Huawei Nova 3 vs OnePlus 6 vs ASUS ZenFone 5Z: notch-toting, affordable flagships fight it out

“With the Nova 3, OnePlus 6 and ZenFone 5Z, the sub-Rs 35K segment has become quite competitive”

With the launch of the Nova 3 (review), Huawei is aiming for the two of the hottest smartphones in the affordable flagship segment — the OnePlus 6 (review) and the ASUS Zenfone 5Z (review). As can be expected, all these devices offer top-of-the-line specifications with stylish looks and even follow the latest trend of notch displays. But the question is which handset should you go for? Through this piece, we aim to give you a detailed comparison between the attributes of the Huawei Nova 3, OnePlus 6 and ASUS ZenFone 5Z.

Design and display

The design of the Huawei P20 Pro (review) received a lot of praise when it was launched earlier this year. It’s not surprising then that similar aesthetics are available on the brand’s subsequent smartphones, including the new Nova 3. The unique colour shifting back surface makes the device look utterly attractive. The rear panel of the OnePlus 6 is comparatively dull despite having been made from glass, though you do get a number of colours and the choice of glossy or matte finish. The ZenFone 5Z also has a glass back, which carries the Taiwanese company’s trademark concentric circle design.

Among the three, it’s the Nova 3 that stands out clearly for its enticing design. All three of these devices offer dual SIM slots. The OnePlus 6 features an alert slider of the OnePlus 6, while the ZenFone 5Z impresses with its stereo speaker setup. The Nova 3 also has an ace up its sleeve in the form of a quad-camera setup, with two cameras at the front and rear.

Coming to the displays, the trio offers similarly-sized screens. The one on the Nova 3 measures 6.3-inches diagonally, whereas both the OnePlus 6 and ASUS ZenFone 5Z come with 6.2 inch panels. Thanks to a cut-out on top, all three are taller than usual and bear full HD+ resolutions. While all the displays are pretty nice, the one on the OnePlus handset gets more points for being an AMOLED panelś.

Hardware and software

The top-of-the-line Snapdragon 845 chipset is the CPU of choice on the OnePlus 6 and the ASUS ZenFone 5Z, while the Nova 3 has gone for Huawei’s flagship Kirin 970 chipset. All these chips offer octa-core processor and deliver speedy performance. Huawei has also equipped its handset with the new GPU Turbo technology, which is meant to boost performance by up to 60 percent and improve battery life by 30 percent. That said, Kirin 970 is the last year’s chipset, and can’t hold its ground in front of Qualcomm’s SD845. 

In terms of the RAM and storage, the Nova 3 is being sold in India with 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. The OnePlus 6 on the other hand, can be purchased in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB storage options, with the former getting 6GB of RAM and the latter two shipping with 8GB of RAM. The ZenFone 5Z comes equipped with 64GB or 128GB of storage on its 6GB RAM variant and 256GB of storage with its 8GB RAM version. It’s worth mentioning however, that both the ZenFone 5Z and Nova 3 offer the ability to expand the storage further with their hybrid slots as compared to the OP6, which doesn’t come with an expansion slot. 

All three phones boot Android Oreo, but it’s their skins that make the difference. Huawei’s EMUI 8.2 brings its regular goodies like split-screen support, a bevy of AI camera features and the ability to find a product on Amazon by just clicking a picture of it. This phone even comes with an Animoji-like functionality which uses the front cameras to animate 3D avatars based on your facial movements. OnePlus 6’s Oxygen OS is known for its closeness to stock Android, and one unique feature it brings to the table is its video editor. As for the ZenFone 5Z, it has the company’s ZenUI software which too, boasts a number of AI capabilities, right from helping with charging to increasing the volume of the ringtone, depending upon the ambient conditions.

Camera and battery

The Huawei Nova 3 features a 16MP f/1.8 camera and an accompanying 24MP f/1.8 monochrome shooter at the back. These dual sensors enable optical zoom as well as portrait mode. The cameras also offer AI-based scene recognition. At the front, the handset flaunts a combination of a 24MP main snapper and a 2MP depth-sensing sensor, which again helps with portrait effects.

The camera setup on the OnePlus 6 includes 16MP + 20MP snappers, which can shoot 4K videos at 60fps and slow motion clips at 480fps. For selfies, the phone has a 16MP snapper up front. The ZenFone 5Z from ASUS bears a 12MP + 8MP rear camera setup that offers portrait and wide-angle mode. The front camera on this device is an 8MP unit.

At 3,750mAh, the Huawei Nova 3 has the biggest battery among the three devices. The other two house 3,300mAh units inside. The trio also supports fast charging, but the OnePlus 6’s Dash Charge functionality makes it the fastest charging phone among them.

Pricing and availability

The ASUS ZenFone 5Z is the most affordable of the lot, with a starting price of Rs 29,999 and going all the way up to Rs 36,999 for its 8GB RAM variant. The smartphone is available to buy exclusively from Amazon. Both the OnePlus 6 and Nova 3 are Amazon-exclusive, with the former’s pricing starting at Rs 34,999, which is same as the price of Huawei’s offering which is available in a single variant. Similar to the ASUS handset however, the OP6 is also available in higher-end models, with its top-most version setting you back by Rs 43,999.  

Closing thoughts

All in all, these handsets seem to have it all — right from performance to cameras, from displays to the battery. So it all boils down to slight differences and pricing and looks, which are subjective. Having said that, whichever device one goes for, you can rest assured that you’re getting great value for money.

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