wi-Fi and having a stable connection. I don’t know what triggered this.

Design, feel

We got the Aurora Blue variant which does kind of resemble the northern lights when you tilt the phone a certain way and when light hits its back panel.

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The cursive “Reno” on the large, protruding camera island gives it more style.

However, it’s all just aesthetics. On the downside, the phone is all sorts of slippery.

I couldn’t hold it properly without think of it slipping away from my hands; nor could I put it on my lap with confidence.

So I guess it’s good that it has structural integrity and waterproofing, because you’ll need that.

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The 6.57-inch body does have a good balance between being too compact and too large, like ultras and pro maxes.

It has a squarish body and has already adapted to the premium, aluminum frame look from the sides.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

Sadly, the OPPO Reno15 F 5G is a Swipe Left unlike its bigger, more capable siblings. There are plenty of plus points for the camera package but take that away, and I don’t see much difference between the Reno15 F and something like the A6 Pro.

Granted, the asking price of this phone will drop significantly in a few months. But throw in a little more, and you’ve got a legitimate mid-ranger that’s more on the premium side rather than the cheap end of the spectrum.