Huawei is preparing to launch a new mid-range foldable smartphone, the Nova Flip S, amid its launch preparations for the Mate 80 series. The upcoming device is expected to feature a familiar design but will include an upgraded processor.
The Nova Flip S will likely retain the design of its predecessor, featuring a flip-style format. The exterior is expected to have a square cover screen housed within a large rectangular bar on the back, with two vertical cameras positioned beside the screen. While the body’s framework may remain the same, reports suggest the phone could be available in new pastel color options.
The primary update is expected to be the device’s chipset. The Nova Flip S will reportedly be powered by the Kirin 8020 5G, an upgrade from the Kirin 8000 in the previous model. The Kirin 8020 is said to be a downclocked version of the processor found in the Mate 70 Pro and first appeared in the Nova 14 Ultra. It is reported to deliver a 35% improvement in overall performance, a 23% boost for gaming, and a 39% increase in operating smoothness.
The previous Kirin 8000 chip has a configuration of four cores at 1.84 GHz, three cores at 2.19 GHz, and one core at 2.40 GHz. The new Kirin 8020 is configured with four cores at 1.3 GHz, three cores at 2.05 GHz, and one core at 2.285 GHz.
Initial information indicates the Nova Flip S will ship with HarmonyOS 5.1. This conflicts with a previous listing on a China Telecom page which showed the device running HarmonyOS 5.0. Huawei may update the software to version 5.1 by the time of the official unveiling.
