In August 2021, Huawei started bringing its Nova range of devices to South Africa. These replaced its flagship P- and Mate- ranges. Now it’s launching yet another smartphone in the budget-to-mid-range fam, called the Nova Y9a.

In the past five months, the brand managed to bring its Google-less Nova Y60, Nova 8, Nova 8i and Nova 9 to SA.

Meet the Nova Y9a

This one lands with a quad-camera array around back, complete with a 64MP main sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide and dual 2MP sensors. Up front, you’ll find a 6.63in FullView Display, without any selfie-cam cutouts. That’s because it features a pop-up selfie cam that can be prompted when you need it.

Additional features include 40W SuperCharge capability, which Huawei reckons will provide 70% charge in 30 minutes. There’s also 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage (with a micro-SD slot for expansion) on the base model. Powering the whole lot is a 4,200mAh battery that should breeze through a full day.

As for software, you’re getting the brand’s own EMUI 10.1, over an open-source version of the Android 10 operating system. You don’t get Google and its suite of apps here, though, so you’ll have to make do with Huawei AppGallery.

The Huawei Nova Y9a will retail for R6,500, and pre-orders are now open on its site. It’s available from 1 February 2022.