The Huawei Nova 5 went on sale in China in July 2019 and is no longer sold new. Its last software line was HarmonyOS 2, which arrived in 2021 and got maintenance builds through 2022. Third-party reporting found it missing from the HarmonyOS 3 device list, so don’t expect new features. The Nova 6 replaced it in late 2019, and in November 2026 the newest model in the line is the Nova 16 series, launched in China on 1 June 2026. The standard Nova 16 starts at CNY 2,999 with a Kirin 9010S chip and a 7,000 mAh battery. If you want this kind of phone today, check three things first: whether the model is actually sold in your country, how long it will get updates, and which app store and services it supports where you live.
Huawei announced the Nova 5 on 21 June 2019 in China, a few weeks after the US placed the company on its trade blacklist. It came out alongside the Nova 5 Pro and Nova 5i. Three things stood out:
- Memory: 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which was a lot for an upper midrange phone in 2019.
- Chip: it was the first phone with Huawei’s 7nm HiSilicon Kirin 810. That chip has eight cores, two at 2.27 GHz and six at 1.88 GHz, rather than a flat 2.0 GHz.
- Charging: the battery is small at 3,500 mAh, but it charges at 40W through Huawei SuperCharge.
Contents
- Huawei Nova 5: intro
- Huawei Nova 5: review of the specs
- Huawei Nova 5: full specs
- Huawei Nova 5: verdict
- Huawei Nova 5: price and availability
- FAQ
Huawei Nova 5: Intro
The Nova 5 was Huawei’s upper midrange phone for summer 2019, aimed at buyers in China. It followed the Nova 4 and sat below the Nova 5 Pro. The Pro used the flagship Kirin 980, while the standard Nova 5 introduced the newer midrange Kirin 810.
The lineup moved fast after that. The Nova 6 arrived in December 2019, and the line reached the Nova 16 series in June 2026. That puts the Nova 5 eleven generations behind the current models.
Huawei Nova 5: Review of the Specs
On paper the Nova 5 was a strong upper midrange phone for 2019. It had a sharp OLED screen, a then-new 7nm chip, plenty of memory and a quad camera. Its weak spot was a small battery. This section covers the official specs and reporting from the time. The phone was not tested hands-on for this page.
Body
The Nova 5 measures 157.4 x 74.8 x 7.3 mm and weighs 171 g. It has a 6.39-inch screen (often rounded to 6.4 inches) that covers about 85.1% of the front.
At 7.3 mm thick, it was a slim phone for its time, not a chunky one. Compare that with the 7,000 mAh Nova 16 from 2026: much bigger batteries have made recent midrange phones thicker and heavier.
Screen and Resolution
The Nova 5 uses an OLED panel. In 2019, OLED was still mostly found on premium phones, while many midrange models used LCD. OLED gives deeper blacks and higher contrast, and it also made the under-display fingerprint reader possible.
The resolution is 1080 x 2340 pixels in a 19.5:9 ratio, which works out to about 403 pixels per inch. That is sharp enough that you won’t see individual pixels at normal viewing distance. The refresh rate is the standard 60 Hz. High refresh rates only became common in Huawei’s midrange phones a few years later.
Operating System (OS)
The Nova 5 launched with Android 9 Pie and Huawei’s EMUI 9.1 on top. That was the current Android version in mid-2019, though Android 10 came out a few months later.
Later updates moved the phone to EMUI 10.1. In 2021, owners in China could switch to HarmonyOS 2, first through closed and public betas and then as a regular update. Security and stability builds such as HarmonyOS 2.0.0.212 (January 2022) and 2.0.0.268/269 (July 2022) followed. After that, the Nova 5 did not appear on reported HarmonyOS 3 device lists, so HarmonyOS 2 was effectively its last major version.
