Playing for a long time: testing a new smartphone with an 8500 mAh battery

The mid-range smartphone market has found itself in a strange situation in recent years. Manufacturers are increasingly trying to sell devices through individual "flagship" features — powerful cameras, AI tools, or unusual designs - but for the mass user, priorities usually turn out to be much more prosaic. A large screen, good autonomy, reliability, and a clear camera are still more important than most marketing experiments. Huawei nova 15 Max looks like an attempt to play in this particular territory. The details are in the Izvestia test.

Huawei's new smartphone doesn't try to surprise with exotic features or an ultra-thin body. Instead, the device relies on the most practical set of features: a huge battery, a large OLED screen, a protected body and a camera capable of stable operation in difficult lighting conditions.

A smartphone for those who are tired of charging

The main feature of the Huawei nova 15 Max is the 8,500 mAh battery, an indicator that remains rare even among devices with large bodies.

In practice, this changes the smartphone usage scenario itself. Most modern devices have long required daily charging, especially when actively working with video, navigation, messengers and camera. Huawei, on the contrary, relies on long-term autonomy as a key advantage of the device.

The company claims up to 23 hours of continuous video playback, and the approach itself seems quite logical for an audience over 35 years old, who more often perceive a smartphone as a working and everyday tool, rather than as a platform for experimenting with mobile gaming or generative AI.

At the same time, Huawei is positioning the large battery not as a publicity stunt, but as part of the real user experience. The smartphone supports reverse charging and is capable of recharging other devices, such as headphones or tablets.

However, there is a downside to this approach. A large battery inevitably affects the size and weight of the device. Huawei nova 15 Max cannot be called a compact smartphone, and users who are used to relatively light models feel the dimensions of the device more noticeably compared to more compact models. This is a typical compromise of the segment: the higher the autonomy, the more difficult it is to maintain ergonomics.

Large screen without flagship price

Another bet of the device is a large OLED display with a diagonal of 6.84 inches. It is a universal solution for watching videos, reading, work tasks and video calls.

The screen received a refresh rate of 120 Hz, high pixel density and increased brightness. In direct sunlight, the display really remains readable, a problem that still occurs even on some more expensive smartphones.

A special emphasis is placed on vision protection: high-frequency PWM dimming of 2160 Hz is used, which reduces the strain on the eyes during prolonged use. For an audience that spends a lot of time on documents, messengers, or videos, this is no longer a marketing detail, but a completely practical function.

At the same time, the smartphone itself is clearly aimed at users who need a large screen. In the era of compact models, Huawei is consciously betting on the "smartphone-tablet" format, which is better suited for movies, TV series and work tasks, but worse for one—handed use.

Camera for complex light

Huawei continues to actively use its own developments in mobile photography, and the nova 15 Max is no exception here.

The 50 MP main camera uses a RYYB color filter sensor, Huawei's proprietary technology that captures more light compared to traditional RGB sensors. In practice, this is especially noticeable in evening shooting and low-light areas.

The smartphone really does a good job with scenes where many mid-range devices start to lose detail, go into noise, or aggressively highlight the image with algorithms. Huawei, on the other hand, is trying to keep a more natural picture without over-processing.

Working with portraits also looks like an additional advantage. The camera neatly separates the subject from the background, and AI algorithms don't interfere too aggressively with facial processing, a problem that is common in the mid—range price segment.

At the same time, it's still not worth waiting for the level of full-fledged camera phones from Huawei nova 15 Max. Despite the high-quality sensor and good algorithms, the device remains a mid-range smartphone. When shooting complex night shots or working with dynamic scenes, the limitations of the camera are still noticeable.

Protection from everyday life

Huawei pays special attention to the reliability of the device. Huawei nova 15 Max received IP65 protection, reinforced housing design and SGS certificate.

In everyday life, this means not so much "extreme security" as resistance to typical household scenarios: falls from a table, use in the rain, dust in a bag, or accidental contact with water.

The wet hand control function is particularly interesting. This may turn out to be an unexpectedly useful feature for the Russian market: smartphones still often react poorly to touching with wet fingers, for example, outside in the rain or after washing their hands.

Huawei is trying to solve the problem programmatically, using touch processing algorithms and AI models. And this is exactly the case when not the loudest feature turns out to be more useful than many of the "flagship" features from advertising presentations.

Not a flagship, but a pragmatic maximum

The Huawei nova 15 Max generally gives the impression of a device that doesn't try to appear more expensive or more technologically advanced than it already is.

The smartphone doesn't offer revolutionary AI features, record-breaking performance, or an ultra-thin case. Instead, Huawei relies on a clear set of characteristics that are really important to the mass audience: a large screen, very high autonomy, reliability and a decent camera.

That is why the nova 15 Max looks more like a device for a pragmatic user — a person who needs a smartphone "for every day" without constantly searching for charging and compromises in basic usage scenarios.

At the same time, competition in the segment remains extremely high. In the category of about 30 thousand rubles, Samsung Galaxy A-series, Honor, Redmi, Realme and Poco are simultaneously present today. And here Huawei has both strengths and weaknesses.

The main advantages of the device include autonomy, screen, and night shooting quality. However, not everyone may like the large size of the case and the relatively conservative approach to design. In addition, Huawei smartphones don't have pre-installed Google apps out of the box. Even though this problem no longer looks critical for many everyday scenarios.

Conclusions

The stated price in Russia from retailers with a discount is 24,999 rubles. Huawei relies more on the practicality and reliability inherent in the Mach sub-flagship line than on the effect of an expensive smartphone.

It is the nova 15 Max that looks like one of the most understandable and honest Huawei devices of recent years. The smartphone does not try to sell the user an abstract "future of mobile technology", but focuses on things that really affect the everyday experience: working hours, screen convenience, reliability and camera quality. The workhorse is fine with this.