Ai+ Smartphone launched the Ai+ Nova 5G, the company’s first 5G phone in the budget segment, last month. This runs NxtQuantum OS (Android 15-based), built by nxtQ.
It doesn’t have any bloatware, and is the first phone to be powered by Unisoc T8200 SoC in India. Is this worth the price? Let us dive into the review to find out.
| Box Contents |
| Camera |
| Battery Life |
| Conclusion |
Box Contents
- Ai+ Nova 5G 6GB + 128GB in Green colour
- 10W charger
- USB Type-A to Type-C cable
- SIM ejector tool
- Clear protective case
- User manual and warranty information
Display, Hardware and Design
Starting with the display, the Ai+ Nova 5G has a 6.7-inch HD+ 120Hz LCD screen with a pixel resolution of 1600 × 720 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio and a pixel density of about 261 PPI. The HD screen is decent for the price, and it has up to 400 Nits (Minimum) and 450 Nits (Typical) brightness, so outdoor visibility is good.
However, the viewing angles are average. With the auto brightness enabled, the brightness adjustment takes time depending on the lighting, even though the phone has an ambient light sensor. The display even has HDR support, which works for YouTube.
The phone has a notch screen that houses an 5-megapixel camera. The earpiece on the doesn’t work as a secondary speaker. It has a slightly thicker bottom bezel, which is fine in the price range.
In terms of button placements, the power button, which integrates a fingerprint scanner, is present on the right side along with the volume rockers. The dedicated dual SIM and microSD card slot that accepts cards up to 1TB is present on the left side.
The 3.5mm audio jack, primary microphone, USB Type-C port and the loudspeaker grill are present on the bottom. It doesn’t have a secondary microphone.
The phone is 8.2mm thick even though it has a 5000mAh battery, but weighs 196 grams.
In addition to Green, the phone also comes in Purple, Blue and Black colours. Since the back is glossy, it is prone to fingerprints and smudges.
Camera
- 50MP rear camera with f/2.2 aperture, LED flash
- 5MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture
The camera UI is familiar with shutter button on the bottom, quick toggles for flash, timer, aspect ratio, and more. Other camera features include Night Vision, Portrait, Time-lapse, Panorama, Slo-mo, QR-code and short-video. Camera shutter speed is quick, but there is no proper animation after the image is taken, so you won’t notice if the image is captured or not.
Coming to the image quality, daylight shots were fine, and HDR shots are better with improved dynamic range. This lacks an ultra-wide camera or a macro or a depth sensor, but can handle portrait shots decently. However, the colours could have been better. 2x and even 4x shots are decent, but if you zoom further, images looks like a painting. Images from the 5MP camera are decent. Low light images from the rear camera are average. You can’t expect much in the range.
Check out the camera samples
The phone is capable of recording 4K videos at up to 30 fps resolution from both rear and up to 1080p 30 fps videos from the front camera. EIS works well, and the video quality is decent.
Software, UI and Apps
The Ai+ Nova 5G runs Android 15 with Android security patch for May, 2025. The company has promised 1 Android update, and 3 years of security upgrades for the phone. The NxtQuantum OS, built by nxtQ that looks similar to software from the Chinese counterparts like the ColorOS, but otherwise it is pretty much stock without many features. There are features like Privacy Space, App lock, Hide apps, Eye comfort mode, dynamic capsule, smart motion gestures and more.
The company says that the data is stored in secure Indian data storage on MeitY-approved Google Cloud regions and a zero-trust framework. Apart from the usual set of utility apps, it doesn’t have any bloatware. The version we have packs 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM, and there is also a 8GB RAM version.
The company has also added virtual RAM features that lets you expand the RAM by up to 6GB in our version. This is enabled by default, but you can disable it. Out of 6GB RAM, you get 5.44GB of usable RAM, out of which about 2.4GB of RAM is free on boot with just the default apps running in the background. The phone has 128GB eMMC 5.1 storage, out of which, you get about 109.6GB of usable storage.
Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock
The phone has a fingerprint sensor on the side. It immediately unlocks the phone just by keeping your finger so that you don’t have to press it, and it is obviously faster than the in-display fingerprint scanner. You can add up to 5 fingerprints. You can also use the fingerprint for app local and payments in apps. The phone also has face unlock, but it is not as secure as fingerprint.
Music Player, FM Radio and Multimedia
YouTube Music is the default music player with usual audio effects and equalizer. It also has FM Radio with recording. Audio through the single bottom-ported speaker is decent in terms of loudness, but you don’t get any kind of bass and Audio through earphones, is good.
It only has Widevine L3 support, so you can’t play HD content on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or other streaming apps. YouTube supports up to 2K video and also has HDR support.
Dual SIM and Connectivity
It has the usual set of connectivity features such as 5G with N1/N3/N5/N8/N28/N40/N77/N78 bands, dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4 + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0 and GPS, BEIDOU, GLONASS, GALILEO, and AGPS.
The phone also USB OTG support that lets you connect USB drives. Moving on, the call quality is good, and we did not face any call drops and the earpiece volume was loud. It has Google dialer, but there is no call recording.
The Ai+ Nova 5G’s body SAR is 1.539W/Kg, and the head SAR is at 1.114W/Kg, under the limit in India which is 1.6 W/kg (over 1 g).
Performance and Benchmarks
Coming to the performance, this is powered by an Octa-Core UniSoC T8200 6nm processor. It has 2 x A76 cores clocked at up to 2.3GHz and 6x A55 core at up to 2.1GHz. It has Mali-G57 MC2 GPU with support for Open GL ES 3.2 and Open CL 2.0 graphics.
The performance is decent for daily use, but could have been better with improved app management when multitasking. Since the phone has 6GB of RAM, it doesn’t slow down when you open multiple apps in the background. The performance can be compared to the MediaTek Helio G99 or G100.
You can play casual games, but this is not a phone for graphic-intensive games. It gets a bit warm when gaming on 5G. Check out the synthetic benchmark scores below.
Battery life
Coming to the battery life, the phone packs a 5000mAh (typical) built-in battery. It lasts for a whole day with dual 5G enabled and multimedia with average use.
The phone has support for 10W fast charging. It took about over 2 hours to charge the phone up to 100%, and a 50% charge took about 1 hour.
Conclusion
At a starting price of Rs. 8,499, the Ai+ Nova 5G is a commendable first 5G effort from the company in the budget segment. Its biggest strengths are the clean, bloatware-free NxtQuantum OS based on Android 15, and its battery life. The performance from the new Unisoc T8200 chip is reliable for daily tasks unless you don’t run a lot of apps in the background.
However, achieving this aggressive price point has involved some significant compromises. The HD+ display feels is not the best in the price range, and the lack of Widevine L1 support is a major drawback for anyone who streams content on their device. While the main camera performs adequately in daylight, the overall camera system is basic, and the slow 10W charging is a test of patience in an era of fast charging.
Ultimately, the Ai+ Nova 5G is a phone for a specific user. If your priority is to get a 5G-ready device with a clean software experience and a decent battery, and you can overlook the low-resolution screen and slow charging, then the Nova 5G is one of the options for its price. However, if multimedia consumption or camera versatility ranks higher on your list, there are several competitors in the price range.
Pricing and availability
The Ai+ Nova 5G 6GB + 128GB is priced at Rs. 8,499 and the 8GB + 128GB model costs Rs. 9,999. It is available from Flipkart.
Pros
- Good design and build
- Clean, bloatware-free Android 15-based OS
- Good battery life
Cons
- No Widevine L1 support for HD streaming on apps
- Average cameras
- 10W charging is slow