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What Makes Huawei Nova 4’s Hole-Punch Camera Different From The Usual Notch?

The new smartphone from Huawei might make you want to shop for a new mobile device

China-based tech company Huawei has recently been making waves thanks to new releases that boast awesome tech, from hosting high-quality Leica lenses to triple rear cameras. We’re still reeling from the P20, Mate 20 and Nova 3 launches and yet, as early as now, Huawei is already giving us more reasons to shop with the announcement of the upcoming Nova 4.

Specs-wise, the Huawei Nova 4 is expected to be just as powerful (if not more so) as its predecessor, boasting 2.4GHz HiSilicon Kirin 970 octa-core processor and Mali-G72 MP12 GPU. It’s also expected to be lightning-fast with 8GB of RAM and spacious storage of 128GB (expandable up to 256GB via a microSD card). It will come with the new Android Pie 9 OS with Huawei’s own EMUI 9.0.1.

So what makes Huawei Nova 4 a stand-out compared to last year’s mobile releases? It’s actually one of the first smartphones to sport the new hole-punch front camera.

Image via The Verge

As opposed to having the notch with the selfie cam, the Nova 4 will have the 25MP camera on the left side of the phone’s screen. The hole-punch moniker came from the fact that the front camera will be reminiscent of the hole a puncher makes on paper.

Here’s what you can expect from this new trend that will likely takeover 2019:

Bigger Screen

For the display, the Nova 4 will reportedly have a 6.4-inch IPS LCD screen with Full HD+ or a 1080 x 2310p resolution. Without the notch, you can utilize your phone’s entire display and see everything clearly. You won’t miss a single frame when watching your shows on Netflix!

It does seem like the phone has more than enough frame to support a bezel or notch, but tech companies always try to find a way to optimize the front of the handsets. This might be why the notch was born as parts like the bezel could get in the way of achieving efficiency and full display. The hole-punch is likely a step in the right direction of Honor’s plan to produce an All-View display.

Bye, Black Bar

The goal of the notch is noble, but—truth be told—it’s still a little notorious. Some have argued that the black bar that masks the notch while using the phone makes it even more counterproductive. Others users think that the full-screen experience cannot truly be achieved because of this.

Since the cutout area of the hole-punch camera isn’t part of the device’s outer frame and will likely occupy less than 5mm of the screen, there is theoretically no need for the black bar. How it will affect the notifications on the screen, however, is yet to be seen.

Image via Unbox

Better User Experience

Of course, when there’s no unsightly obstruction on the display, you can use your phone more comfortably. The full screen experience is easily attainable without the weird rectangle off on one side, especially in the case of mobile gaming.

New Technology

As consumers, new trends and technologies like this is always favorable. It all means that you can expect better tech in the future as companies continue to try and one-up their competitors.

The Huawei Nova 4 will still adopt the triple rear cameras, but the phone itself will come in two varieties depending on the main rear camera’s quality. The first variation comes with 48MP, 16MP and 2MP cameras that also boast ultra-wide angle and depth-sensing lenses. On the other hand, there is also the choice of 20MP, 16MP and 2MP cameras (still ultra-wide-angle and depth-sensing lenses), as well as OIS, EIS, PDAF and LED Flash.

The arrival of the hole-punch front camera is likely to kick start a new smartphone era. Will the notch fade to obscurity within the year? We’ll have to wait to find out for sure—but it certainly looks like the industry is going in that direction.