Huawei just dropped its latest midrange trio in China, and they’ve done something different this time. The Nova 15 series brings three phones to the table – the standard Nova 15, Nova 15 Pro, and Nova 15 Ultra – and the Ultra gets a camera design that’s impossible to miss.
The company unveiled the phones on December 22 at a dedicated event in Beijing, and pre-orders are already live on Huawei’s Vmall store. Shipping kicks off December 27, though anyone outside China shouldn’t hold their breath – Huawei hasn’t announced plans to bring these phones to international markets.
Why the Nova Series Matters for Huawei
A bit of background: the Nova series has become vital to the Huawei comeback story. Counterpoint Research states that Huawei bounced back to the leading position in the Chinese smartphone market in Q4 2024, with the midrange Nova 13 playing a significant role in that, in addition to the flagship Mate 70 phones. On the one hand, the company recorded 36% annual growth in China compared to the 18.2% decline in Apple’s iPhone sales in the same market.
The Nova 13 ranked third among China’s best-selling smartphones earlier this year, which explains why Huawei apparently ramped up production for the Nova 14 and now the Nova 15. These aren’t afterthought phones – they’re selling machines.
Nova 15 Ultra and Nova 15 Pro: The Headline Specs
The Pro and Ultra share most of their hardware. Both are provided with 6.84-inch LTPO OLED displays with a 1,320 x 2,856 resolution and a variable refresh rate ranging between 1Hz and 120Hz. The maximum brightness reaches 4,000 nits in the outdoor view and the Kunlun glass of Huawei addresses the protection tasks.
Up front, there’s a pill-shaped cutout housing a 50MP selfie camera alongside a 1.5MP multispectral sensor – that’s the tech Huawei uses to improve skin tone accuracy and low-light color reproduction.
The back is where the “dual-ring” design shows up. It is a big rectangular camera module that has two round holes on it where one has the camera lenses and the other houses the LED flash and the Huawei brand name of the XD Portrait. The outcome resembles nothing found in the existing Huawei collection, and there is undoubtedly a certain philosophy of the iPhone 17 Pro involved.
Nova 15 Ultra cameras:
- 50MP RYYB main sensor with variable f/1.4-f/4.0 aperture and OIS
- 50MP RYYB periscope telephoto with 3.7x optical zoom
- 50MP RYYB ultrawide with 118-degree field of view
Nova 15 Pro cameras:
- 50MP RYYB main sensor with f/1.8 aperture and OIS
- 12MP RYYB telephoto
- 13MP RYYB ultrawide
Both phones are IP68 and IP69, meaning that they can withstand submersion and high-pressure jets of water – the dust and water protection typically found on flagships and not on one in the middle of the range.
Processing Power and Software
Pro and Ultra are based on the Kirin 9010S chipset, which, according to Huawei, is 18 percent faster than the Kirin 8020 of the previous year. A lot is going on in the background here: Kirin chips produced by Huawei are built on a 7nm process by SMIC, and are therefore lagging behind the 4nm and 3nm Qualcomm and MediaTek chips. The real-world performance standards demonstrate that the Kirin 9010 series is approximately equaled by a 2022 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 – good, but not flagship-performance by the standards of the time.
The raw silicon is what Huawei lacks, which it tries to replace with software optimization. Both devices come with HarmonyOS 6.0, an in-house operating system of the company that is gradually being used to replace Android on Chinese Huawei phones. It also has satellite connectivity, which allows sending messages in cell-less areas.
Battery life should be excellent. The Pro and Ultra pack 6,500mAh silicon-carbon cells with 100W wired charging. The Ultra adds 50W wireless charging.
Nova 15: The Affordable Option
The standard Nova 15 keeps things simpler. The screen size is reduced to 6.7 inches with a flat FHD+ OLED display and a 120Hz refresh rate (no adaptive LTPO). And there is only a hole on the front of the phone that is a punch-hole, rather than the pill hole, that serves the 50MP selfie camera.
The rear cameras consist of a 50MP RYYB primary sensor, 12MP RYYB telephoto, and 1.5MP multispectral sensor – no ultrawide here.
The Kirin 8020 processor, which is used in the Nova 14 Pro and Nova 14 Ultra last year, is used. Huawei claims to provide a greater performance of up to 42 percent better than the Nova 14 with Kirin 8000. Battery capacity is 6,000mAh, wired charging is 100W, and water resistance is reduced to IP65 – water jets, but not water submersion.
The Nova 15 also receives satellite connectivity and HarmonyOS 6.0, which makes it comparable with its more expensive siblings.
Pricing
Here’s what Huawei is charging in China:
| Model | 256GB | 512GB | 1TB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nova 15 | CNY 2,699 (~$383) | CNY 2,999 (~$425) | – |
| Nova 15 Pro | CNY 3,499 (~$496) | CNY 3,899 (~$553) | – |
| Nova 15 Ultra | CNY 2,999 (~$596) | CNY 4,499 (~$639) | CNY 4,999 (~$710) |
All three phones come in four colors: Phantom Night Black, Easy Match Purple, Dynamic Green, and Zero Degree White. The green and purple versions have a textured, striped finish on the back panel for better grip and a bolder look. The black and white options are more subdued.
Will These Phones Come to Other Markets?
Probably not. Huawei hasn’t officially confirmed global availability, and the Nova 14 series only reached international markets several months after its China debut – and even then, availability was limited. The company’s ongoing issues with US trade restrictions mean most Western markets won’t see these devices through official channels.
For Chinese consumers, though, the Nova 15 series looks like another solid addition to Huawei’s midrange stack. The battery sizes are massive, the cameras pack the company’s latest RYYB sensor tech, and the Ultra’s variable aperture main lens is a feature you’d typically find on flagships costing significantly more.
Huawei also unveiled a 10th Anniversary Watch and a new MatePad 11.5 (2026) tablet at the same event, though the Nova 15 phones were clearly the main attraction.
