Huawei Nova 12 SE

The Huawei Nova 12 SE has a conventional, non-folding form factor with no rugged build certification and no water resistance. It measures 162.4 mm tall, 75.5 mm wide, and 7.4 mm thick, resulting in a total volume of approximately 90.73 cm³. The device weighs 186 g, placing it in a fairly typical range for a smartphone of this screen size.

The Huawei Nova 12 SE features a 6.67″ OLED/AMOLED touchscreen with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 px and a pixel density of 395 ppi, delivering a sharp and vibrant visual experience. The panel supports a 270Hz touch sampling rate, contributing to smooth and responsive input handling. However, it does not include branded damage-resistant glass, HDR10, HDR10+, or Dolby Vision support, and there is no Always-On Display mode or secondary screen.

The Huawei Nova 12 SE is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4G, a 6 nm chipset with an octa-core CPU configuration running at 4 x 2.4 GHz and 4 x 1.9 GHz using big.LITTLE technology, supported by 8 threads and a 6W TDP. It is paired with 8GB of DDR4 RAM at 2133 MHz, a maximum memory bandwidth of 14.9 GB/s across two memory channels, and 256GB of eMMC 5.1 internal storage. Graphics are handled by the integrated Adreno 610 GPU, clocked at 845 MHz with a turbo mode at 800 MHz, supporting DirectX 12, OpenGL ES 3.2, and OpenCL 2. The chipset also features integrated LTE, NX bit, and TrustZone security, and the platform is fully 64-bit capable. In terms of measured performance, the device scores 255,000 on AnTuTu, 416 single-core and 1,466 multi-core on Geekbench 6, and 385 single-core and 1,550 multi-core on Geekbench 5.

The rear camera system on the Huawei Nova 12 SE is a triple-lens setup with a 108 MP main sensor at f/1.9, accompanied by two 8 MP lenses at f/2.2 and f/2.4 respectively, though optical image stabilization and optical zoom are absent. The main camera uses a CMOS sensor with phase-detection autofocus, touch autofocus, and continuous autofocus during video recording, while also supporting slow-motion video, HDR mode, burst mode, in-camera panoramas, and manual controls for exposure, ISO, focus, and white balance — though manual shutter speed and RAW shooting are not available. Video recording tops out at 1080p at 30 fps, with no HDR10 or Dolby Vision recording support. A single LED flash is present on the rear, while the front features a 32 MP single-lens camera at f/2.5 with no front-facing flash and no under-display placement. Laser autofocus, 360° panorama, and 3D photo or video capabilities are not included.

The operating system on the Huawei Nova 12 SE includes a broad set of usability and privacy features. On the privacy side, it offers clipboard warnings, location privacy options, and camera/microphone access controls, though Mail Privacy Protection is not present. The software supports dark mode, extra dim mode, dynamic theming, and theme customization, along with focus modes, customizable notifications, widgets, and full-page screenshots for everyday convenience. Multitasking is covered through split-screen support and Picture-in-Picture, while users can also offload apps and share Wi-Fi passwords directly from the device. Voice commands and offline voice recognition are both available, and the system supports multi-user configurations, phone tracking, sharing intents, and a child lock. Games can be played while still downloading, and battery health monitoring is built in. On the other hand, the device does not support Live Text, SharePlay, Quick Start, on-device machine learning, or direct OS updates from the vendor, and it cannot function as a PC.

The Huawei Nova 12 SE houses a 4500 mAh rechargeable battery that supports 66W fast wired charging, and a charger is included in the box. A battery level indicator is built in for convenient monitoring. Wireless charging is not supported, and the battery is non-removable.

The Huawei Nova 12 SE has a notably limited audio feature set. It lacks a 3.5 mm headphone jack and does not include stereo speakers. On the wireless audio side, none of the high-quality Bluetooth codec standards are supported — there is no aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless, or LDAC. A built-in radio is also absent.

The Huawei Nova 12 SE supports dual SIM cards and connects wirelessly via Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) and Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), Bluetooth 5.0, and NFC, though 5G is not available. The USB Type-C port operates at USB 2.0 speeds, and there is no external memory slot or HDMI output. Cellular download speeds reach up to 390 Mbits/s with upload capped at 150 Mbits/s. For location and navigation, the device includes GPS with Galileo support, a compass, a gyroscope, and an accelerometer, while a barometer is absent. Security is handled by a fingerprint scanner, though 3D facial recognition and an iris scanner are not included. Features such as satellite SOS, crash detection, ANT+, a heart rate monitor, an infrared sensor, a built-in projector, DLNA certification, and motion or optical tracking are all absent as well.

The Huawei Nova 12 SE includes a video light for use during video recording. The display is flat rather than curved, and neither sapphire glass nor an e-paper panel are featured.