Specs Comparison: Huawei Nova 3i vs P20 Lite

With the announcement of the new Huawei Nova 3i and its subsequent release in the market later this month, we’re checking on how it fares with the competition. You’ve seen us do a four-way comparison, but how about the phones from the same turf? Here’s how it fares with the now-available Huawei P20 Lite. Let the mid-range battle begin!

You’ve all raised this in our recently-uploaded YouTube video as well as our social media comments, so here we go!

Specifications	Huawei Nova 3i	Huawei P20 Lite
Display	6.3-inch 19.5:9 IPS LCD FullView display 2.0 @ 2340 x 1080 pixels, 409ppi	5.84-inches 19:9 LTPS IPS LCD display @2280 x 1080 pixels, 432ppi
CPU	HiSilicon Kirin 710 4x cortex a73 2.2ghz + 4x cortex a53 1.7ghz Octa-core	HiSilicon Kirin 659 2.36GHz octa-core
GPU	ARM Mali-G51 w/ GPU Turbo Tech	ARM Mali-T830 MP2
RAM	4GB RAM	4GB RAM
Storage	128GB, Expandable up to 256GB (uses SIM 2)	64GB, Expandable up to 256GB (uses SIM 2)
Rear camera	16MP + 2MP AI dual rear cameras w/ LED Flash, Super slow mo 480fps	16MP+2MP rear cameras, f/2.2 with LED Flash
Front camera	24MP + 2MP AI front cameras	16MP + 2MP front camera, f/2.0
SIM	Hybrid Dual-SIM (nano+nano/microSD)	Hybrid Dual-SIM (nano+nano/microSD)
Network	4G VoLTE	4G VoLTE
WiFi	WiFi 802.11b/g/n	WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.2	Bluetooth 4.2
GPS	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
USB interface	microUSB	USB Type-C, OTG
Audio	3.5mm audio port	3.5mm audio port
Scanners	Fingerprint scanner, Face Unlock	Fingerprint scanner, Face Unlock
OS	EMUI 8.2 (Android 8.1 Oreo)	EMUI 8 (Android 8 Oreo)
Battery	3,340mAh Li-Po battery	3,000mAh Li-Po battery

Since we both have their reviews up on the website, here are their benchmarks side-by-side:

Specifications	Huawei Nova 3i	Huawei P20 Lite
AnTuTu	138,548	87,639
PC Mark	4,338 (Work 2.0) 5,624(Work 1.0)	4,808 (Work 2.0) 4,847 (Work 1.0)
Geekbench	1,590 (Single-core) 5,594 (Multi-core)	925 (Single-Core) 3,675 (Multi-Core)
3D Mark	413 (Sling Shot Extreme - OpenGL ES 3.1) (Sling Shot Extreme - Vulkan)	223 (Sling Shot Extreme - OpenGL ES 3.1) 369 (Sling Shot Extreme - Vulkan)
Androbench	308.28 MB/s (Read) 227.33 MB/s (Write)	304.74 MB/s (read) 148.57 MB/s (write)
PC Mark Battery Test	8 hours and 46 minutes	8 hours and 29 minutes

Summary of Advantages:

Huawei Nova 3i:

Larger display
More powerful SoC
Bigger internal storage
Dual front cameras
Faster read/write speeds
Updated Android/EMUI versions
Longer battery life

Huawei P20 Lite:

Smaller, denser display
Better overall camera performance
USB Type-C port
Cheaper price tag

The newer Nova 3i trumps the P20 lite in many categories since it uses newer technology. For one, the Nova 3i ships with the newer Kirin 710 SoC which will also receive the GPU Turbo update later this month. It also features a larger internal storage capacity that does not really warrant the use of the microSD card option, and its speed is a lot faster in our benchmark tests. If you’re a selfie lover, the phone’s dual camera setup is the one for you. You’d also get a more updated EMUI-Android tandem out of the box, and features longer battery life if we’re comparing it with the baby of the P20 series.

The P20 Lite, on the other hand, is one of the very few phones in the market that offers USB Type-C for its port. A lot of mid-range phones today still use microUSB due to being more common, but the P20 Lite differs by offering something that’s not much available in this segment. The display is also denser given its smaller screen size. There’s also what seems to be a better camera performance despite not bearing the Leica camera branding. Not to mention, the phone now bears a cheaper price tag at Php13,990.

Which one is the better phone for you? Let us know in the comments section below.

11 Comments

Doubtful says:

6 years ago

Still Need feedbacks. P20 or Nova 3i, thanks !
- Reply
napadaan lng says:

6 years ago

ill go for p20 lite for display and camera . nova 3i has tft lcd compare to ltps ips lcd.
but in storage and processor nova 3i
- Reply
Kev says:

6 years ago

I want to buy the p20 lite before im confused now when huawei lunch nova 3i but a big thanks for this post I know now. . Looking forward for other phones huawei will offer .
- Reply

Preshas says:

6 years ago

Which one did you buy?
angel says:

6 years ago

what did you choose

Zaph Castillo says:

6 years ago

Is the RAM LPDDR3 or LPDDR4?
- Reply
JustAStranger says:

6 years ago

Since the P20 lite will receive a GPU Turbo, is it safe to say that its performance will also increase? especially towards gaming? If this is correct I think would settle for the P20 lite.
- Reply
Myc says:

6 years ago

TFT LCD? really? I’d go for P20 lite…
- Reply
K L says:

6 years ago

usb c anytime of the day… no to downgrade
- Reply
Random_Passerby says:

6 years ago

Is the gpu of kirin 710 really “mp6”?, in other websites it is listed as “mp4”.
i’m just curious how powerful really is the kirin 710
- Reply

Carl Lamiel says:

6 years ago

We referred to ARM’s technical specification of the Mali G51 GPU that’s posted on their website. Currently checking this, thank you!

YugaGaming