Huawei Nova 12 Lite emerges as new Snapdragon-powered mid-range smartphone

The closest successor to the Nova 11 SE has emerged as the 12 Lite (or "Active Edition"). Despite its budget-option status, however, it has the same 6.7-inch 120Hz FHD+ OLED display with "rounded corners" as the vanilla 12.

However, while the 12 moves on to the latest in Nova camera humps, the Lite version remains behind with a "Star Orbit Ring" design most reminiscent of that of the 11 Pro, albeit with the updated and highly distinctive 12-series glass rear panels.

On that note, while the 12 Lite might seem to have triple rear cameras on first glance, Huawei only lists 2: a 50MP "super-sensing" main shooter and an 8MP lens with both ultrawide-angle and macro functions. Then again, the array can handle 8K recording and 10x digital zoom.

The Lite does benefit from the same 60MP selfie camera as the 12, 12 Pro and 12 Ultra, although there is no dual punch-hole display pill here. Then again, it is also the only new Nova smartphone with a named processor on its specs page.

Admittedly, the Snapdragon 778G 4G is nothing particularly novel or special (it can't even do satellite messaging, after all) - although it might help bring the 12 Lite's nearly-premium appeal to regions beyond China.

At 2,499 yuan (~$350) for a base model with 256GB of internal storage or 2,799 yuan (~$392) for a 512GB SKU, with an undisclosed amount of RAM in both cases, this prospect just might not translate all that well to the global market, however.

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