System on Chip (SoC)
The Nova 5 runs on the HiSilicon Kirin 810, built on a 7nm process. The old claim of an “octa-core at about 2.0 GHz” was a simplification. The chip has two fast Cortex-A76 cores at 2.27 GHz and six efficient Cortex-A55 cores at 1.88 GHz. The GPU is a Mali-G52 MP6, and the chip includes Huawei’s own Da Vinci NPU for AI tasks.
In 2019 that was a strong midrange chip. Today it is far behind: the 2026 Nova 16 uses a Kirin 9010S, and current midrange phones from most brands are much faster.
Storage
The Nova 5 has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The old page said 6GB of RAM in one place. That was wrong: the Nova 5 itself shipped with 8GB, although some spec databases mix it up with other variants.
8GB was generous for multitasking in 2019. The phone has no microSD slot, so 128GB is all the storage you get. For comparison, the 2026 Nova 16 starts at 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
Camera
The Nova 5 has four rear cameras:
- Main: 48 MP, f/1.8, 26mm, 1/2-inch sensor, 0.8 µm pixels, phase-detection autofocus
- Ultra-wide: 16 MP, f/2.2
- Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4
- Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4
The 48 MP main camera does most of the work. The two 2 MP cameras were mostly there to fill out the spec sheet, which was common on 2019 midrange phones.
The front camera is a single 32 MP shooter with an f/2.0 aperture. It sits in a small teardrop notch at the top of the screen. That was a fairly high resolution for selfies at the time, which suited a line Huawei pitched at selfie-focused buyers.
Battery
The 3,500 mAh battery was the Nova 5’s main weakness. It was small for a 6.39-inch phone even in 2019, and it looks tiny next to the 7,000 mAh battery in the 2026 Nova 16.
Fast charging made up for some of it. The Nova 5 supports 40W Huawei SuperCharge, which reports at launch said could reach about 50% in 15 minutes. You would recharge it more often than a phone with a bigger battery, but each top-up was quick. Any Nova 5 still in use today is likely to hold noticeably less charge, because lithium batteries wear out after years of charge cycles.
Huawei Nova 5: Full Specs
| Spec | Huawei Nova 5 |
|---|---|
| Announced | 21 June 2019 (China) |
| OS at launch | Android 9.0 Pie, EMUI 9.1 |
| Last major software | HarmonyOS 2 (China) |
| Body | 157.4 x 74.8 x 7.3 mm (6.20 x 2.94 x 0.29 in) |
| Weight | 171 g (6.03 oz) |
| Display | OLED touchscreen, 6.39 in, about 85.1% screen-to-body ratio |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (about 403 ppi) |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Storage | 128GB, no microSD slot |
| Chipset | HiSilicon Kirin 810 (7nm) |
| CPU | Octa-core (2 x 2.27 GHz Cortex-A76 and 6 x 1.88 GHz Cortex-A55) |
| GPU | Mali-G52 MP6 |
| Rear cameras | 48 MP f/1.8 26mm main (1/2″, 0.8 µm, PDAF), 16 MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, 2 MP f/2.4 macro, 2 MP f/2.4 depth |
| Front camera | 32 MP, f/2.0 |
| Battery | Non-removable Li-Po, 3,500 mAh |
| Charging | 40W Huawei SuperCharge |
| Sensors | Under-display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Launch price | CNY 2,799 (8GB/128GB) |
Huawei Nova 5: Verdict
For 2019 buyers in China, the Nova 5 was a well-balanced upper midrange phone. The battery was its one clear weakness. Today it only makes sense as a cheap secondhand spare, and even then the old software is a real limit.
Pros
- Sharp 6.39-inch OLED screen with an under-display fingerprint reader
- 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, generous for its class at launch
- The 7nm Kirin 810 was efficient and fast for a 2019 midrange chip
- 40W fast charging
- High-resolution 32 MP selfie camera
Cons
- The 3,500 mAh battery was small at launch and is very small by 2026 standards
- No microSD slot
- Sold for the China market and no longer gets major OS upgrades
- The 2 MP macro and depth cameras add little
Battery life is the biggest problem. If you care about getting through a full day, a used Nova 5 is a poor choice, especially with a worn battery.
