Most phones promise all-day battery life. The Nova 12 Pro is the first one in years that made us stop thinking about it. After three weeks as our main phone, it has not once dropped below 30% before bedtime, and that changes how you use a phone more than any camera trick.
Design and build
The Nova 12 Pro is a flat slab of matte glass and brushed aluminium, and at 198 grams it is lighter than it looks. The edges are rounded just enough to sit well in the hand, and the power button doubles as a fast fingerprint reader. It is rated IP68, so rain and a drop in the sink are not a problem.
The one design choice we do not love is the camera bump. It is wide and tall, and the phone rocks when you tap the top corners on a desk. A case fixes this, and most people will use one.
Display
The 6.7-inch OLED panel runs from 1 to 120 Hz and reaches a measured 1,850 nits outdoors. In plain words: it is smooth when you scroll, it saves power when you read, and you can see it clearly in direct sun. Colours are accurate in the Natural mode and punchy in Vivid, and the choice is yours.
It is the first phone screen I have used on a beach without cupping my hand over it.
Noa Brandt
Battery life
This is the headline. The 5,400 mAh cell lasted 8 hours 41 minutes of screen-on time in our mixed-use test, which is about 90 minutes longer than the last model and well ahead of rivals at this price. A heavy day with maps, video calls and an hour of games still left 22% at midnight.
Charging is fast too. The 65 W charger in the box takes the phone from empty to 50% in 14 minutes and to full in 38. Wireless charging works at 15 W, and the phone can charge earbuds on its back.
Cameras
There are three cameras on the back: a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide and a 3x telephoto. The main camera is excellent. Photos are sharp and natural, skin tones are right, and the shutter is quick enough for children and pets.
Night mode is where the Nova improves most. It no longer turns a dark street into a bright one; it keeps the mood and cleans up the noise. The telephoto is good to 3x and fair to 10x. The ultrawide is the weak one: soft corners and a slight colour shift next to the main camera.
Software and speed
The Nova runs a clean version of Android 16 with seven years of updates promised. There are very few extra apps, and you can remove the ones that are there. The Nova G4 chip is not the fastest on paper, but in daily use nothing stutters. Games run at high settings, and the phone stays cool.
| Spec | Nova 12 Pro |
|---|---|
| Display | 6.7-inch OLED, 1–120 Hz, 1,850 nits |
| Chip | Nova G4, 12 GB RAM |
| Storage | 256 GB or 512 GB |
| Cameras | 50 MP main, 12 MP ultrawide, 3x telephoto |
| Battery | 5,400 mAh, 65 W wired, 15 W wireless |
| Weight | 198 g |
| Updates | 7 years |
Three weeks in a pocket
Numbers only tell part of the story, so here is what daily life looked like. The alarm went off at 6:40. By the time we reached the office, the phone had played a podcast, shown a map and handled forty minutes of messages, and the battery read 91%. After a working day of mail, two video calls and photos of a whiteboard, it read 58%. After dinner, a film on the sofa and the usual late scrolling, it went on the charger at 34%.
That pattern held on every normal day. On the one day we tried to break it, with four hours of navigation on a road trip and a hotspot for a laptop, the phone reached the hotel with 12% left. We have tested phones that would have died at lunch.
Heat is the other thing you notice, because there is none. The Nova stays cool while it charges, cool in a car mount in the sun and only slightly warm after thirty minutes of a heavy game. Phones that run cool keep their battery health for longer, which matters if you plan to use all seven years of updates.
Sound, calls and signal
The stereo speakers are loud and clear, with a little real bass. Calls are excellent: callers said we sounded better than on our previous phone, and the noise filter removed a coffee machine that was two metres away. Signal held in the usual weak spots on our commute, and Wi-Fi 7 worked without a drop on a new router.
How it compares
Against the most popular flagship at $1,099, the Nova 12 Pro has a longer-lasting battery, a faster charger in the box and a brighter screen. The flagship has a better ultrawide camera, a 5x zoom and a richer set of accessories. Against the cheaper Nova 12 Lite, the Pro adds the zoom camera, wireless charging, a brighter screen and twice the charging speed.
If you keep a phone for four years or more, the $200 you save against the big names buys a good pair of earbuds. That is the comparison that matters for most people.
Who should buy it
Buy the Nova 12 Pro if battery life is your first worry, if you want a clean Android phone that will get updates until 2033, or if you are moving up from a phone that is three or more years old. Skip it if you already own last year's model: the gains are real but small.
Pros
- The best battery life of any phone we tested this year
- Bright, smooth display you can read in the sun
- Main camera and night mode are excellent
- Seven years of updates
Cons
- Ultrawide camera is a step behind
- Large camera bump makes it rock on a desk
- No charger-free discount if you already own one
Verdict
The Nova 12 Pro is an easy phone to recommend. It does the important things very well: it lasts, it is fast, the screen is lovely and the main camera is reliable. It costs less than the biggest names and gives up very little.
If you take a lot of ultrawide photos, look elsewhere. For everyone else, this is the Android phone to buy this year.