Huawei Nova 5: Price and Availability
Before launch, the price was unknown and guesses started at about $200. Those guesses were too low. Huawei priced the 8GB/128GB Nova 5 at CNY 2,799, roughly $400 at 2019 exchange rates. It went on sale in China in July 2019, with reports giving pre-sales from 13 July and open sales from 20 July.
The Nova 5 was a China-market phone. Huawei sold other models abroad under the Nova 5 name, such as the Kirin 980-based Nova 5T, so check the exact model before you buy one used. It has been out of production for years, and the only way to get one now is secondhand.
The current Nova 16 series, launched in China in June 2026, is what replaces it today:
| Model (2026) | Starting price in China | Key reported specs |
|---|---|---|
| Nova 16z | CNY 2,699 | 6,000 mAh battery |
| Nova 16 | CNY 2,999 (12GB/256GB) | Kirin 9010S, 7,000 mAh, 100W charging |
| Nova 16 Pro | CNY 3,899 | Pro cameras and display |
The 512GB Nova 16 costs CNY 3,499. Huawei has not confirmed a global launch for the series, so buyers outside China should check local availability first.
FAQ
When was the Huawei Nova 5 released?
Huawei announced the Nova 5 in China on 21 June 2019, alongside the Nova 5 Pro and Nova 5i. Pre-sales started in mid-July 2019, and reports give 20 July as the start of open sales.
Does the Huawei Nova 5 still get software updates?
Not in any meaningful way. The Nova 5 moved from EMUI to HarmonyOS 2 in China in 2021 and got security and stability builds into 2022. Third-party reporting did not find it on the HarmonyOS 3 device list, so HarmonyOS 2 was its last major version.
What processor does the Huawei Nova 5 use?
It uses the HiSilicon Kirin 810, a 7nm chip with two Cortex-A76 cores at 2.27 GHz, six Cortex-A55 cores at 1.88 GHz and a Mali-G52 MP6 GPU. The Nova 5 was the first phone with this chip. The Nova 5 Pro used the more powerful Kirin 980.
How much RAM does the Huawei Nova 5 have?
The Nova 5 has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, with no microSD slot. Some spec listings show 6GB, but the 8GB/128GB version was the one Huawei launched at CNY 2,799.
Is the Huawei Nova 5 worth buying in 2026?
For most people, no. It has a small 3,500 mAh battery that is probably worn by now, old software, and a chip that is several generations behind. If you want a Huawei Nova, the 2026 Nova 16 series is the current lineup, though it launched in China and its global availability is unconfirmed.
What is the difference between the Nova 5, Nova 5 Pro and Nova 5T?
The Nova 5 and Nova 5 Pro were sold in China. The Nova 5 has the Kirin 810, and the Nova 5 Pro has the flagship Kirin 980. The Nova 5T was a separate model with the Kirin 980, sold in other markets, so the name alone doesn’t tell you which phone a listing is for.
Sources
- GSMArena: Huawei unveils nova 5, nova 5 Pro and nova 5i
- GSMArena: Huawei nova 5 specifications
- AnandTech: Huawei Announces Nova 5 and Nova 5 Pro in China, Introduces New Kirin 810 Chipset
- Gizchina: Huawei Nova 5 With Kirin 810 Officially Uncovered
- Huawei Central: Nova 5, 5 Pro, 5i specifications, price and availability
- Huawei Central: Nova 5 series HarmonyOS 2 software update tracker
- Huawei Central: Nova 5 series receives HarmonyOS 2.0.0.269 update
- GSMArena: Huawei nova 16 series to launch on June 1
- Beebom: Huawei Nova 16, Nova 16z, Nova 16 Pro and Nova 16 Ultra launched
- Huawei Central: Standard Huawei Nova 16 unveiled
About this article
- Fact-checked before publication.
- Published · Updated
